'63 Boycott (Courtesy of Kartemquin Films)
Screening & Live Event
'63 Boycott and Barzack Towers
Museum of the Moving Image - Redstone Theater
Presented by The Afrikan Poetry Theatre in collaboration with Museum of the Moving Image
With Filmmakers Smij, Mike Sargent, and Afrikan Poetry Theatre Executive Director Saiku Branch in conversation with student filmmakers
'63 Boycott (Dir. Gordon Quinn. 2017, 30 mins.) On October 22, 1963, more than 200,000 students walked out of the Chicago Public Schools to protest racial segregation. Many marched through the city calling for the resignation of School Superintendent Benjamin Willis, who placed trailers, dubbed ‘Willis Wagons,’ on playgrounds and parking lots of overcrowded black schools rather than let them enroll in nearby white schools. Blending unseen archival 16mm footage of the march shot by Kartemquin founder Gordon Quinn with the participants’ reflections, ’63 Boycott connects the forgotten story of one of the largest northern civil rights demonstrations to contemporary issues around equity, education, and youth activism.
Preceded by the premiere of Barzack Towers (A film by APT 2018 film class, 13 mins.) Maintaining order in a world that is shrinking and thrown into chaos, Dounya and her people fight to control The I-grant masses. But before her mission is complete, her soul must face the consequences of her action. This short work was filmed at Museum of the Moving Image through a filmmaking class led by Afrikan Poetry Theatre and supported by the Cultural Immigrant Fund.
The screening will be followed by a discussion with the creators of Barzack Towers and Afrikan Poetry Theatre members.
