COINTELPRO 101 exposes illegal surveillance, disruption, and outright murder committed by the US government in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s. “COINTELPRO” refers to the official FBI COunter INTELigence PROgram carried out to surveil, imprison, and eliminate leaders of social justice movements and to disrupt, divide, and destroy the movements as well. Many of the government's crimes are still unknown. Through interviews with activists who experienced these abuses first-hand, with rare historical footage, the film provides an educational introduction to a period of intense repression and draws relevant lessons for the present and future.
Direction
Activist voices front and center, no academic gatekeeping.
Production
Rare declassified footage that mainstream docs won't touch.
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Most COINTELPRO files were destroyed before Congress could subpoena them; the full scope remains unknown.
Released in 2010 but feels ripped from 2024 — the activists explicitly connect their era to the post-9/11 surveillance state.
US
