The Other Side of the Tracks: Nontheatrical Film History, Pre-Rebellion Watts, and Felicia

Felicia (Alan Gorg, Bob Dickson, and Trevor Greenwood, 1965), a short educational film about a teenage girl living in Watts, California, chronicles a day in the life of a high school junior as she reflects on her geographical situation and life aspirations. This article considers how Felicia is particularly suited to a discussion of the ways that urban spaces, and Watts in particular, were imagined in the 1960s. It demonstrates how nontheatrical film can inform our understanding of film history and enrich discussions of documentary filmmaking, the role of student filmmakers, and other cinematic movements such as that of the LA Rebellion.