Investigation of a Flame

On May 17, 1968 nine Vietnam War protesters, including a nurse, an artist and three priests, walked into a Catonsville, Maryland draft board office, grabbed hundreds of selective service records and burned them with homemade napalm. “Investigation of a Flame” is an intimate, experimental documentary portrait of the Catonsville Nine, this disparate band of resisters who chose to break the law in a defiant, poetic act of civil disobedience. A series of informal, yet charged conversations with members of the group encourages viewers to ask their own questions about the relevance of such events today. How did the photos, trial publicity and news of the harsh two-year prison sentences help to galvanize a disillusioned American public? “Investigation of a Flame” explores this politically and religiously motivated performance of the 1960’s in the context of a newly militarized America. With renowned activist priests Daniel and Philip Berrigan leading the way, this powerful, imaginative statement of protest reveals the necessity to reflect actively on our government’s wartime forays into the lives and politics of other nations.  “The Catonsville Nine”:  Daniel Berrigan, Philip Berrigan, David Darst, John Hogan, Tom Lewis, Marjorie and Tom Melville, George Mische, Mary Moylan – Commentary:  Howard Zinn – Catonsville Nine Support Group: David Eberhardt, Bill O’Connor, Dean Pappas, Brendan Walsh & Willa Bickham   – Associate Producers:  Joanna Raczynska and Kristen Anchor Supported with funding from the Maryland Humanities Council, the Maryland State Council on the Arts, the Puffin Foundation and a Media Arts fellowship from the Rockefeller Foundation. Selected Reviews: “A complex rumination on the power of protest…..the trauma of the past, the continued mistakes of the present and the necessity to reflect actively on our government’s wartime antics.” Holly Willis, The LA Weekly “INVESTIGATION OF A FLAME is a gorgeously crafted experimental documentary recounting the odyssey of the Catonsville Nine. Investigation’s radical veneer belies the after-schoolish wholesomeness at its core, for the committed pacifism of its subjects exemplifies a venerable American tradition of nonviolent civil disobedience — the principled breaking of imperfect human laws in adherence with higher moral ones. There’s little to add to the chorus of praise that followed MoMA’s Documentary Fortnight screening of the film, but it’s nonetheless a film to rave about, as well as reckon with.” Ionnnis Mookas, The Independent Film and Video Monthly “BEST DOCUMENTARY in 2001”, Phillip Lopate, Village Voice Critic