‘The Journey,’ Docudrama with Local Connections to be screened at Hamilton College

Clinton, N.Y. – Hamilton College will screen Peter Watkins’ 1987 docudrama “The Journey” on Sunday, Nov. 8, at 1 p.m. in the Kirner-Johnson Auditorium. The film about the possible consequences of nuclear war includes scenes filmed in Utica. Following the screening, there will be a discussion with some of those who made major contributions to the Mohawk Valley sequences of the film, including pollster John Zogby; Robert Baber, dean of Pratt Art School at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute; and Rick Werner, the John Stewart Kennedy Professor of Philosophy at Hamilton. The event, part of Hamilton’s F.I.L.M. series is free and open to the public.

“The Journey” is a powerful docudrama that examines the possible consequences of nuclear war as it might affect distinct communities. From 1984 to 1987, the project was filmed around the globe in different cities; Utica was one of them. Watkins alternated his narrative between intimate kitchen-table gatherings (at the home of Bill and Louise Hendricks, an African American family in Cornhill) and large-scale dramatizations of neighborhood evacuations. “The Journey” was funded in part by the Canadian government and highlighted at the Berlin Film Festival in 1987.

Director Peter Watkins is considered one of the pioneers of docudrama and won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature (as well as the 1967 Best Documentary Feature award in Great Britain) for his 1965 film “The War Game.” Some of his other films include “Privilege” (1967), “Gladiators” (1969), and “Punishment Park” (1971).

‘The Journey,’ Docudrama with Local Connections to be screened at Hamilton College

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