Turning Tide Productions • Western Massachusetts Documentaries

Robbie Leppzer is an award-winning independent documentary filmmaker who
has lived and filmed in the Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts since 1976.

Many of Robbie Leppzer’s documentaries have been filmed in Western Massachusetts, while others feature people from the Pioneer Valley engaged in projects around the world.

His critically acclaimed works about contemporary social issues and
multicultural themes have been broadcast globally by CNN International and
broadcast nationally in the United States and Canada by HBO/Cinemax, PBS, CNN,
Sundance Channel, HDNet, Black Entertainment Television, Link TV, Free Speech TV,
National Public Radio, Pacifica Radio and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

"Filmmaker Robbie Leppzer is remarkably sensitive regarding the nuances of his subject matter and protagonists. The result is filmmaking that is both compelling and thought provoking."
—Geoff Gilmore, Director, Sundance Film Festival

Click on title for full page description.

	AN ACT OF CONSCIENCE Narrated by Martin Sheen, this feature-length documentary chronicles the story of Randy Kehler and Betsy Corner of Colrain, two pacifists whose home was seized by federal marshals and IRS agents after they publicly refused to pay federal taxes as a protest against war and military spending. World Premiere, Sundance Film Festival. Nationally broadcast by HBO/Cinemax, Sundance Channel, Link TV and Free Speech TV. 90 minutes • DVD
	THE PEACE PATRIOTS Narrated by Janeane Garofalo, this feature-length documentary follows a diverse group of activists from the Pioneer Valley, ranging in age from 13 to 74, including middle and high school students, college students, teachers, clergy, and war veterans from Korea, Vietnam and the Persian Gulf, as they take part in vigils, marches, theater performances, and civil disobedience sit-ins to protest the start of the Iraq war. Original music by master Valley guitarist John Sheldon. Also features music by Steve Earle, Pete Seeger, Ani DiFranco, Billy Bragg, Jonatha Brooke, Stephan Smith, Saul Williams, and DJ Spooky. Nationally broadcast on Free Speech TV. 78 minutes • DVD
	CALL OF THE PEACE PAGODA A portrait of a Japanese and American Buddhist spiritual community in Leverett, dedicated to the philosophy of nonviolence. Nationally broadcast on Free Speech TV and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 28 minutes • DVD
	STRAIGHT TALK Vietnam veterans of the Amherst-based Veterans Education Project, speak to high school students in Western Massachusetts about their first-hand experiences in war. Nationally broadcast on Free Speech TV. 31 minutes • DVD
	VIETNAM STORIES An oral history of the Vietnam War with five Vietnam combat veterans who fought in it and two Vietnam draft resisters, including Randy Kehler of Colrain, who went to jail fighting against it. Produced by eleventh grade students, Pioneer Valley Regional School in Northfield. 35 minutes • DVD
	SONGS OF THE TALKING DRUM A portrait of a cross-cultural artistic collaboration: World beat musicians Tony Vacca (of Northampton) and Tim Moran link contemporary jazz with its African roots, and African-American performance artist Andrea Hairston (of Northampton) blends dramatic monologue, movement, and music to create a "jazz theater." Nationally broadcast on Free Speech TV. 57 minutes • DVD
	A HERITAGE WITHIN A children’s special about the history and culture of Irish, French-Canadian, and Puerto Rican immigrants in Holyoke, one of America’s first industrial mill towns. Features music by Valley musicians Roger Tincknell, Randi Silnutzer, and Katie Tolles, along with Ricardo Moraga of Chile. Broadcast on WGBY-TV (PBS, Springfield). 55 minutes • DVD
	THEY CAN’T BREAK OUR UNION A chronicle of the longest strike in Massachusetts history, which took place at Sterling Radiator in Westfield. A moving case study of the breakdown in American labor relations in the 1980s. Features music by Pioneer Valley folksinger, Tom Juravich. Nationally broadcast on Free Speech TV. 50 minutes • DVD

	HEALING THE WOUNDS OF WAR A film about conflict transformation and the work of the Amherst-based Karuna Center For Peacebuilding (founded by Dr. Paula Green of Leverett), which brought together Serb and Muslim teachers seeking to rebuild and reunite their devastated communities in the aftermath of the war in Bosnia. Nationally broadcast on Free Speech TV. 40 minutes • DVD
	FUTBOLITO: A Journey Through Central America A chronicle of five New England young people who travel from their training camp in the woods of Wendell, Massachusetts to Guatemala and Nicaragua waging peace with "Hacky Sack." Led by longtime Valley resident and footbag aficionado Daniel Botkin, the aim of tour was to show how a cooperative foot game can be used to make cross-cultural bridges. Nationally broadcast on Free Speech TV. 28 minutes • DVD
	HARVEST OF PEACE U.S. volunteers, including several Pioneer Valley residents, travel to a war zone in Nicaragua during the height of the U.S.-backed Contra war in the mid-1980's to harvest cotton in a unique citizen-to-citizen peace effort. World premiere, Telluride Film Festival. Best Nonfiction Film, San Antonio Cine Festival. Nationally broadcast on Free Speech TV. 29 minutes • DVD (includes both English and Spanish versions)
	SEABROOK 1977 A chronicle of a seminal event of 1970s’ environmental activism when 1,414 people, including many Pioneer Valley residents, were arrested in a civil disobedience protest at a nuclear power plant under construction in Seabrook, New Hampshire and jailed en masse in National Guard armories for two weeks. Nationally broadcast on Free Speech TV. 80 minutes • DVD

To see the full list of documentaries directed by Robbie Leppzer, click here