The Dorsky Museum at SUNY New Paltz presents “Here Come the Videofreex” on June 24 at the Rosendale Theatre

The Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art at SUNY New Paltz will present a Hudson Valley sneak preview of the new documentary film Here Come the Videofreex on Wednesday, June 24, at 7 p.m. at the Rosendale Theatre, 408 Main Street, Rosendale, N.Y.

Here Come the Videofreex is a 2015 official selection of the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival and the BAM BAMcinemaFest. The 79-minute film uses archival footage and new interviews to tell the story of the pioneering group of video-makers and media activists. It’s the quirky tale of 10 people’s optimism and creativity, and their vision of what television could have become at a time when the three big networks ruled the TV airwaves. In 1972, the Videofreex collective launched America’s first pirate TV station, Lanesville TV, at Maple Tree Farm in the Catskills hamlet of Lanesville with a transmitter bartered by Abbie Hoffman. Their story offers a hopeful view of how independent voices can make themselves heard.

Filmmakers Jon Nealon and Jenny Raskin will be present at the Rosendale film screening to introduce their documentary. After the film, there will be a panel discussion with Videofreex members Skip Blumberg, Mary Curtis Ratcliff, Bart Friedman, and others, moderated by curator Andrew Ingall. They will talk about their early—and prescient—use of the SONY Portapak, and answer questions from the audience.

This program is supported by a grant from the New York Council for the Humanities, and is co-sponsored by the Rosendale Theatre Collective. Admission to the program is free, with a suggested $5 donation.

The program is presented in conjunction with the exhibition Videofreex: The Art of Guerrilla Television, on view through July 12 at the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art at SUNY New Paltz. Organized by independent curator and scholar Andrew Ingall, the exhibition includes 22 newly restored videotapes, more than 90 photographs and slides, and nearly 80 other objects including drawings, prints, ephemera, publications and historic audiovisual equipment.

For additional information, visit: The Dorsky Museum at www.newpaltz.edu/museum,
the Rosendale Theatre at www.rosendaletheatre.org and/or Here Come the Videofreex at www.videofreexfilm.com.