Compensation (1999)
Synopsis
This bold, original Chicago drama, newly restored for its 25th anniversary, follows two love stories set in the city’s Black community. Although they’re set nearly a century apart, they also echo each other in salient ways. Both star deaf actress Michelle A. Banks and Exhibiting Forgiveness star John Earl Jelks, and each tracks a unique couple as they confront the specter of parallel pandemics—tuberculosis in the first story; AIDS in the second—and a complex set of intersecting challenges involving issues of race, gender, class, education, and ability.
Innovatively crafted and shot in luminous black-and-white, the film blends archival footage of early 20th century Black Chicago with silent movie techniques like ornate title cards and a ragtime score. Inspired by Paul Laurence Dunbar’s poem of the same title, Zeinabu irene Davis’s debut feature is a time capsule of two eras and a graceful and universal tale of love, tragedy, and Black American life.
Screenings & Events
Screening
Sun, Oct 27 @ 2:15pm CDT
at Chicago History Museum
Director Zeinabu irene Davis
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Film Credits
- Zeinabu irene Davis, Marc Arthur Chéry
- Marc Arthur Chéry
- Zeinabu irene Davis
- Pierre Désir
- John Earl Jelks, Michelle A. Banks, Nirvana Cobb, Kevin L. Davis, Christopher Smith
- Wimmin with a Mission Productions