SILVER

On May 17, 1968, nine Catholic activists entered a Selective Service office in suburban Catonsville, Maryland, dragged stacks of Draft Board records out into the parking lot and set them on fire with homemade napalm. They then prayed, and waited to be arrested. In doing so, they kindled a wave of similar protests against the Vietnam War across the country that swept up dozens of participants and inspired thousands, and then millions. HIT & STAY tells the story of the Catonsville Nine and those who joined them in protesting the war. The Catonsville action had been preceded by a quartet of activists — including Catonsville Nine participant Father Philip Berrigan — splashing blood on draft files in nearby Baltimore. But it was Catonsville that galvanized the nonviolent antiwar resistance away from protest marches and toward direct actions by ordinary citizens against draft boards. This new form of protest quickly spread to similar actions in Washington, DC; New York; Milwaukee and elsewhere, drawing the attention of the FBI as well as the increasingly antiwar American public. (Note adapted from the Maryland Film Festival.) DIR/SCR/PROD Joe Tropea; DIR/SCR Skizz Cyzyk. U.S., 2013, color/b&w, 97 minutes. NOT RATED

AFI Member passes accepted.