Sep 22nd 2018

The Area

@ Gene Siskel Film Center of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago

164 N State St, Chicago, IL 60601

Opening Saturday, September 22nd, at 7:45PM

On view through Thursday, September 27th

First Chicago run! David Schalliol in person!
★★★★ “An eye-opening saga of resistance.” – Andrea Gronvall, Chicago Reader

This searing documentary unfolds the process of a nefarious land grab for a more than century-settled swath of Chicago’s South Side Englewood neighborhood. Over a five-year period, the Norfolk Southern Railway methodically turns 85 acres of homes into eerily empty prairie land in the name of economic revitalization. Aided by the city council and a host of business interests, the railroad proceeds with a plan to expand its intermodal freight terminal into the heart of an area whose residents have few resources to resist when pressured with cash and threats of eminent domain. With a sensitive eye for the raw beauties of the urban landscape, director Schalliol follows a story that becomes powerfully emotional when the last holdouts, led by 30-year resident Deborah Payne, fight for their rights, while the homes of their neighbors fall one after another to the bulldozers. DCP digital. (BS)

Friday, 9/14 at 8:00 PM: Director David Schalliol, protagonist/producer Deborah Payne, and editor/producer Brian Ashby are scheduled to appear for an audience discussion moderated by photographer and critic Lee Bey.

Saturday, 9/15 at 8:00 PM: Author Alex Kotlowitz (“There are No Children Here”) is scheduled to facilitate a conversation with director David Schalliol, editor/producer Brian Ashy, protagonist/producer Deborah Payne, and Englewood neighbors.

Sunday, 9/16 at 5:00 PM: The National Public Housing Museum’s oral history corps is scheduled to present a conversation with director David Schalliol and protagonist/producer Deborah Payne.

Tuesday, 9/18 at 8:30 PM: Activist and musician Tweak Harris and activist and journalist Charles Alexander Preston are scheduled for an audience discussion, moderated by Scrappers Film Group’s Luis Perez.

Thursday, 9/20 at 8:15 PM: The Metropolitan Planning Council is scheduled to present WBEZ’s Senior Editor of Race, Class, and Communities Alden Loury in conversation with protagonist/producer Deborah Payne.

Friday, 9/21 at 8:00 PM: Director David Schalliol and photographer/filmmaker Carlos Javier Ortiz are scheduled to appear for an audience discussion, moderated by the Museum of Contemporary Photography’s Kristin Taylor.

Saturday, 9/22 at 7:45 PM: The Metropolitan Planning Council is scheduled to present a conversation with photographer and Englewood activist Tonika Johnson, protagonist/producer Deborah Payne, and director David Schalliol, moderated by the Metropolitan Planning Council’s Gabriel Tyler.

Sunday, 9/23 at 3:00 PM: Director David Schalliol and protagonist/producer Deborah Payne are scheduled to appear for an audience discussion moderated by Emmanuel Pratt, Director of the Sweet Water Foundation.

Monday, 9/24 at 8:00 PM: Audrey Petty, author of “High Rise Stories,” is scheduled to facilitate a discussion with protagonist/producer Deborah Payne and editor/producer Brian Ashby.

Thursday, 9/27 at 8:15 PM: Chicago Embassy Church Pastor Chris Butler is scheduled to appear with protagonist/producer Deborah Payne and special guests.

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