Hosted by Jacqueline Stewart (UChicago) with Carmel Curtis (XFR Collective) and Margaret Caples (Community Film Workshop of Chicago)

The “Collaborative Knowledges” collection of films focuses on inter-generational dialogues as a way to reclaim history and knowledge in people rather than in institutions. This program features videos that unearth lost knowledge and histories; elaborate shared experiences; and document traditions and practices of storytelling. This program includes shorts from community media centers such as Appalshop in Kentucky; Paper Tiger TV in NYC; and Scribe Video Center in Philadelphia. These groups view participatory community media making as a tool for self-expression, education, and social and political change.

This event is part of “We Tell: 50 Years of Participatory Community Media,” a six-screening series of activist grassroots documentaries made by oppositional groups in the United States for more than 50 years. Curated by Louis Massiah of the Scribe Video Center and Patricia Zimmermann of Ithaca College, the series offers an essential history of the individual voices that embody and constitute “we the people.” Exploring salient topics of collective documentary practice, each program features a diversity of voices across historical time periods and geographic locations throughout the United States. The programs chronicle a rich history of political and social engagement by community groups, connecting past with present to show the development of ideas, media technologies, and politics. Each screening will be complemented by speakers from across Chicagoland, including filmmakers, activists, and scholars, further connecting the issues raised in the films to our own lives.

SCREENING SCHEDULE:

1/16: States of Violence, with Jacqueline Stewart, Louis Massiah, and Maira Kwhaja at Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts
1/30: Environments of Race and Place, with Susan Gzesh and Alaka Wali at Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts
2/6: Body Publics, with Judy Hoffman, Sarah Oberholtzer, and Alex Halkin at Green Line Performing Arts Center
2/20: Wages of Work, with Salomé Aguilar Skvirsky, Patricia Zimmermann, and Andrew Friend at Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts
2/27: Collaborative Knowledges, with Jacqueline Stewart, Carmel Curtis, and Margaret Caples at Green Line Performing Arts Center
3/12: Turf, with Allyson Nadia Field, Angela Aguayo, Denise Zaccardi, Anton Seals, and Gordon Quinn at Green Line Performing Arts Center

Presented by the University of Chicago’s Arts + Public Life and the Film Studies Center, with generous support from the Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture.

All programs are free and open to the public.

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Tags: Carmel Curtis, Chicago, Green Line Performing Arts Center, Jacqueline Stewart, Margaret Caples, Washington Park, We Tell Film Series: Collaborative Knowledges