Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project
Look inside the life of a radical activist who videotaped everything on television for 30 years.
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Fred Vigeant
On a new episode of Independent Lens, join us for Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project Monday June 15 at 10pm.
A fiercely intelligent, radical activist who became a fabulously wealthy recluse in her later years, Marion Stokes was dedicated to furthering and protecting the truth — so much so that she recorded American television 24 hours a day for over 30 years.
Now, the critically acclaimed documentary peels back the curtain on her life, through a mix of Stokes’ own archive of recordings and interviews with those who knew her best.
Spanning 70,000 video tapes that captured revolutions, lies, wars, triumphs, catastrophes, bloopers, talk shows, and commercials, Stokes’ visionary and maddening project nearly tore her
family apart.
Through these interviews, Marion Stokes emerges in vivid detail as a highly intelligent, challenging figure who nevertheless recognized transformative shifts in media and technology as they were happening, and who had the prescience to foresee the importance of creating an archive of American television for posterity.
Her work as an archivist will make its impact felt for generations to come, giving us all an eye-opening glimpse into how television shaped, and continues to shape, our world.
Watch Independent Lens Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project on WITF Monday June 15 at 10pm. Independent Lens programs are available for on-demand viewing on the PBS Video app.
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