First Chicago run! David Schalliol in person!
★★★★ “An eye-opening saga of resistance.” – Andrea Gronvall, Chicago Reader

This searing documentary unfolds the process of a nefarious land grab for a more than century-settled swath of Chicago’s South Side Englewood neighborhood. Over a five-year period, the Norfolk Southern Railway methodically turns 85 acres of homes into eerily empty prairie land in the name of economic revitalization. Aided by the city council and a host of business interests, the railroad proceeds with a plan to expand its intermodal freight terminal into the heart of an area whose residents have few resources to resist when pressured with cash and threats of eminent domain. With a sensitive eye for the raw beauties of the urban landscape, director Schalliol follows a story that becomes powerfully emotional when the last holdouts, led by 30-year resident Deborah Payne, fight for their rights, while the homes of their neighbors fall one after another to the bulldozers. DCP digital. (BS)

Friday, 9/14 at 8:00 PM: Director David Schalliol, protagonist/producer Deborah Payne, and editor/producer Brian Ashby are scheduled to appear for an audience discussion moderated by photographer and critic Lee Bey.

Saturday, 9/15 at 8:00 PM: Author Alex Kotlowitz (“There are No Children Here”) is scheduled to facilitate a conversation with director David Schalliol, editor/producer Brian Ashy, protagonist/producer Deborah Payne, and Englewood neighbors.

Sunday, 9/16 at 5:00 PM: The National Public Housing Museum’s oral history corps is scheduled to present a conversation with director David Schalliol and protagonist/producer Deborah Payne.

Tuesday, 9/18 at 8:30 PM: Activist and musician Tweak Harris and activist and journalist Charles Alexander Preston are scheduled for an audience discussion, moderated by Scrappers Film Group’s Luis Perez.

Thursday, 9/20 at 8:15 PM: The Metropolitan Planning Council is scheduled to present WBEZ’s Senior Editor of Race, Class, and Communities Alden Loury in conversation with protagonist/producer Deborah Payne.

Friday, 9/21 at 8:00 PM: Director David Schalliol and photographer/filmmaker Carlos Javier Ortiz are scheduled to appear for an audience discussion, moderated by the Museum of Contemporary Photography’s Kristin Taylor.

Saturday, 9/22 at 7:45 PM: The Metropolitan Planning Council is scheduled to present a conversation with photographer and Englewood activist Tonika Johnson, protagonist/producer Deborah Payne, and director David Schalliol, moderated by the Metropolitan Planning Council’s Gabriel Tyler.

Sunday, 9/23 at 3:00 PM: Director David Schalliol and protagonist/producer Deborah Payne are scheduled to appear for an audience discussion moderated by Emmanuel Pratt, Director of the Sweet Water Foundation.

Monday, 9/24 at 8:00 PM: Audrey Petty, author of “High Rise Stories,” is scheduled to facilitate a discussion with protagonist/producer Deborah Payne and editor/producer Brian Ashby.

Thursday, 9/27 at 8:15 PM: Chicago Embassy Church Pastor Chris Butler is scheduled to appear with protagonist/producer Deborah Payne and special guests.

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Tags: Alden Loury, Alex Kotlowitz, Audrey Petty, Brian Ashby, Carlos Javier Ortiz, Charles Alexander Preston, Chicago, Chris Butler, David Schalliol, Deborah Payne, Emmanuel Pratt, Gabriel Tyler, Gene Siskel Film Center of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois, Kristin Taylor, Lee Bey, Loop, Luis Perez, The Area, Tonika Johnson