Directed by Peter Gessner & Robert Kramer • Documentary • 1965 • 30 minutes

This 1965 documentary portrait of a civil war is today a remarkable time capsule of Venezuelan political and social history, and valuable background to the ongoing social conflicts in that country.

FALN chronicles key events of the era, from the 1958 overthrow of dictator Perez Jimenez, and the flawed attempts at social reform by Romulo Betancourt's government, to the 1962 emergence of the national liberation movement- the FALN.

The FALN engaged in rural and urban guerrilla struggle throughout the Sixties, but, failing to achieve its desired coup d'etat or to gain the support of the nation's poor, the organization had largely dissipated by the end of the decade.

A compilation documentary incorporating both archival footage and original scenes shot by members of the revolutionary movement, FALN draws parallels with American foreign policy in other countries, particularly Vietnam.

Available for the first time in forty years, FALN was the first film made by Peter Gessner and Robert Kramer (1939-1999), each of whom over the next several decades produced a body of work dealing with social and political issues. FALN is thus also an artifact of the social turmoil of the Sixties in the U.S., in particular the proclaimed solidarity of the era's New Leftists with Third World liberation struggles

In addition to FALN, First Run/Icarus Films is proud to distribute several other Sixties' documentaries by Peter Gessner, including Finally Got The News, Last Summer Won't Happen, and Time of the Locust.

"A fascinating time capsule of Venezuela in the first half of the 1960s. Valuable insights."—The Americas