Seeing Red: Stories of American Communists

press release: USA | 1983 | DCP | 100 min.

Director: Julia Reichert, Jim Klein

Seeing Red tells the forgotten history and adventures of ordinary Americans who joined the Communist Party and the high price many of them paid during the Red Scare in the 1950s. Compiled from more than 400 interviews with former and current Party members (including Pete Seeger), Reichert and Klein deliver an engaging, funny, and human portrait of 50 years of Red activism, from the Party’s salad days in the 1930s and 40s, through the witch hunts of the 1950s, to its utter collapse following the revelations of Joseph Stalin’s crimes and his denunciation by Nikita Krushchev in 1956. Co-director Julia Reichert will take part in a discussion after Seeing Red, which earned her one of three Academy Award nominations.

Julia Reichert: 50 Years in Film: Emmy Award-winner and three-time Academy Award-nominee Julia Reichert has produced one of the most distinguished bodies of work in American independent documentaries. To celebrate the Ohio-based filmmaker, the Cinematheque is proud

to participate as a venue for this touring retrospective, organized by the Wexner Center in Columbus, that spans Reicher’s career from the landmark feminist conscious-raiser Growing Up Female (1971) to her most recent films including 9to5: The Story of a Movement (2019). Julia Reichert will appear in person on Saturday, November 16, to present her Oscar-nominated feature, Seeing Red: Stories of American Communists. Special Thanks to the Wexner Center’s Dave Filipi.