PATRIOTS DAY

Country of production: USA
Year: 2004
Language: English
Mins: 60

Director: Marian Marzynski
Script: Marian Marzynski
Cinematography: Jason Longo
Music: John Kusiak
Editing: Bernice Schneider
Producer: Marian Marzynski
Production company: American Experience
Source: Leslie Sepuka
WGBH/American Experience
125 Western Ave.
Boston, MA 02134
USA
Phone: +1 617 300 5329
leslie_sepuka@wgbh.org
www.pressroom.wgbh.org

The Revolutionary War may be over, but one of its best-known battles is still being fought. More than two centuries after the Lexington militiamen rallied against His Majesty's regulars at what would become known as the Battle of Lexington and Concord, sixty-five Redcoats and sixty-seven colonial patriots face off each April 19 to bring to life the beginning of the American Revolution.

PATRIOTS DAY follows reenactors as they prepare for and engage in this annual encounter. The modern-day Lexington Minutemen and their British counterparts switch between centuries (eighteenth and twenty-first), roles (military and civilian), and allegiances (revolutionary and loyalist). They pride themselves on the authenticity of their uniforms and pay painstaking attention to recreating every detail of the battle. Yet the realities of twenty-first century

life are undeniably part of the occasion. Chirping cell phones alert powdered-wig wearing commanders to troop movements. Big yellow school buses transport weary Redcoats from one encounter with the revolutionaries to the next. Traditional uniforms are stitched on modern sewing machines. And all the while the cameras are rolling.

Says Marzynski, "Following the reenactors gave me a new perspective on patriotism and civic duty. Patriots Day celebrates these ordinary, inspired lives; their true, far from textbook, passion for history; their admiration for this country's humble beginning. Plus, they have so much fun doing it."

Marian Marzynski is an award-winning writer/ director / producer over twenty years. He studied broadcast journalism and film directing at the University of Warsaw. He works for PBS television series such as Frontline, Nova and American Experience. He also produced for CBS, TBS and National Geographic. His work earned him two Emmy Awards, a George Polk Award and an Alfred I duPont-Columbia Silver Baton.

filmography as director
(selected)
PATRIOTS DAY (2004)
AIR SAFETY: LEARNING FROM TRAGEDY (2001)
KILLER’S TRAIL (1999)
MY RETIREMENT DREAMS (1998)
LIVING IN TALL TREES (1997)
SKIN DEEP (1995)
OUR MAN IN RUSSIA (1993)

Tuesday 13-Apr-2004 9:00 PM Gallery Theatre screening with KRAMER IMPACT