Raging Grannies
"The renegade spirit of these women is terrific!"
—John Hoffman
HBO/Cinemax Documentary Films
60 Minutes / VHS and DVD
IN PRODUCTION: Available in 2008-2009
Help us finish Raging Grannies!
Sponsored by Film Arts Foundation
of San Francisco
Download Quicktime for Windows or the Mac.
Raging Grannies is a lively and thought-provoking 60-minute documentary that tells the story of The Action League of the San Francisco Bay Area Peninsula.
In ostrich feathers, crazy hats, and boas these women protest all over the Bay Area with a sense of outrage, a sense of humor, and a commitment to non-violence. They are women over 50, some as old as 90, who are enraged by the conditions under which some people are forced to live their lives, by threats to our environment, by war, and by injustice wherever they find it. They believe that humor and satirical songs are the best way to deliver their message.
The Action League Grannies have been spied on by the California National Guard. They've been written about in Time magazine, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the San Jose Mercury News. They've appeared on Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor and are regulars in Bay Area evening news stories. In public, they've been both booed and cheered.
In our documentary, each protest event (what the Grannies call a "gig") reveals more and more about these women and what makes them tick. Most of the time we see passionately involved people, sometimes anything but grandmotherly, who just won't let age slow them down.
How do these women keep doing what they do? Where do they get the energy and the commitment to stay vital and engaged? How do they overcome the physical and mental changes that accompany aging and that often keep older people at home? As we travel with the Grannies to their many gigs, we see that life isn't over at 50 or 60 or even 90.
Granny Ruth Robertson, 55, has raised two children, and she and her husband, a Silicon Valley executive, live in Palo Alto. Granny Ruth is a tireless organizer -- she sometimes stays up until 4 or 5 a. m., searching the Internet, organizing gigs, writing songs, and planning skits.
Granny Gail Sredanovic, 70, is a retired French teacher who taught at Stanford University. Ruth and Gail are the dynamos behind the Action League's very busy agenda.
Granny Sharon Kufeldt, 60, is a retired Air Force officer who served during the war in Viet Nam. She's now the National Vice President of Veterans for Peace and speaks out loudly against the war in Iraq.
Granny Marion Bush is 90. She was an air traffic controller during World War II and witnessed the first atomic bomb test in the Nevada desert in 1945.
Granny Barbara Baxter-Berman, 71, is a working artist.
Granny Shirley Powers, 72, is a poet and piano teacher.
Help Us Tell Their Stories!
You can make a tax-deductible donation online at the Film Arts Foundation website. Or you can send a tax-deductible donation, made payable to Film Arts Foundation. Mail your check to:
Pam Walton Productions
Box 391025
Mtn. View, CA 94039
For a donation of $500 or more, we'll include your name prominently in the documentary's credits.
