Growing Up Absurd

Directed by Julie Niemi and Ben Balcom

Growing Up Absurd is assembled from interviews conducted remotely with key members of the Tolstoy College community – Alex Van Oss, Peter Murphy, Chip Planck, and Paul Richmond – that speak to the ethos and history of the college, from its founding in 1969 to its dissolution in 1985. At once a sweeping portrayal of the college’s meeting places and the state of the campus today, Growing Up Absurd layers memories and traces of history to convey the lived experiences of its participants. College F, known colloquially as Tolstoy College, was an anarchist educational community which operated within the University at Buffalo between 1969 and 1985.