Jack Willis

Movies

Paul Jacobs and the Nuclear Gang
Writer
Documentary about the atomic testing done in the desert of Nevada, the health risks it posed to closely involved military personnel, and the lack of transparency from US administrations about its effects on the public at large.
Paul Jacobs and the Nuclear Gang
Director
Documentary about the atomic testing done in the desert of Nevada, the health risks it posed to closely involved military personnel, and the lack of transparency from US administrations about its effects on the public at large.
Appalachia: Rich Land, Poor People
Director
National Educational Television" Wednesday, November 13, 1968 on NET's Brand New NET Journal Week on 1960 RCA TV. The land is rich with coal, yet its residents are denied adequate food, housing, or medical care. This, the Appalachian region, was the nation's first designated poverty area. This film focuses upon Eastern Kentucky where mechanization of the mines is replacing people and jobs. A lack of education and other working skills makes these residents prisoners of the land, as seen by a discerning interview with a local family.
Every Seventh Child
Director
Every Seventh Child examines Catholic parochial schools during the reign of Pope John, when the encyclical caused great change in the church.
Lay My Burden Down
Director
This documentary concentrates on the hardships of black tenant farmers and their families in the Selma, Alabama region. One family of ten survives on only $1,000 a year in a system that has changed little since the days of reconstruction after the Civil War. The sharecroppers work the land owned by white landowners as they struggle to make ends meet. One farmer explains that black people are never offered a loan of more than $50. Another man is evicted for not turning his check from the federal government over to his landlord. A mother's only wish is that her prayers are answered so she can feed and clothe her family.
The Streets of Greenwood
Director
THE STREETS OF GREENWOOD (1962), looks at voter registration efforts by the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)and a concert in a cotton field in the Mississippi Delta. One of the first films made about the southern civil rights movement