Art can be used as a medium to deliver unheard messages to the masses. The documentary “778 Bullets” and the poem derived from it do just that regarding a piece of Carbondale history.
The film was directed by Angela Aguayo, an assistant professor in cinema and digital culture, and inspired a poem written by B.Rael Ali, a senior from Chicago studying art.
Both pieces are based on the Nov. 12, 1970 event when university, city and state police fought in a 90 minute gun battle, shooting 778 bullets into the home of students affiliated with the Black Panthers.
Aguayo, a former Los Angeles resident, had been digging for local stories involving civil rights since coming to the university six years ago.
“As a filmmaker I am interested in undocumented history,” she said. “Partly because our history and our sense of ourselves cannot be whole until we include the voices ignored.”
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