Mayday(1970)

Mayday is a 1970 documentary capturing the spring protests in New Haven against the trial of Black Panther members accused of murdering suspected FBI informant Alex Rackley. Led by radical activists Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, and Tom Hayden, thousands of demonstrators gathered on the New Haven Green to shut down Yale University and voice their opposition to the proceedings. Yale President Kingman Brewster tasked a small group of Yale students with documenting the turbulent events, resulting in this stark 22-minute black-and-white film. The footage provides a raw, firsthand account of the era's most volatile political confrontations, capturing the raw energy and conviction of the counterculture movement at its peak.