Public

1970 • Super 8mm • 5 minutes (16mm blowup, 1983) • Color • English

Grand Jury Prize
California High School Film Festival, 1970

Honorable Mention
Kodak National Movie Awards, 1970

Judges Award
Humboldt Film Festival, 1983

First Prize
Poetry Film Festival, 1982

PUBLIC is based as a poem written by filmmaker Arthur Dong in 1969 and marks his debut as an artist whose work continues to delve into the politics and human tragedy of social injustice. Produced, directed, written, edited, and photographed by Arthur for less than fifty dollars, this raw, animated film combines words from his poem with pixilated images to explore a child's reactions to authoritative social mores and the Viet Nam War.

Ultimately, PUBLIC is a deeply disturbing commentary on repression and the state of violence in America – a theme he revisits almost 30 years later in his 1997 film on murderers of gay men, Licensed to Kill.

Note: This film is currently not available for general release.