The 2002 documentary “Truth Tellers” by Maine filmmaker Richard Kane — about Robert Shetterly’s Americans Who Tell the Truth organization — is being distributed across the nation to nearly 300 PBS affiliates by American Public Television and is set to be broadcast by the WORLD Channel at 2 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 29.
“Truth Tellers” asks “what defines a great American?” Through Maine artist Shetterly’s 275 portraits of Americans — his “models of courageous citizenship” — people learn about the fearlessness of those defending democracy, fighting for racial justice, indigenous rights, and the youth battling changing climate — some of the most pressing issues of this time. These “Americans Who Tell the Truth” teach about the moral courage it takes to protect this country’s founding ideals, according to a news release from Shetterly.
Two other Mainers featured in the film are Maulian Dana, Penobscot Nation ambassador; and Sherri Mitchell, Indigenous rights attorney and author of “Sacred Instructions,” a collection of ancient indigenous wisdom.
Also featured in the film are current and historic, well-known and lesser-known courageous Americans including those fighting for racial justice: John Lewis, Fannie Lou Hamer, Bree Newsome, Zyahna Bryant, Reggie Harris, Bayard Rustin, the Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Frederick Douglass, the Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Sojourner Truth and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Environmentalists include Bill McKibben, Kelsey Juliana and Bill Bigelow.
Shetterly and the film have received accolades across the nation for his project, including these words from journalist and political commentator Bill Moyers: “I am an ardent fan of Robert’s work and of the man himself. He is the Diogenes of our time, searching for truth in the work of his subjects. He has become an invaluable chronicler of 2lst century America.”
The film aims to bring new and wider attention to the importance of speaking truth to power, to have the courage to build a society where all people are respected, where hatred is rejected, where embracing diversity is the source of America’s strength.
The film is fiscally sponsored by the Union of Maine Visual Artists, a not-for-profit educational organization.