FILMS+EVENTS
Smile 'Til It Hurts: The Up With People Story
New Docs

Running Time:
81 minutes
Screening Info:
Friday, April 3
4:45PM
Cinema Four
Director(s):
Lee Storey
Producer(s):
Lee Storey, Bari Pearlman
Editor(s):
Penelope Falk
Cinematographer(s):
Ezra Bookstein
Release Year:
2009
Country:
USA

Ever wondered about Up With People, the preternaturally perky, wholesome singing group who seemed to be everywhere on TV in the sixties and seventies?  Morphing from a post-World War II Christian evangelical organization called Moral Rearmament, UWP recruited idealistic, neatly dressed young people as an alternative to the unwashed hippie hordes who seemed to define a generation’s youth. Clean-cut youngsters want world peace, too!  Sinister cult, or “the yeast that built and preserved freedom”?  Riveting interviews with participants who interpret the culture of UWP and their experiences in different ways, fascinating archival footage, and all the upbeat, saccharine music you could possibly desire.  LB


Q & A with filmmakers following screening.