The life of John Sinclair – ‘60s-era revolutionary, founder of the radical White Panther Party, manager of the MC5 and an early casualty of the government’s drug war – will be celebrated with the release of Twenty To Life, a documentary film by noted director Steve Gebhardt. Mixing interviews with Sinclair, family and friends with vintage 16mm footage shot by Leni Sinclair in the ‘60s and ‘70s, the film includes appearances by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, musician and writer Ed Sanders, poet Allen Ginsberg and members of the MC5. The movie soundtrack, assembled by Sinclair himself, includes music by the MC5, Sun Ra, John Lennon, Chuck Berry and Mitch Ryder, among others.

Born and raised in smalltown Michigan, Sinclair became a charismatic spokesman for the ‘60s youth movement, the founder of the influential Detroit Artists Workshop and the chairman of the White Panther Party in Ann Arbor. Imprisoned with a potential sentence of 20 to life for giving – not selling, but giving away – two marijuana joints to an undercover policewoman, Sinclair served over two years of his sentence before successfully challenging the constitutionality of Michigan’s draconian drug laws.

Struck by the injustice of Sinclair’s imprisonment, former Beatle John Lennon helped organize and headlined the John Sinclair Freedom Rally on December 10, 1971 which resulted in Sinclair’s release from prison three days later. The rally and benefit show included performances by Stevie Wonder, Bob Seger, Phil Ochs and others as well as speeches by Ginsberg and former Black Panther Bobby Seale. Since the ‘60s, Sinclair has forged a respectable career as a writer and jazz musician.

A valuable document on the life of one of the counter-culture’s most interesting and intriguing figures, Twenty To Life will be released on October 9th by Music Video Distributors.

(Click on DVD cover to buy 20 To Life from Amazon.com)