The Chicago International Film Festival celebrated its 60th anniversary from Oct. 16-27, opening with The Piano Lesson (2024) and a star-studded red carpet featuring Denzel Washington’s sons, director Malcolm and actor John David Washington, and Chicago screenwriter Virgil Williams at The Music Box Theater. The film was part of the festival’s Black Perspectives programs. Started in 1997 in collaboration with Spike Lee, the Black Perspectives program highlights the excellence and diversity of Black cinema and celebrates the cultural and historical impact of Black experiences through rich African diasporic storytelling.
In the past, the program served as the world premiere for the first film by acclaimed director Ava Duvernay, and featured the work of luminary filmmakers Lee Daniels, George Tillman, Jr. and Steve McQueen.
This year’s program presented 17 films which screened at various theaters and venues across the city, including the Music Box Theater, Gene Siskel Film Center, the Chicago History Museum, AMC NewCity 14 and the Logan Center for the Arts at University of Chicago. Also, there were community screenings at the Hamilton Park Cultural Center in Englewood and the National Museum of Mexican Art in Pilsen.
One of the most exciting aspects of this year’s festival lineup were the retrospectives and remastered filmworks; 1973’s The Spook Who Sat By The Door is truly a testament to the longevity and transformative power of Black film, then and now.
Here are a list of five films from the festival that are worth watching:
The Piano Lesson (2024)
directed by Malcolm Washington
America’s leading man Denzel Washington’s sons made a movie together. Emerging director Malcom Washington and his award-winning older brother John David Washington pair up to bring this 1987 August Wilson play to the big screen. Set between Mississippi and Philadelphia over two decades, a brother and sister have a tense reunion over the fate of a deeply meaningful heirloom piano. Then, a hauntingly stubborn ghost, and ancestors from their past, enter the chat! You’ll feel Wilson’s spirit on screen between the layers of ancestral stories that Washington mixes with magical realism to bring to life what you can only imagine while watching or reading the play, which asks a big question: “What do you do with your legacy, and how do you best put it to use?”
Stream it on Netflix beginning Nov 22. (trailer)
The Spook Who Sat By The Door (1973)
directed by Ivan Dixon
Ivan Dixon’s The Spook Who Sat By the Door is a radical adaptation of Sam Greenlee’s 1969 novel and a seminal work of American political cinema. Set in Chicago, but mostly shot in Gary, Indiana because then-mayor Richard J. Daley refused to grant the permits to shoot the film in Chicago. But, the filmmakers “stole” shots of the city including the L train platforms and a few snatches of footage from various corners of the South Side. The film — originally scored by the South Side’s own Herbie Hancock — depicts a Black CIA agent who secretly trains a guerilla army on the South Side of Chicago. It was radical and revolutionary to see this on screen in 1973, nearly four years after the Chicago police assassination of Black Panthers Mark Clark and Fred Hampton. Today, the film has been restored to its original glory, showcasing a timeless portrayal of Black resistance. In 2012, the Library of Congress added the film to the National Film Registry.
Watch the original film on YouTube. You’ll see where that audio clip from Killer’s Mike’s song “Shed Tears” comes from and understand why this book was so inspiring to the late radical thinker, West Coast artist and activist Nipsey Hussle.
Color Book (2024)
directed by David Fortune
David Fortune’s feature-length debut sheds light on marginalized communities through the art of visual storytelling and cinema. If you’re a person who loves photography, you will appreciate the art direction in this film. Shot entirely in black and white around the city of Atlanta, Color Book is a cinematic portrait encapsulating the importance of Black fatherhood with scenes that harken to the works of renowned Black photographers Carrie Mae Weems, Lorna Simpson, and Gordon Parks. The film deals with grief, loss and enduring love while depicting a devoted, newly widowed father, Lucky (played by Will Catlett, who also starred in the OWN series “Love Is,” trying to raise and take care of his son, Mason, who has Down Syndrome. The story takes you on a long and winding, but intimate journey to a baseball game, in which we see this small but mighty family learning, mourning, growing and bonding with one another.
Future showings of this film were unavailable at the time of this story’s publishing.
Unstoppable (2024)
directed by William Goldenberg
Based on a true story, this film follows Anthony Robles who was born with one leg and wins a national wrestling championship in 2011 at Arizona State University. It’s an inspiring sports drama that will either motivate you to work harder towards your goals or at least adjust the perception of your life’s hurdles. Jharrel Jerome ( from the Oscar-winning film Moonlight and NAACP Image Award-winning When They See Us drama series) is spectacular as the hero in this film and someone will be cutting onions nearby as you watch. Roble’s determination inspired his entire community and family to achieve more for themselves which appears to be the big thesis of his life story.
Having premiered at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival, look out for Unstoppable on Prime Video in 2025. (trailer)
Photo provided by The Chicago International Film Festival.
Save the Children (1973)
directed by Stan Lathan
In 1972, Rev. Jesse Jackson and Operation PUSH held a Black Exposition on Chicago’s South Side to celebrate Black excellence in business and culture. “Save The Children” was the event’s main message and it was captured on film by director Stan Lathan and his team: an epic five-day concert — mostly unseen since its original release in 1973 — with a glorious display of legendary musical performances by The Jackson, Marvin Gaye, Isaac Hayes, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Curtis Mayfield, The Staple Singers and many more. Lathan was already a powerhouse director and documentarian of Black culture in a live performance context having directed three seasons of the popular 1960s and 70s PBS music series, Soul! (A documentary about this show, titled Mr. Soul, premiered at the 54th Annual Chicago International Film Festival in 2018). Save The Children stands out as an upbeat and life-affirming portrayal of a Black gathering in Chicago for the purpose of uplifting the community.
You can stream the restored documentary on Netflix here.
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