Sex. Drugs. Religion. War. Rock & Roll. This ain’t the Muppets. In the days before he was a household name, Jim Henson created Youth ’68 – a documentary produced for NBC’s “Experiment in Television” series. Believe it or not, the film has not had a public screening since its original broadcast (in, you guessed it, 1968) – until now, scheduled for May 6 at 92YTribeca. Billed as a “portrait of youth today,” the film is a collage of interviews, literary quotations, popular music and modern dance. Henson talked to people of all ages across the country – some who were part of the movement and others who despised it – to create a vivid portrayal of a society rife with juxtapositions in the context of a changing world. 

The film includes appearances by Jefferson Airplane, The Mamas and The Papas, and The Vanilla Fudge, as well as music from The Beatles, The Who, and Simon & Garfunkel.  It’s essentially a snapshot of the ‘60s in 60 minutes

The original script, complete with Henson’s notations, is full of snippets of different documents cut-and-pasted within the text, creating a literal collage that Henson then transported onto the screen. The script was recently featured in ESOPUS Magazine, which presents little-known artworks and documents from established figures to offer readers a different angle on their creativity.

The special screening will be presented with Craig Shermin (former Henson writer and Vice President of The Jim Henson Legacy), Karen Falk (archivist for The Jim Henson Company), and Tod Lippy (ESOPUS Magazine).