The fascinating and often uplifting film, directed by Jim Brown, stems from a 2003 salute at Carnegie Hall to Harold Leventhal, who managed an assortment of important folksingers over a 50-year career. His congenial and informative reminiscences are also part of the movie. Leventhal has since died at the age of 86.

Pete Seeger, The Weavers, Leon Bibb, Arlo Guthrie, and Peter, Paul and Mary highlight the talk and songfest, and there are recollections of how folk performers who were blacklisted stood up to their persecutors and rallied people throughout the country with their music. Listening to them is an invitation to carry on the tradition that began in the 1930s (think Arlo Guthrie’s father Woody) and was honed during McCarthyism and the Vietnam War.

There is some sadness in seeing the performers as they look now in contrast to their youth, but on the other hand, it is wonderful and invigorating to see them still able to perform with verve, mutual affection and conviction, thereby passing the torch.