skyline in this image from “Alcatraz is not an Island” Credit: (John Slavicek photo courtesy ITVS)
In November 1969, a small group of Native American students and “urban Indians” landed on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay and occupied the former prison for more than 19 months. The “invasion” was a protest of the U.S. government’s Indian policies and programs, and some say it kicked off the fiery “Red Power” movement of the 1970s. This November, the award-winning documentary Alcatraz is not an Island, which looks at the occupation and the lives of the people behind it, premiers nationwide on PBS.


The one-hour film, narrated by actor Benjamin Bratt, was an official selection at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival and won the Best Documentary Feature award at the American Indian Film Festival in San Francisco. The broadcast is scheduled for Nov. 7; check your local PBS station for times or visit www.pbs.org/alcatraz for more information.

This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Revisiting Alcatraz.

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