''Freedom Riders'' is a 2010 American historical documentary film, produced by Firelight Media for the twenty-third season of '' American Experience'' on PBS. The film is based in part on the book '' Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice'' by historian Raymond Arsenault. Directed by Stanley Nelson, it marked the 50th anniversary of the first Freedom Ride in May 1961 and first aired on May 16, 2011. It was funded in part by the

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

. The film was also featured on '' The Oprah Winfrey Show'' program titled, ''Freedom Riders: 50th Anniversary''. Nelson was helped in the making of the documentary by Arsenault and Derek Catsam, an associate professor at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin. In 2020, the film was selected for preservation in the United States

National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation (library and archival science), preservation, each selected for its cultural, historical, and aestheti ...

by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant", making it the seventh film designated in its first year of eligibility, the first in the 2010s, and the most recently released film to be selected until 2011's '' Pariah'' was inducted in 2022.

Summary

The film chronicles the story behind hundreds of

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

activists called Freedom Riders that challenged

racial segregation Racial segregation is the separation of people into race (human classification), racial or other Ethnicity, ethnic groups in daily life. Segregation can involve the spatial separation of the races, and mandatory use of different institutions, ...

in American interstate transportation during the Civil Rights Movement. The activists traveled together in small interracial groups and sat wherever they chose on buses and trains to compel equal access to terminal restaurants and waiting rooms. They brought the ongoing practice of racial segregation in the

southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is List of regions of the United States, census regions defined by the United States Cens ...

to national attention.

Reception and legacy

''Freedom Riders'' has received generally positive reviews from television critics and parents of young children. Michael Sragow of '' The Baltimore Sun'' wrote, "One of the great social epics of our time." In 2020, the film was selected for preservation in the United States

by the

as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". It was the first film in the 2010s to be put in the registry.

Awards

* 2010: Official Selection, Full Frame Documentary Film Festival * 2010: Official Selection, Maryland Film Festival * 2010: Official Selection, Silverdocs Documentary Film Festival * 2010: Official Selection,

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

* 2011: Heartland Film Festival: Best Documentary Feature * 2011: Japan Prize: Welfare CategoryLibrary List
Retrieved 2013-01-12 * 2012:

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...

: Exceptional Merit in Nonfiction FilmmakingIMDb: Emmy Awards for 2011
Retrieved 2012-11-04 * 2012:

: Outstanding Picture Editing for Nonfiction Programming * 2012:

: Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Programming * 2012: Eddie Award: Best Edited DocumentaryIMDb: Eddie Awards for 2011
Retrieved 2012-11-04 * 2012: Writers Guild of America Award: Best Documentary Screenplay: ''Nominated''IMDb: WGA Awards for 2011
Retrieved 2012-11-04

References

External links

''Freedom Riders - Firelight Media''

''American Experience: Freedom Riders''
* {{American Experience 2010 films 2010 documentary films 2010s American films 2010s English-language films American documentary films American Experience Documentaries about racism Documentary films about the civil rights movement Films based on non-fiction books Films directed by Stanley Nelson Jr. Films set in 1961 Films set in the 1960s Freedom Riders Primetime Emmy Award–winning broadcasts United States National Film Registry films English-language documentary films

Summary

Reception and legacy

Awards

See also

Further reading

References

External links