The Sundance Film Festival kicks off today and one of the many films to look for is Stanley Nelson’s documentary, "The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution." Nelson’s look at the rise and fall of the party is particularly timely given the resurgence of black protest in America since officer Darren Wilson killed Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., last August.

The film will premiere at Sundance on Friday, January 23, and will be followed by encore screenings next week at the festival.

Tambay A. Obenson wrote at Shadow and Act:

The documentary will not only look at the rise and fall of the Party, but also its influence on how African Americans consider themselves today, especially in consideration of recent (and ongoing) collective action within communities nationwide, in response to multiple incidents of police brutality that led to fatalities. A key Panther practice was its monitoring of police officers, and challenges of police brutality.  

Here’s the film’s official synopsis:

Change was coming to America and the fault lines were no longer ignorable–cities were burning, Vietnam was exploding, and disputes raged over equality and civil rights. A new revolutionary culture was emerging and it sought to drastically transform the system. The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense would, for a short time, put itself at the vanguard of that change. ‘The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution’ is the first feature length documentary to showcase the Black Panther Party, its significance to the broader American culture, its cultural and political awakening for black people, and the painful lessons wrought when a movement derails. Master documentarian Stanley Nelson goes straight to the source, weaving a treasure of rare archival footage with the voices of the people who were there: police, FBI informants, journalists, white supporters and detractors, and Black Panthers who remained loyal to the party and those who left it. An essential history, ‘The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution,’ is a vibrant chronicle of this pivotal movement that birthed a new revolutionary culture in America."

Take a look at the trailer below: