Filmmaker tries to capture the political activism of the '60s

by Judith Kahn

Richmond District filmmaker Arturo Perez hopes to recapture the spirit of the '60s in his new film "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?"

Perez, 25, was born in Mexico City, lived in Ottawa, Canada for eight years, then went to high school in Dallas until he attended the film school at the University of Texas at Austin.

When asked how he got inspired about the '60s, he said it was through studying the people and events of the decade; the Freedom March in 1963 and listening to the voices of John Lennon, Rosa Parks and Pete Seeger. The messages of Martin Luther King and Malcom X resonated in his head.

He wants to find this same passion among the leaders of today and is disappointed that this fervor to right the wrongs of society does not exist among our present leaders nor his generation.

He credits his inspiration for the '60s to his teachers at UT Austin and, in particular, to a program titled the Normandy Scholars Program. The program's main focus is history, with some cultural and language courses included.

Perez said it was through this program that he learned to think objectively. It was through this program that he realized history was a story and it was only through careful study of the different aspects that surround an event that one could gain an objective perspective of a particular time or moment in history.

Perez said his mother inspired him to become politically aware because she was always reading political books and listening to Thomas Freeman. His father was active at political rallies when he was Perez's age.

Various events, such as the Freedom March in 1963 and Rosa Parks' refusal to sit in the back of the bus in Alabama during the Civil Rights Movement, made a huge impact on him. He is saddened that he does not see this type of passion among people today and hopes that people will once again be inspired to become politically active for the betterment of mankind.

In 2006, after their graduation, Perez, Joel Sadler and Bill Troy left Texas and headed for San Francisco armed with a video camera in search of the political passion and political activism that pulsated through the air four decades earlier.

Perez was disappointed in the first protest march he participated in in San Francisco. There were only 200 people who attended, not the 1,000 he expected, and the average age of those participating was near retirement age, not the young people of his generation. This was clearly not like the protest movements of the '60s.

Two years later, the documentary "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" was completed and featured at the Napa Film Festival. Perez hopes his documentary inspires people to become politically active and instills the same political passion that previously existed.

The film was made with little money, no sponsors and no budget. Perez was the writer and director, Sadler the producer and musician and Troy producer of the film. While making the film, any money the trio earned was used for the production of the film. During this time, they were often homeless and their diet consisted mostly of cheese.

In the film he artfully interviewed various people of different ages and ethnicities, asking them how they felt the needed change in our society could occur and what they knew about the '60s. The results are often humorous, revealing and insightful.

Hank Plante, Emmy award winning political editor for CBS Channel l5, said: "I loved this film, it made me tear up."

To view "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?," visit the Web site at info@arturo.com.