Film: "Won't You Be My Neighbor?"
This uplifting portrait of children’s TV pioneer Fred Rogers celebrates his legacy and message of radical kindness.
Post-film discussion with François Clemmons, aka “Officer Clemmons”
There hadn’t been anything like Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood on television before, and there hasn’t been since.
Though he may be best known today as America’s favorite cardigan-wearing neighbor, Fred Rogers’ career represents a sustained attempt to model how we should best speak to children about important matters. Recognizing how television could be used as a positive force in our society, Rogers famously appeared before the Senate in 1969 to defend the funding for public television and his unique program.
For over 30 years (and 912 episodes), his unique television program gently tackled heavy topics such as racism, disability and homophobia, as well as current events from the Vietnam War and the civil rights movement to the September 11th attacks. In this uplifting portrait, Academy Award-winning filmmaker Morgan Neville (Twenty Feet from Stardom) captures Rogers’ message of radical kindness and celebrates the impact his work has had on generations of children.
D: Morgan Neville, US, 2018, 1h34m
