Punch 9 for Harold Washington: Pre and Post Screening Q&A at Doc Films (2-6-2024)
Witness a riveting Q&A Session at the University of Chicago that followed the screening of a new documentary on Mayor Harold Washington.
Witness a riveting Q&A Session at the University of Chicago that followed the screening of a new documentary on Mayor Harold Washington.
Along the length of Chicago’s Halsted Street one can view a dozen nationalities and a thousand lifestyles. This riveting, kaleidoscopic “road movie” traces this unique thoroughfare nearly 400 miles, from its origin in the cornfields of southern Illinois up to Chicago’s far south side, then through several neighborhoods to its terminus in the heart of Lakeview. Narrated by Studs Terkel, Halsted Street, U.S.A. is a thought-provoking crash-course in American cultural geography.
Director Mark Freeman says: “The cycle of violence in the Middle East may seem to have no end, but in San Diego Jews and Palestinians have united despite the odds. Talking Peace takes viewers inside the Jewish Palestinian Living Room Dialogue and tells a compelling story of two sides coming together through the simple act of listening.”
Witness silent film footage of Roosevelt College in its early days as filmed by some of its first students!
Why and how did an integrated college in a segregated city start in downtown Chicago just as World War II was ending? In 1984 an independent documentary filmmaker, Jeff Spitz, found old pictures and film footage about Roosevelt University including a magazine article that referred to the school as “The Roosevelt Experiment.”
Tapping the memories of former students who crossed the color line, particularly Blacks and Jews, the film blends archival images and interviews into an exploration of race, racial quotas and democratic ideals. Former students recall being questioned during an anti-communist investigation that targeted their school.
Chicago Mayor Harold Washington, a former student council president, shares poignant memories of getting into political
arguments in the cafeteria. He called it an “insane but interesting place.”
Shortly after the film’s release Spitz returned to City Hall to interview Mayor Washington about fairness, diversity and clashing visions of government. Mayor Washington’s additional commentary appears at the end of the video.
Some of the newspaper columns written by Mike Royko are reenacted, parodied, and read live on stage!
The news media chronicles the political rise, reign, and fall of Mayor “Lady Jane” Byrne.
Ben Hollis interviews the denizens of Chicago – wise, whimsical, whacky, and weird alike!