Movies

White Lies, Black Sheep

Black Harvest International Festival of Film and Video

This festival of work by black artists from around the world runs Friday, August 1, through Thursday, August 28, at the Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State. Unless otherwise noted, tickets are $9, $5 for Film Center members; for more information call 312-846-2800. Following are selected programs through August 7; a complete festival schedule is available at siskelfilmcenter.com.

A Black Harvest Feast Five short works, screening as part of the opening-night program. LeeAnn Trotter of WMAQ will attend the screening to present the Deloris Jordan Award for Excellence in Community Leadership to her colleague Warner Saunders. Fri 8/1, 7:30 PM.

The Black List, Vol. 1 Timothy Greenfield-Sanders directed this HBO documentary, scheduled for broadcast later this year, in which former New York Times film critic Elvis Mitchell interviews such African-American cultural figures as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Sean Combs, Bill T. Jones, Vernon Jordan, Toni Morrison, Chris Rock, and Keenen Ivory Wayans. 65 min. Mitchell will attend the screening. Tue 8/5, 8:15 PM.

Soul of a Woman David Weathersby’s 2006 video documents a group show in Chicago that showcased 25 artists, mostly women of color. Several of the participants recorded are gifted conversationalists, but for the most part this is drab and plodding, with a single, fixed camera position for all the interviews. There are sound problems and ragged dissolves, and in many of the gallery shots Weathersby fails to attribute the artwork. 79 min. (AG) Weathersby will attend the screenings. Sun 8/3, 5:15 PM, and Thu 8/7, 6:15 PM.

Trouble the Water Tia Lessin and Carl Deal directed this documentary, scheduled for commercial release later this year, about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. 90 min. Wed 8/6, 6:15 PM.

White Lies, Black Sheep In the documentary Afro-Punk (2003), James Spooner explored the alienation of black punks from their predominantly white milieu; here he rehashes the same themes in a drama clumsily framed as a faux doc. Trailed by a camera crew, an ace party promoter (Ayinde Howell) plies his trade on the Lower East Side. Like Stephen Colbert, he purports not to perceive skin color, but as the latent racism of his white hipster friends exacts a toll, his skinny white jeans and Green Day haircut begin to feel like badges of servitude. Viewers who don’t gag on the film’s cloying cocktail of emo wallowing and PC race politics may do so on its knuckleheaded sexism. 84 min. (Cliff Doerksen) Also on the program, Boris Schaarschmidt’s 15-minute short Spent. Mon 8/4, 6:15 PM, and Thu 8/7, 8:30 PM.

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