7:00 p.m.	Compensation Zeinabu irene Davis (U.S., 1999)

Compensation depicts two Chicago love stories, one set at the dawn of the twentieth century and the other in contemporary times, featuring a deaf woman and a hearing man. Played by the same actors (Michelle A. Banks and John Earl Jelks), both couples face the specter of death when the man is diagnosed with tuberculosis in the early story, and the woman with AIDS in the contemporary one. Inspired by a poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar (who died of tuberculosis in 1906, at the age of thirty-three), the film considers the ephemeral nature of love and life, while illustrating the enduring challenges of race and racism over the course of a century. One of the most striking aspects of Compensation is its unusual narrative approach. Upon casting deaf actress Banks, Davis and screenwriter Mark Arthur Chéry modified the film to incorporate sign language and title cards, making it accessible to both deaf and hearing audiences.

—Jacqueline Stewart

• Written by Marc Arthur Chéry. Photographed by Pierre Désir. With Michelle Banks, John Earl Jelks, Nirvana Cobb, Kevin L. Davis. (90 mins, B&W, DigiBeta transfer from 16mm)

Preceded by:
Dark Exodus
(Iverson White, U.S., 1985) New Print!

Subjected to Jim Crow laws and an overtly racist white population that still sees blacks as property, an African American family in the South sends its sons away to a better life. Visualizing the migration of African Americans from the rural South to the urban, industrial North in sepia tones, Iverson White’s period film captures the atmosphere of early twentieth-century America. Jan-Christopher Horak (28 mins, B&W, 16mm)

Total running time: 118 mins