The Beat of Frances Street

This important documentary has recently been put online. Squatting is similar to Critical Mass in that it is a way of reclaiming/redeeming space that is privately controlled and making it public. Both these movements face obstacles such as legal nonsense. But mostly the obstacle is in our own minds as we leap away from that fearful private hostile attitude towards the open reality we actually share.

The first half of this 1990 video contains footage of everyday life at the Frances Street Squats and presents responses to the question "why do you squat?" by fourteen residents. The second half of the film focuses on internal arguments over the use of barricades against the imminent police assault and documentation of the assault itself (including commercial news footage) and community responses.

Here is the 5 part Youtube version:



There is also a Bit Torrent version to download (single AVI file 753.65MB)

Keep seeding!

And for a background try wikipedia.

Feel free to write your thoughts/reviews! I Actually haven't watched this the whole way yet but will soon and will post what I get from it then.