Film News: Closing Night of Black Harvest Film Festival is ‘Crooklyn’ on Aug. 29, 2019

CHICAGO – It’s been a fast four weeks, and the 25th anniversary edition of the Black Harvest Film Festival in Chicago will have its Closing Night on Thursday, August 29th, 2019, at the Gene Siskel Film Center in the downtown Loop. The special presentation will be the 25th Anniversary celebration of Spike Lee’s “Crooklyn,” and will feature appearances by Joie Lee (Spike’s sister and co-screenwriter) and actress Zelda Harris from the film. Click here [18] for tickets and more information.



“Crooklyn” (1994) was Spike Lee’s seventh film, right after his Oscar nominated “Malcolm X,” and is often noted as his most personal work. It focuses on a Brooklyn family in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, where Lee and his three siblings grew up (brother and sister Cinqué and Joie Lee were co-screenwriters). The film family struggles through life in 1973, with serious challenges. Spike also performs in the film, as a colorful neighborhood glue sniffer named Snuffy. Although overshadowed by his showier films of the era, “Crooklyn” has grown in reputation for the filmmaker.

Closing Night Film is ’Crooklyn’ at Black Harvest Film Festival
Photo credit: SiskelFilmCenter.org

Celebrating its 25th anniversary, the Black Harvest Film Festival is Midwest’s largest and longest-running Black film festival, and the Gene Siskel Film Center’s most vibrant annual showcase featuring provocative films that celebrate the stories, dreams, history, and legacy of African Americans and the African diaspora. The Festival features Chicago premieres, filmmaker appearances, panel discussions, and special events. A combined total of over 50 features, documentaries, and shorts will be screened, including a number connected to Chicago, affirming the city’s role as a vital center for independent filmmaking. Black Harvest supports the Gene Siskel Film Center’s ongoing mission to present inclusive and insightful programming.

[20]	By PATRICK McDONALD [21] Editor and Film Writer HollywoodChicago.com pat@hollywoodchicago.com [20]