Directed by Robert Kramer and John Douglas • Documentary • 1975 • 195 minutes
MILESTONES is a lilting, free-associative masterpiece that follows dozens of characters — including hippies, farmers, immigrants, Native Americans, and political activists — as they try to reconcile their ideals with the realities of American life. In intimate discussions of subjects from communal living to parenting, pregnancy to family, Vietnam to Cuba, city life to country life, and the workplace to the bedroom, the film's diverse protagonists negotiate jealousies, relationships, and the logistical challenges of their rapidly changing world.
Shot in vivid color 16mm, using innovative, layered sound design and editing techniques as well as slides and archival footage, Milestones tracks its subjects through scripted and unscripted moments. It follows them as they share their emotions and dreams, their idealism and disillusionment, their triumphs and defeats of the past, as well as the possibilities for the future.
"[MILESTONES] traverses the entire nation and marks the passing of an era… Kramer's most unforgettable expedition."—Melissa Anderson, Artforum (2011)
"As sad and compassionate a movie as I have ever seen... An attempt to keep alive one of the noble, impossible promises of its time."—A.O.Scott, The New York Times (2008)
Up Next in Classic Docs
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Forever (Heddy Honigmann)
Directed by Heddy Honigmann • Documentary • 2006 • 95 minutes
Through a leisurely tour of the world-famous Père-Lachaise cemetery in Paris, the final resting place for legendary writers, composers, painters and other artists from around the world, FOREVER provides an unusually poignant, emotiona...
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It Happens to Us
Directed by Amalie R. Rothschild • Documentary • 1971 • 32 minutes
Made in 1971 when a medically safe legal abortion was available in only one state, "It Happens to Us" was produced to bring to public attention the sometimes shattering, and always difficult, personal situations underlying a woma...
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A Grin Without a Cat (Chris Marker)
Directed by Chris Marker • Documentary • 1977 • 178 minutes
Newly restored! A GRIN WITHOUT A CAT is Chris Marker's epic film-essay on the worldwide political wars of the 60's and 70's: Vietnam, Bolivia, May '68, Prague, Chile, and the fate of the New Left.
Released in France in 1978, restored a...
