‘Let’s Rent a Train!’ is newly released historical film documenting the rise and fall of a revolutionary political group, the League for Socialist Action (LSA), whose members waged campaigns that altered Canada’s political landscape. The film examines the experiences of the LSA over the course of the 1970s, investigating its success and the challenges it faced.
During the social upheaval of the 1960s and 1970s members of the LSA and Young Socialists (YS) played a leading role in the abortion rights struggle, led the fight for the right to free speech in Toronto parks, founded the Fair Play for Cuba to support the Cuban revolution, led Canada’s antiwar movement against the U.S. invasion of Vietnam, exposed the inequities of Canadian women at the 1967 Royal Commission on the Status of Women, opposed Trudeau’s War Measures Act of 1970, protested the misogyny of beauty pageants, supported Canada’s first gay rights demo in 1971, and led 100,000 teachers in the 1973 mass OSSTF teachers strike, winning teachers the legal right to strike.
The film features 60 interviews from members of the LSA and fellow travellers. The film was written, produced, and directed by TV production veteran Douglas Williams.
LRAT – Stereo Master 1080p H264 (2).mov from Douglas Williams on Vimeo.
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