Reunion ’61-’76
- NOT RATED
- 1976
- 1 HR, 30 min
- JUL 29
No starring credits.
John Spence
MADE IN NEBRASKA 2026 SUMMER SERIES
Director John Spence’s experimental documentary chronicles Beatrice Senior High School Class of 1961 as they gather for their 15 year reunion in 1976. A unique time capsule of Nebraska’s political and social divides, Reunion explores the paths the classmates took after graduation, and how their lives were affected by the intervening Vietnam War, love generation, and political assassinations. This special presentation celebrates the film’s 50th anniversary and will be presented by Director John Spence and cinematographer Michael Farrell.
Nebraska Filming Location: Beatrice, NE
TICKETS: $10 General Admission | $5 Members & UNL Students
Using cinéma vérité techniques director John Spence chronicled his own 1961 Beatrice High School graduating class’s 15-year reunion in this impressionistic gem of a doc from the Nebraska Educational Television film unit. Michael Farrell’s hand held black and white photography lends a raw immediacy. All the awkwardness of people reuniting is captured. Intimate revelations emerge. Framing the experience is the southeast Nebraska town connecting these souls and the turbulent decade they endured. Even amidst a rural bicentennial year reunion, the film hits on universal truths transcending time and place. The political-social divides expressed then mirror those now.
Leo Adam Biga