Community Cinema

Based on the 1959 foundational Chicago play penned by the legendary Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun is a portrait of the experience a generation of Black families endured on the front lines of demanding recognition of their personhood while planting seeds of stability through one family’s battle of homeownership on the the shifting sands of integration on Chicago’s South Side. Realized for the screen in 1961 by director Daniel Petrie and made iconic through the unforgettable performances of a cast led by Sidney Poitier and Ruby Dee, the film exposes the torturous reality of what happens to a dream deferred.[…]

Set in early 1960s Chicago, Cooley High follows two best friends as they navigate their senior year at Cooley Vocational School near Cabrini-Green. Between everyday adventures, neighborhood tensions, and dreams of the future, they imagine lives far beyond the confines of their community.