page_title: 1971 (2014 film)
section_title: Reception
hierarchical_section_title: 1971 (2014 film) / Reception
caption_attribution_description: English: Building at One Veteran's Square, Media, Pennsylvania, looking northeast with the Delaware County Courthouse in the background. Building now known as County Court Apartments. This was the site of the March 8, 1971 break in of the local FBI office that resulted in the exposure of the FBI's CoIntelPro program
context_page_description: 1971 is a 2014 American documentary film and the directorial debut of producer Johanna Hamilton, who also co-wrote the film. The film had its world premiere on 18 April 2014 at the Tribeca Film Festival and focuses on the break-in of an FBI office in Media, Pennsylvania on Monday, March 8, 1971 to steal over 1000 classified documents. It was pitched at the Sheffield Doc/Fest 2011 MeetMarket preceding its debut. The break-in took place on the night of the first Ali-Frazier boxing title fight dubbed The Fight of the Century.
  Hamilton was inspired to create the film after learning that Betty Medsger was working on her book The Burglary: The Discovery of J. Edgar Hoover’s Secret FBI, which discussed the 1971 events and revealed the identities of many of the participants, who had remained anonymous up to that point.
context_section_description: Critical reception for 1971 has been positive. Washingtonian and Variety both praised the work, which the Washingtonian described as "a compelling documentary that provides a powerful perspective on the current debate about the men and women who risk everything to disclose government secrets." Indiewire also gave a favorable review, praising Hamilton's directing and stated "Her film is not celebratory, lingering on the notion that, with the public charade of COINTELPRO, ultimately the FBI won. While their post-break-in behaviors are mocked, the government credits itself with tactics specifically utilized to "enhance the paranoia," creating a culture of fear that still exists today."
caption: Site of the 1971 break-in in Media, Pennsylvania
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