BLACK PERSPECTIVES PROGRAM @ 55TH CHICAGO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

The 55th Chicago International Film Festival, presented by Cinema/Chicago, announces its 23rd Black Perspectives Program showcasing excellence in filmmaking from African American filmmakers and the African diaspora.

This program celebrates African-American and black storytellers from Alabama to France, Chicago to Senegal.
To buy Tickets: Chicago Film Festival: Black Perspectives

FRI 10/25 6:00 PM SAT 10/26 12:15 PM
THE APOLLO
U.S. • Director: Roger Ross Williams • 102m
This stirring and soulful tribute to the iconic Harlem venue charts its history and continuing relevance as the country’s foremost showcase for African-American performers. Skillfully blending rousing archival clips—including Ella Fitzgerald and Lauryn Hill, both performing as teenagers at “Amateur Night”—with memorable testimonials from the likes of Aretha Franklin and Smokey Robinson,
Oscar®-nominated director Roger Ross Williams creates a moving portrait of black cultural life.

FRI 10/25 8:30 PM SUN 10/27 2:00 PM
ATLANTICS (ATLANTIQUES)
France/Senegal/Belgium • Director: Mati Diop • 105m • Wolof with subtitles
Along the Atlantic coast, a futuristic tower looms over a suburb of Dakar. Ada, 17, is in love with Souleiman, a young construction worker. But she has been promised to another man. One night, Souleiman and his co-workers leave the country by sea, in hope of a better future. Several days later, a fire ruins Ada’s wedding and a mysterious fever starts to spread. Little does Ada know that Souleiman has returned.

FRI 10/18 8:45 PM SAT 10/19 7:45 PM
CLEMENCY
U.S. • Director: Chinonye Chukwu • 112m
Alfre Woodard delivers a searing performance as Bernadine Williams, a prison warden who dutifully carries out executions in a maximum-security prison. After a botched procedure, cracks begin to surface in her stoic demeanor, and her growing bond with a doomed inmate pushes Bernadine toward a powerful personal reckoning. In only her second feature and winner of the Sundance Grand Jury Prize, director Chinonye Chukwu crafts an astute character study of a strong-willed woman trying to salvage what remains of her soul.
Filmmakers scheduled to appear at select screenings; subject to change*

SAT 10/26 8:00 PM
HARRIET
U.S.• Director: Kasi Lemmons • 125m
Based on the thrilling and inspirational life of an iconic American freedom fighter, Harriet tells the extraordinary tale of Harriet Tubman's escape from slavery and transformation into one of America’s greatest heroes. Her courage, ingenuity, and tenacity freed hundreds of slaves and changed the course of history. Filmmakers scheduled to appear at select screenings; subject to change

MON 10/21 8:15 PM
JUST MERCY
U.S. • Director: Destin Daniel Cretton • 136m
Just Mercy is the true story of young lawyer Bryan Stevenson (Michael B. Jordan) and his history-making battles for justice in Alabama. Stevenson refuses to back down as he fights a legal system without mercy stacked against him and his clients at every turn. One of his first, and most incendiary, cases is that of Walter McMillian (Jamie Foxx), a man whose clear innocence means nothing to the corrupt and compassionless forces Stevenson doggedly takes on.

SUN 10/20 2:00 PM MON 10/21 5:45 Pm
LES MISÉRABLES
France • Director: Ladj Ly • 103m • French with subtitles
In his astonishing, assured feature film debut, Ladj Ly stages an unconventional police procedural in Montfermeil, the same Parisian district where Victor Hugo set his landmark saga. Ly follows three plainclothes cops as they navigate—and inflame—the neighborhood’s simmering ethnic and racial tensions, exploring the adversarial relationship between law enforcement and the neighborhood’s poor Muslim population. Ly’s vérité approach lends even more urgency to the timely tale of social injustice.

FRI 10/18 6:30 PM
SUN 10/20 11:30 AM
FRI 10/25 1:00 PM
RINGSIDE
Germany/U.S. • Director: André Hörmann • 93m
Call it Hoop Dreams for boxing. Like its famous predecessor, Ringside isn’t just a story about two aspiring young Chicago black athletes as they experience the successes and setbacks of life and sport over several years. It also delivers an emotional gut-punch as it chronicles the travails of Destyne Butler Jr. and Kenneth Sims Jr., as well as the hardworking fathers who stand by their side through every victory and defeat. Filmmakers scheduled to appear at select screenings; subject to change

WED 10/23 12:00 PM
SAT 10/26 3:00 PM
SHORTS 7: SOME KIND OF TOMORROW—BLACK PERSPECTIVES
This program showcases talented filmmakers and paints an image of black life in the United States and abroad. 86m

See You Next Time (U.S.) captures the intimate moments between a Chinese nail tech and her black client in a Brooklyn nail salon. Two friends struggle to maintain their bond as they cope with a tragic event and the threat of gentrification in Liberty (U.S.). In Easter Snap (U.S.), a homestead hog-processing ritual is keenly observed. Two unapologetically black and fearlessly funny friends go for a walk in Minneapolis’ North Loop (U.S.). Mthunzi (South Africa) reveals cultural tensions when a passer-by attempts to help a woman in the grips of a seizure. A mixture of traditional narrative and spoken word tells the tender story of a mother and son in Blackwood (Australia). All on a Mardis Gras Day (U.S.) reveals a secret 200-year old tradition in which African-American men don feathered and beaded suits in a battle to decide who’s prettiest.

To buy Tickets: Chicago Film Festival: Black Perspectives