Ninth Floor

Type of resource
Authors/collaborators
Title
Ninth Floor
Abstract
A re-examination of the 1969 "Sir George Williams Affair," also referred to as the "Sir George Williams Computer Riot," an occupation lead by Black West Indian-born students to protest alleged racism at the Montreal university. The film makes use of archival footage and news clippings of the day with first-hand accounts from former student protesters such as Senator Anne Cools, an archival interview with protester Rosie Douglas (1941-2000), who later became Prime Minister of Dominica, and with others affected by the event — including the son of Perry Anderson, the professor who had been the initial focus of protests. During the protest, hundreds of students occupied the ninth floor computer lab of the university's Henry F. Hall Building in protest over Anderson allegedly giving lower marks to Back students. By the end of the occupation, students had destroyed much of the university's computer lab, set fires to the building, rioted in the streets, and caused over two million dollars worth of damage. Sir George Williams University merged with Loyola College in 1974 to create Concordia University.
Distributor
National Film Board of Canada
Date
2015
Language
en
Citation
Shum, Mina. Ninth Floor. National Film Board of Canada, 2015.
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