African American Auteurs
Lecturer: Jacqueline Stewart
From January 30 through May 8 the Gene Siskel Film Center offers a series of fourteen programs of films entitled African American Auteurs, with weekly lecture/discussions by Jacqueline Stewart, Associate Professor of Radio/Television/Film at Northwestern University and author of Migrating to the Movies: Cinema and Black Urban Modernity.
The series is made possible in part through the sponsorship of American Airlines, the Gene Siskel Film Center’s Educational Underwriter, and is presented in cooperation with the School of the Art Institute’s Department of Art History, Theory, and Criticism. Please note that, for the convenience of our audience, films are sometimes shown on both Friday and Tuesday; however, Jacqueline Stewart’s lectures accompany only the Tuesday screenings. Admission to all African American Auteurs programs is $4 to Film Center members; usual admission prices apply for non-members.
-- Martin RubinThis series examines the work of four African American directors: Oscar Micheaux, Spencer Williams, Charles Burnett, and Spike Lee. Looking at their substantial and diverse bodies of work, we explore the aesthetics and politics of African American filmmaking from the silent era to the present. We discuss the unique features of each
director’s style, and their complex relationships to independent and commercial filmmaking practices. Along the way, we debate the usefulness of auteur-focused approaches, particularly in the study of films made by and for marginalized groups.
- Jacqueline Stewart
Special thanks to Debbie Rummel of New Line Cinema.
25TH HOUR
2002, Spike Lee, USA, 134 min.
With Edward Norton, Rosario Dawson
“Lee’s best feature since DO THE RIGHT THING.”--Jonathan Rosenbaum, Reader
Like the underrated SUMMER OF SAM and the recent INSIDE MAN, 25TH HOUR shows that Spike Lee’s importance as a cultural observer is not limited to racial issues and African American characters. The central thread of the plot--a convicted drug dealer (Norton) spending his final day before he goes to prison--is integrated into a powerful vision of New York City in the aftermath of 9/11. 35mm widescreen. (MR)
Saturday, May 5, 5:15 pm
Tuesday, May 8, 6:00 pm
Watch for our next, two-part, year-long series, The Great Transition: World Cinema in the 1950s and 1960s, beginning August 31, with weekly lectures by Jonathan Rosenbaum, internationally renowned film critic for the Chicago Reader and author of numerous books including Movie Wars: How Hollywood and the Media Limit What Films We Can See.