Hot Video with Chicago Conspiracy

Aaron Sorkin’s recent film, The Trial of the Chicago 7, has revived interest in the historical events which took place in Chicago between 1968 and 1970. 

During the entire trial between September 1969 and February 1970, seven of the eight defendants (Bobby Seale had been removed from the trial and left Chicago) gathered as a complete group only twice. The following video is a documentation of one of those two occurrences. R.G. Davis, founder of the San Francisco Mime Troupe, was friends with the defendants. He brought them together in a television studio in January, 1970. It had not been seen in nearly 50 years. 

This video is an hour of unedited, uninterrupted dialogue among R. G. (Ronnie) Davis and the seven defendants including Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, David Dellinger, Tom Hayden, Rennie Davis, John Froines, and Lee Weiner. Over the course of an hour, the defendants discuss the injustices of the US court system, the tactics of protest and revolution, and the prevailing problem of systemic racism—all issues which are highly relevant to the contemporary era.

It is with great excitement that Media Burn can bring this treasure to the wide public 50 years later. 

To learn more, we have compiled a list of videos and books about the Chicago Conspiracy Trial. You can view the list below or with images on Google Docs with the following link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/143dI7vD4lHRdhRE8Nj4Ax0IT4HrQFlJv/view 

VIDEO RESOURCES

1) Tales of Hoffman. Matthew Palm, Tom Weinberg, 2001. 13 min.

Available on Media Burn’s Website: 

Tales of Hoffman: Abbie And Julius And The Chicago Conspiracy Trial

2)  The Trial of the Chicago 7. Aaron Sorkin. 2020. 138 min 

Available to stream on Netflix 

3) The Ten Things Sorkin Movie Got Right and Wrong.  Watch MOJO. 2020

Watch on Youtube: 

4) 69 CR 180. Franklin McMahon. 1971. 58 minutes. 

The Chicago Film Archives has made this film available to watch on Youtube: 

5) Conspiracy: The Trial of the Chicago 8. Jeremy Kagan. HBO Docudrama. 1987. 118 minutes. 

Jeremy Kagan has made this video publicly available to watch on Vimeo:

The film is also available to stream on Amazon Prime 

6)  Chicago Conspiracy Appeals Press Conference. 1972  Raw portapak tape. 35 minutes. 

Available on Media Burn’s Website:

[Chicago Conspiracy Appeal press conference]

7) Cinematic Conversations The Trial of the Chicago 7 with Nancy Kurshan and Gordon Quinn. Gordon Quinn | Kartemquin Films. 2020. 63 minutes. 

Available to watch on Vimeo:

https://vimeo.com/478325528

PRINT RESOURCES

1. The Conspiracy Trial of the Chicago Seven.  John Schultz. With an Introduction by Carl Oglesby © 1970, 1972, 1993, 416 pages University of Chicago Press.
2. Chicago Seven: Testimony from the 1968 Democratic Convention Conspiracy Trial. Abbie Hoffman, Norman Mailer and Timothy Leary. 2008. Red and Black Publishers.
3. The Tales of Hoffman. Edited from the official transcript with 32 pages of pictures by Mark Levine, George McNamee, and Daniel Greenberg. March, 1970.  Bantam.  
4. Contempt: Transcript of the Contempt Citations, Sentences and Response of the Chicago Conspiracy 10. 1987. Swallow Press.
5. The Great Conspiracy Trial. Jason Epstein. 1970.  Random House.
6. No One Was Killed.  Documentation and Meditation: Convention Week, 1968. John Schultz.  1969. Big Table.
7. Conspiracy in the Streets. The Extraordinary Trial of the Chicago Eight.  Jon Weiner.  2006, New Press.
8. Revolutionary Nonviolence. David Dellinger. 1970. Indianapolis. Bobbs-Merrill
9. The Conspiracy Trial. Edited by Julie Clavir and John Spitzer. 1970. Bobbs Merrill.