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The Other Sanders of Brooklyn College
Given Documentary Treatment
October 23, 2019
By John Schilling
On Thursday, October 17, the Brooklyn College film department had the great privilege of screening the US Premiere of Larry Sanders — Still Fighting, a documentary made by the Hoult brothers and produced by 3rd Strike Films about the brother of Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders.
When you hear the name “Larry Sanders,” many thoughts may come to your mind. Not only was there a sitcom called The Larry Sanders Show in the 1990s, but also an NBA player of the same name. Before them, however, there was Larry Sanders, the older brother of Senator Bernie Sanders and an alumnus of Brooklyn College.
While the attendance was small, the presence at the event was substantial. The screening room in the West End Building hosted a few students and alumni, as well as some Bernie Sanders supporters eager to learn more about Larry Sanders, a politician in the United Kingdom who currently serves as the Health Spokesperson of the Green Party in the U.K.
The film covers the life of Larry Sanders from the beginning and explains the journey that led him to a life in English politics. Sanders was born April 29, 1935, and he grew up in Brooklyn with his parents, Eli and Dorothy, as well as his younger brother, Bernard.
In Junior High School, Sanders had a passion for poetry, and his interest in politics did not fully blossom until he attended Brooklyn College. Whilst here in the 1950s, Larry was inspired by the student government which he says in the film was “left-wing dominated,” at the time.
When Brooklyn College shifted the student government from a focus on politics to a focus on clubs, he describes the anger he felt and the efforts he lead to protest this change, including a pamphlet called “Common Sense” (inspired by Thomas Paine) that he handed out on campus with a friend of his.
Photo Credit by Chloe Abosch
Keith Hoult, Dir and Paul Hoult DoP
After his time at Brooklyn College, Sanders went on to study at Harvard during a rough period of his life. After his parents both died, Sanders resorted to traveling to visit family and seeing the world. It was during this time that he met his wife, Margaret, and his travels often involved going to visit Bernie after he would win an election.
His decision to move to England came when his wife was pregnant with their first child so they could be closer to her family. From there, Sanders worked for Oxford, fought for groups like the Workers’ Educational Association (WEA), and joined the Green Party when he resonated with their message. He became the party’s Health Spokesperson in 2016.
Frequently throughout the film, Sanders’ colleagues praise him by talking about how truly passionate he is for the issues that he fights for, including those rooted in healthcare and social work. Specifically, the film mentions his immense knowledge of healthcare, ideas for developing education for working-class women who had previously been denied access, efforts to save social services from budget cuts, warnings regarding climate change, and efforts to increase jobs and decrease poverty and homelessness.
One of his colleagues from the WEA even goes as far as to praise Sanders’ ability to articulate information and “talk about things in ways people could understand.”After the screening, the film was met with thunderous applause, and Keith and Paul Hoult were gracious enough to sit down with Foster Hirsch, an author and film scholar, to discuss the film, respond to questions, and hear feedback.
The audience did not hold back and suggested the addition of subtitles, a more informative introduction to English politics, and some trimming to shorten the film. The Hoult brothers acknowledged and appreciated all of these suggestions.When it came to the questions and answers, the recurring topics included Bernie Sanders, the Green Party, and some of the production choices that went into the film.
On the topic of Bernie, Foster Hirsch drew an interesting comparison between the brothers by claiming Larry Sanders seems more “accessible” and that this film really “humanizes” Bernie as more than just “the person who is screaming and shouting and pointing.” Keith Hoult revealed that throughout the production, “Bernie was the elephant in the room,” but Larry felt it was necessary to talk about Bernie to talk about himself. Paul Hoult added that “he [Larry Sanders] is extremely protective over Bernie.”
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