Ain’t No Back to a Merry-Go-Round by Emmy-award winning filmmaker Ilana Trachtman
(Praying with Lior, Mariachi High, Black in Latin America, etc) recounts a watershed
moment in American history: the first time Black civil rights activists were joined by an
organized white community – predominantly Jewish – to protest segregation. Together,
they demonstrated against Washington, D.C.’s whites-only Glen Echo Amusement Park
in 1960, challenging racism in a historic demonstration that drew national attention and
paved the way for future collaborations in the fight for equality.
The Buffalo History Museum will host the Buffalo premiere of the groundbreaking new
documentary Ain’t No Back to a Merry-Go-Round, from Emmy award-winning director
Ilana Trachtman (Praying with Lior, Mariachi High, Black in Latin America,) on March
26th at 5pm. A festival favorite and a rare sell out success among mainstream, Black,
and Jewish film festivals simultaneously, Ain’t No Back was awarded Best
Documentary Feature at the DC Black Film Festival, the Audience Award at the
Boston Jewish Film Festival, the Women In Film Award at the St. Louis International
Film Festival, and the Building Bridges Award at the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival.
Ain’t No Back to a Merry-Go-Round features newly discovered archival footage,
immersive storytelling, and narration by Jeffrey Wright, Mandy Patinkin, Dominique
Thorne, and others. The film has screened in more than thirty festivals, including
multiple sell outs.
Director Ilana Trachtman will attend the screening on 3/26/19 for a live Q & A with
University of Buffalo Professor Victoria Wolcott.
More information, and a two minute teaser, at aintnoback.com.
AIN’T NO BACK TO A MERRY-GO-ROUND Synopsis
When five Black college students sat on a segregated Maryland carousel in 1960, their
arrests made headlines. When the Jewish community near Glen Echo Amusement Park
joined the protest, a history-making interracial demonstration was born. The pickets
attracted Nazis, Congressman, and a press avalanche. Picketing together led to
partying together, union organizers mentored student activists, and ten 1961 Freedom
Riders emerged, including Stokely Carmichael. With never-before seen footage, and
immersive storytelling by Emmy-award winning director Ilana Trachtman, four living
protesters rescue this untold story, revealing the price, and the power, of heeding
the impulse to activism. Featuring the voices of Jeffrey Wright, Mandy Patinkin, Bob
Balaban, Lee Grant, Peter Gallagher, Dominique Thorne, Alysia Reiner, and Tracie
Thoms.
Producer/ Director Ilana Trachtman
Ilana Trachtman has made Emmy award-winning nonfiction programs for thirty years.
She has explored worlds for PBS, HBO Family, ABC-TV, Showtime, Lifetime, Discovery,
A&E, and the Sundance Channel; pursuing stories such as the legacy of slavery in Latin
America, social activism among Gulf coast shrimpers, the first LGBTQ activists,
glassblowing with disenfranchised youth, and elderly prima ballerinas. Favorite PBS
prime-time credits include directing the independent feature Mariachi High; the
series Black in Latin America hosted by Henry Louis Gates; and Texas Ranch
House; as well as producing for History Detectives and Reading Rainbow. Ilana’s
feature Praying with Lior in over 60 cities, winning 6 Audience Awards for Best
Documentary and critical acclaim from the New York Times, New York Magazine,
Washington Post, and Philadelphia Inquirer. Her current film Ain’t No Back to a Merry-
Go-Round was a 10 year labor of love, and is now premiering in festivals around the
country.
Dir. Ilana Trachtman | 90 min
Documentary | United States | 2024| English
Buffalo History Museum
One Museum Court
Buffalo, NY 14216
March 26th, 2025 at 5:00pm
Tickets: jccbuffalo.org/events