Screen/Society--Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel--Stanley Nelson Series: "Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple"

FILM SCREENING: "Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple" (Stanley Nelson, 2006, 86 min, USA, in English, Color, DVD) / On the surface, Jim Jones and his multiracial congregation, Peoples Temple, espoused the values of a model society. But in the summer of 1977 an article in New West Magazine exposed the truth. Defectors and family members gave accounts of physical, sexual, and drug abuse, financial corruption, and members being held against their will. On November 18, 1978, over 900 members of Peoples Temple died in the largest mass suicide/murder in history. Using never-before-seen archival footage and survivor interviews, "Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple" tells the story of the people who followed Jim Jones from Indiana to California and finally to the remote jungles of Guyana, South America in a misbegotten quest to build an ideal society. / -- Outstanding Achievement in Documentary, 2006 Tribeca Film Festival / Trailer: http://vimeo.com/6491591