2009 Channel 4, Wednesday 1st April. 7:55pm

What does it mean to be Free? We hear politicians talk about “Freedom” all the time. From left to right all sides try to claim it as their own. But what does it mean to ordinary people?

I travelled to America, the self styled “Land of the Free”. By asking the simple question “who is the freest person you know?” I was sent on a journey through the USA, and through this most nebulous of concepts.


Episode 3. A Constant Struggle

Henry was a young lecturer at Kent State University, Ohio in 1970 when he witnessed an anti-Vietnam protest go horribly wrong on campus. Four of his students were killed by their own country's troops as the state government sent in the National Guard to break up the protests. As such Henry has a strong sense of the vulnerability of "Freedom", and recognises its defense is a constant struggle.

Claudia, a young pianist and student of music in Portland, Maine, has another story of political freedom to tell. She moved from Eastern Europe to the USA as a teenager, and tells us her memories of another student protest, far away in Romania, which led to the downfall of Ceauşescu's dictatorial brand of Communism. Claudia asks how far we should look to political systems to give us "Freedom".

Third in a series of four films for Channel 4's 3 Minute Wonder strand, first broadcast April 1st 2009, 7:55pm.

A Field Studies Production for Channel 4.