Directed by Rob Nilsson and John Hanson • 1977 • United States

A strikingly shot work of documentary as historical corrective, John Hanson and Rob Nilsson’s PRAIRIE TRILOGY chronicles the story of early North Dakota socialists through a portrait of Henry Martinson, a ninety-seven-year-old ex-organizer and poet. In PRAIRIE FIRE, Martinson recounts the 1916 birth of the Socialist Nonpartisan League, his narrative accompanied by images shot by Nilsson’s own grandfather, Frithjof Holmboe.