“Powerful and poignant…This is a film that all Americans should see.”

—Scott Laderman, Professor of History, University of Minnesota-Duluth

TOWN DESTROYER

Directed by Alan Snitow & Deborah Kaufman

53 minutes | SDH captions | 5.1 Surround Sound

Scene Selection

Town Destroyer explores the ways we look at art and history at a time of racial reckoning. The story focuses on a dispute over historic murals at San Francisco's George Washington High School depicting the life of George Washington: slaveowner, general, land speculator, President, and a man Seneca leaders called "Town Destroyer" after he ordered their villages destroyed during the Revolutionary War.

Painted in 1936 by leftwing artist Victor Arnautoff, a student of Diego Rivera, the murals both praise Washington and critically depict him overseeing his slaves and directing the bloody seizure of Native lands. Most controversial is a provocative image of a dead Indian—life-size, eye-level, and on display at the center of the school.

Opponents of the murals, led by Native American parents, demand the School Board order them painted over. For them, the murals' graphic depictions of slavery and genocide are racist and harm students, Native students in particular. Defenders of the murals warn of the dangers of censoring priceless works of art, and urge the Board to "teach the murals." Heated debates spill into the community and make national headlines. Taking place in the wake of battles over Confederate monuments across the U.S., the fight becomes a catalyst for a national discussion about censorship, reparations, generational trauma, the ways in which America's history of genocide and slavery is taught and memorialized, and the differences between monuments built to further white supremacy and art that critiques racism.

Town Destroyer is now available on DVD with public performance rights for purchase and rental by schools, libraries, and other organizations. Academic streaming can be licensed from Docuseek. Campus and community groups interested in hosting a community screening can book now through Bullfrog Communities.

WATCH THE TRAILER

“Town Destroyer stimulated one of the most engaging discussions we have had among the students in my course on modern American cultural history. The film helped them to articulate their own disparate views on controversial art and to respectfully discuss challenging issues of inclusion and diversity.”

—Kathy Peiss, Roy F. and Jeannette P. Nichols Professor of American History, University of Pennsylvania

“Town Destroyer prompts a critical examination of the role and limits of provocation in art, especially in regards to who provokes whom.”

—Jonathan Cordero, Exec. Director, Association of Ramaytush Ohlone, the original peoples of the San Francisco Peninsula

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visit the Bullfrog Films online catalog.

Order by phone at (610) 779-8226

or email us at info@bullfrogfilms.com

Other films from Snitow-Kaufman Productions

Bullfrog Films is the oldest and largest publisher of documentary films about the environment in the United States. We define "environment" broadly, and our catalog includes programs on ecology, energy, agriculture, indigenous peoples, women's studies, environmental justice, international relations, sustainable development, anthropology, economics, ethics, and conflict resolution.