About

This screening will be introduced by Robert Hughes, Australian Cinémathèque.

One of American cinema's most electrifying achievements, Ivan Dixon's The Spook Who Sat by the Door is a boldly uncompromising paean to freedom. Based on the acclaimed novel by Sam Greenlee, the film follows Dan Freeman (Lawrence Cook), a Black man cynically recruited by the CIA as a publicity stunt. Placed in a visible position without any power ('by the door'), Freeman secretly amasses knowledge about guerrilla warfare techniques and begins to plot a national revolution across America. Upon its release, the film's depiction of armed resistance allegedly led to its removal from cinemas at the behest of the FBI; for decades, it was circulated only as a video bootleg, until a copy of the original negative was located in a vault in 2004. More than half a century on from its premiere, The Spook Who Sat by the Door remains an incendiary and radical exploration of what it means to achieve equality and justice for all.

Ages 15+