Mighty Ira

Last updated
Mighty Ira
Directed byNico Perrino, Aaron Reese, Chris Maltby
Distributed by Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
Release date
  • October 9, 2020 (2020-10-09)
Running time
99 minutes
CountryUnited States

Mighty Ira is a 2020 documentary film by Nico Perrino, Aaron Reese, and Chris Maltby. [1] [2] The film profiles the life and career of Ira Glasser, who was executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) from 1978 to 2001. [3]

Contents

The movie focuses on Glasser's advocacy for free speech and racial justice, as well as his defense of the rights of neo-Nazis to rally in the Chicago suburb of Skokie, Illinois in the 1970s, which at the time was home to many Holocaust survivors. [4] [5] It also covers Glasser's unlikely friendship with William F. Buckley Jr. and his upbringing as a fan of the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team. [6] [7]

Production

The idea for Mighty Ira first originated in 2017, after Perrino met Glasser in New York City at the funeral of writer and jazz critic Nat Hentoff. [8] The film was produced by Perrino and his Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression colleagues Reese and Maltby. [9] Perrino, a millennial, said that he helped create the film because he felt his generation didn't understand why Glasser's generation fought for free speech rights. [10]

The name "Mighty Ira" comes from a line in a poem written by one of Glasser's ACLU colleagues, read at the end of the film. The title of the poem, "Ira at the Bat", is a play on the famous "Casey at the Bat" poem by Ernest Lawrence Thayer that includes a line about "mighty Casey." [11]

Release

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the filmmakers decided to forgo taking Mighty Ira on the film festival circuit and instead released it through Angelika Film Center's virtual cinema program in October 2020. [12] [13] The movie was later made available on streaming platforms, such as Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV+. [14] [15]

Glasser appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience and Real Time with Bill Maher to promote the film. [16] [17]

Reception

Critical reception

Mighty Ira received generally positive reviews. The Hollywood Reporter called the movie "a warm portrait that poses ever-urgent questions," while journalist Matt Taibbi noted that it is "elegant and thought-provoking." [18] [19] Spiked claimed the film is "a long-overdue tribute to a civil-liberties hero." [20] Matt Fagerholm, writing for RogerEbert.com, gave Mighty Ira a more mixed review, awarding it 2.5 out of 4 stars. [21]

The film attracted interest from Jewish publications, where it received favorable reviews focusing on the film's treatment of the Skokie case and Glasser's relationship with 96-year-old Holocaust survivor (and former Skokie resident) Ben Stern. [22] [23] [24]

Film festivals

Mighty Ira won the grand prize at the 2021 Anthem Film Festival. [25] It was also awarded "Best Documentary Feature Film" at the 2021 Lake Travis Film Festival. [26]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Civil Liberties Union</span> Legal advocacy organization in the United States

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit human rights organization founded in 1920. The organization strives "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." The ACLU works through litigation and lobbying and has more than 1,800,000 members as of July 2018, with an annual budget over $300 million. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The ACLU provides legal assistance in cases where it considers civil liberties at risk. Legal support from the ACLU can take the form of direct legal representation or preparation of amicus curiae briefs expressing legal arguments when another law firm is already providing representation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression</span> American free speech organization

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), formerly named the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit civil liberties group founded in 1999 with the mission of protecting freedom of speech on college campuses in the United States. FIRE changed its name in June 2022, when it broadened its focus from colleges to freedom of speech throughout American society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nadine Strossen</span> American lawyer and former president of the ACLU

Nadine Strossen is an American legal scholar and civil liberties activist who served as the president of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) from 1991 to 2008. A liberal feminist, she was the first woman to lead the ACLU. A professor at New York Law School, Strossen is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and other professional organizations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ira Glasser</span> Former director of the American Civil Liberties Union

Ira Saul Glasser is an American civil liberties activist who served as the fifth executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) from 1978 to 2001. His life is the subject of the 2020 documentary Mighty Ira.

The Weavers: Wasn't That a Time! is a 1982 documentary film by Jim Brown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greg Lukianoff</span> American free speech advocate

Gregory Christopher Lukianoff is an American lawyer, journalist, author and activist who serves as the president of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). He previously served as FIRE's first director of legal and public advocacy until he was appointed president in 2006.

