NET Journal

This documentary concentrates on the hardships of black tenant farmers and their families in the Selma, Alabama region. One family of ten survives on only $1,000 a year in a system that has changed little since the days of reconstruction after the Civil War. The sharecroppers work the land owned by white landowners as they struggle to make ends meet. One farmer explains that black people are never offered a loan of more than $50. Another man is evicted for not turning his check from the federal government over to his landlord. A mother's only wish is that her prayers are answered so she can feed and clothe her family.

This documentary reflects on the lives and aspirations of an African American family - the Johns - who moved to West Oakland from Louisiana, focusing on Robert Lee Johns and his mother Agnes. A voiceover prefaces the film with a statement that it presents: "A story of people caught in a lifelong struggle between their hopes and their abilities and their discovery that no matter how hard they try they will be losing just the same."

Documentary shot in the sixty's about Fr McDyer and the work he did in Glencolmcille and surrounding areas to get employment for local people at a time of a lot of emigration.

"A Plague on Your Children" reports on the little-publicized development of chemical and biological weapons. BBC cameras visited laboratories in England and Sweden for a look at the effects of nerve gases and anthrax germs on animals. (Sequences showing affected rabbits and a dog are particularly unpleasant.) Also: British troops are seen going through assault maneuvers while under the effect of disorientation drugs.

Produced by National Educational Television.