To fit the parallel romances that it recounts—between a deaf woman and a hearing man in Chicago’s African American communities—Compensation shows us the world as its deaf protagonists experienced it, minimizing spoken dialogue, employing title cards and lingering on rich, contemplative images. The film’s aesthetic not only makes it enjoyable for deaf and hearing audiences alike, but makes the stories feel like dreams: good dreams, though fraught with the characters’ struggles with racism, disability and the presence of death.

Featured alongside Compensation is a new print of Iverson White’s Dark Exodus, a brief re-imagining of the migration that brought African-Americans at the turn of the century from their homes in the South to the promising North.

Tonight’s program is part of our month-long series L.A. Rebellion. Read More >>

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