Screening Freedom Series: Cane River
@ Logan Center for the Arts, The University of Chicago
915 E 60th St, Chicago, IL 60637
Opening Sunday, August 6th, from 1PM - 4PM
Written, produced, and directed by the late, trailblazing director Horace B. Jenkins and crafted by an entirely Black cast and crew, this luminous, recently rediscovered landmark of American independent cinema is a charmingly laid-back, socially incisive love story set in the heart of Louisiana. It’s there that a forbidden romance between an aspiring writer (Richard Romain) and an ambitious, college-bound woman (Tommye Myrick) lays bare the tensions between two Black communities: the wealthy Creoles and the working-class descendants of enslaved people. Featuring lyrical cinematography and strikingly naturalistic performances from its captivating leads, the long-lost Cane River reemerges thanks to a brand new, state-of-the-art restoration by Indie Collect and Oscilloscope Laboratories. Learn more>>
This film series happens on Sundays, Jul 9-Aug 27, 1-4pm / Screening Room
Seating is limited; please RSVP
This July and August, join us for a series of free film screenings celebrating the work of Black cinema, self-representation and freedom. Screening Freedom highlights self-representation on film as freedom work. This curated series draws from decades of Black film production, showcasing works that embody the ongoing efforts of Black artists to self-produce works that reflect and enrich Black life.
Within this series, two special screenings will be paired with selections from The South Side Home Movie Project, which protects the vibrant and expressive history of amateur film production on Chicago’s South Side through an extensive archive of small-gauge home movie recordings. By drawing thematic, visual, and contextual connections between theatrical releases and intimate home movie recordings, this series highlights how the struggle for Black self-representation occurs at many scales, from blockbuster movies to intimate family records. Screening Freedom elevates this work as worthy of exhibition, discussion, and preservation.
Catered discussion will follow each screening, some of which will feature representatives from the featured home movie collections as our invited guests and contributors to the conversation.
Screening Freedom Schedule:
Sun, Aug 6: Cane River (Horace B. Jenkins, 1982)
Sun, Aug 13: Compensation (Zeinabu Irene Davis, 1999)
Sun, Aug 20: The African Desperate (Martine Syms, 2022)
Sun, Aug 27: Drylongso (Cauleen Smith, 1993)
Official Website
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Tags: Chicago, Horace B. Jenkins, Hyde Park, Logan Center for the Arts, Screening Freedom Series, Screening Freedom Series: Cane River, The University of Chicago
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