New 4K Restoration!

"Fascinating documentation... the cumulative impact is both educational and inspiring at times, as it reminds us of a time when the world was a bit less controlled and confined, and protest was often an effective and creative means of communication"
  —Third Coast Review

While our theater is closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, you can still watch newly released independent and international films at FACETS.

By purchasing a "ticket" to one of our Virtual Cinema screenings, you help support FACETS mission and filmmakers from around the world who do so much to enrich our shared film culture.

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F.T.A. is a 1972 American documentary film starring Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland, directed by Francine Parker, which follows a 1971 anti-Vietnam War road show for GI's, the FTA Show, as it stops in Hawaii, The Philippines, Okinawa, and Japan.

The group put on shows called "F.T.A.", which stood for "Fuck the Army", and was aimed at convincing soldiers to voice their opposition to the Vietnam War, which was raging at the time. Various singers, actors and other entertainers performed antiwar songs and skits during the show, including behind the scenes footage, local performers from the countries visited, and interviews as well as conversations with GIs as they discuss what they saw in battle, their anger with the military bureaucracy, and their opposition to America's presence in Indochina. Several of the tour's skits are interspersed with footage of the cast singing the show's theme song, The Lifer's Song (or The FTA Song), an irreverent ditty written around the common troop expression FTA, which in turn, was a play on the Army recruitment slogan "Fun, Travel and Adventure".

Though highly controversial, it was a huge success among stationed soldiers and this rare film has been out of circulation and difficult to see for decades. F.T.A. was released in July 1972, within days of Fonda's infamous visit to Hanoi, and seems to have suffered from the political fallout of Fonda's travels. It was in theatres barely a week before it was pulled from circulation by its distributor, and now F.T.A. has been fully restored by IndieCollect in 4K, granting us an opportunity to see a film that is, in any case, remarkable for how little it is known and how rarely has been seen.

This exhibition of F.T.A. is preceded by a new video introduction by Academy Award-winning actor and activist Jane Fonda, which provides historical context and explains the impetus that sparked the creation of the F.T.A. troupe.

Directed by Francine Parker, U.S.A., 1972, 97 mins.

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