Hard Hat Riot

Hard Hat Riot (2025)

The clash over Vietnam that swung blue collar voters to the right.

  • Genre: Documentary, History
  • Release Date: 2025-09-30
  • Runtime: 1h 21min
  • Language: English
  • Production Company: American Experience Films
  • Production Country: United States of America
  • Director: Marc Levin

Trailer

Summary

On May 8, 1970, construction workers violently clashed with students demonstrating against the Vietnam War in lower Manhattan. The workmen, who came to be known as “hardhats,” were at the cutting edge of a new kind of class war. With the war in Vietnam raging on, it was the sons of the working class who were doing most of the fighting. Workmen saw the protesting students as privileged “draft dodgers” disparaging the country and those who fought for it. On the other side, many student activists saw the workers as pawns, unwilling to see the changes that America needed. Hard Hat Riot tells the story of a struggling metropolis, a flailing president, a divided people, and a bloody juncture when the nation violently diverged ― culminating in a new political and cultural landscape that radically redefined American politics and foreshadowed the future.

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  • Richard Nixon

    as Self
  • John V. Lindsay

    as Self
  • David Kuhn

    as Self
Production Cameo George Executive Producer
Directing Marc Levin Director
Writing Marc Levin Writer
Production Marc Levin Producer
Writing Daphne Pinkerson Writer
Production Daphne Pinkerson Producer
Production Cary Woods Producer
Editing Henry Moskowitz Editor
Editing Ken Sirulnick Colorist
Production Mikaela Beardsley Producer
Production David Kuhn Co-Producer
Writing David Kuhn Book
Production Elisa Annenberg-Paglia Production Assistant