National Socialist Party of America v. Village of Skokie, 432 U.S. 43 (1977), arising out of what is sometimes referred to as the Skokie Affair, was a landmark decision of the US Supreme Court dealing with freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. This case is considered a "classic" free speech case in constitutional law classes. Related court decisions are captioned Skokie v. NSPA, Collin v. Smith, and Smith v. Collin. The Supreme Court ruled 5–4, per curiam. The Supreme Court's 1977 ruling granted certiorari and reversed and remanded the Illinois Supreme Court's denial to lift the lower court's injunction on the NSPA's march. In other words: the courts decided a person's assertion that speech is being restrained must be reviewed immediately by the judiciary. By requiring the state court to consider the neo-Nazis' appeal without delay, the U.S. Supreme Court decision opened the door to allowing the National Socialist Party of America to march.

<i>Skokie</i> (film) 1981 American drama TV film

Skokie is a 1981 television film directed by Herbert Wise, based on a real life controversy in Skokie, Illinois, involving the National Socialist Party of America. This controversy would be fought in court and reach the level of the United States Supreme Court in National Socialist Party of America v. Village of Skokie.

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References

  1. ↑ ""Mighty Ira:" A Documentary About The Man Who Defined American Civil Liberties". News. 2020-10-23. Retrieved 2023-03-31.
  2. ↑ "Mighty Ira - Rotten Tomatoes". www.rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved 2023-03-31.
  3. ↑ Fagerholm, Matt. "Mighty Ira movie review & film summary (2020) | Roger Ebert". Roger Ebert. Retrieved 2023-03-31.
  4. ↑ Hoffman, Jordan. "Film explores why a Jewish former ACLU head defended Nazis' right to free speech". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 2023-03-31.
  5. ↑ Wright, Aubrey. "'Mighty Ira' exemplifies import of civil liberties". Columbus Jewish News. Retrieved 2023-03-31.
  6. ↑ "43 years after Skokie, Ira Glasser is still fighting for free speech". The Forward. 2020-10-12. Retrieved 2023-04-05.
  7. ↑ ""Mighty Ira:" A Documentary About The Man Who Defined American Civil Liberties". News. 2020-10-23. Retrieved 2023-04-05.
  8. ↑ Tonguette, Peter. "Film 'Mighty Ira' brings free-speech issues to screen at Columbus Jewish Film Festival". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved 2023-03-31.
  9. ↑ arsalanbaraheni (2021-01-06). "Why We Need to Watch Mighty Ira". Chicago Movie Mag. Retrieved 2023-03-31.
  10. ↑ FAIR Film Festival: Q&A for Mighty Ira w/ Greg Lukianoff, Nico Perrino, & Alan Charles Kors , retrieved 2023-04-05
  11. ↑ SHG (2020-10-20). "Bunin Review: The FIRE's "Mighty Ira"". Simple Justice. Retrieved 2023-03-31.
  12. ↑ "Interview: Nico Perrino Talks Mighty Ira (Exclusive)". Shockya.com. 2020-10-11. Retrieved 2023-03-31.
  13. ↑ Glasser, Ira (2020-10-04). "How Freedom of Speech Protects You from Rulers Like Trump". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2023-03-31.
  14. ↑ "Watch Mighty Ira | Prime Video". www.amazon.com. Retrieved 2023-03-31.
  15. ↑ Perrino, Nico; Maltby, Chris (2020-10-23). "Mighty Ira | Apple TV". Apple TV. Retrieved 2023-03-31.
  16. ↑ #1595 - Ira Glasser, 2021-01-15, retrieved 2023-03-31
  17. ↑ Ira Glasser on Free Speech | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO) , retrieved 2023-03-31
  18. ↑ Linden, Sheri (2020-10-07). "'Mighty Ira': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2023-03-31.
  19. ↑ Taibbi, Matt. "Is Traditional Liberalism Vanishing?". www.racket.news. Retrieved 2023-03-31.
  20. ↑ "Mighty Ira: tribute to a civil-liberties hero". www.spiked-online.com. Retrieved 2023-03-31.
  21. ↑ Fagerholm, Matt. "Mighty Ira movie review & film summary (2020) | Roger Ebert". Roger Ebert. Retrieved 2023-03-31.
  22. ↑ "43 years after Skokie, Ira Glasser is still fighting for free speech". The Forward. 2020-10-12. Retrieved 2023-03-31.
  23. ↑ Goldman, Samuel. "Skokie Then and Now". Mosaic.
  24. ↑ Kirchick, James. "The Disintegration of the ACLU". Tablet.
  25. ↑ "2021 Awards". Anthem Film Festival. Retrieved 2023-04-05.
  26. ↑ I.Faleye (2021-06-23). "'Toprak' and 'Mighty Ira' Win Top Filmmaker Awards at Lake Travis Film Festival 2021". VIMooZ. Retrieved 2023-04-05.
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