SILVER

A landmark of independent cinema, added to the Library of Congress National Film Registry in 2024, COMPENSATION is Zeinabu irene Davis' moving, ambitious portrait of the struggles of Deaf African Americans and the complexities of loving relationships at the bookends of the 20th century. In extraordinary dual performances, Michelle A. Banks and John Earl Jelks play Malindy and Arthur, a couple in 1910 Chicago, as well as Malaika and Nico, a couple living in the same city almost 80 years later. Their stories are deftly interwoven through the creative use of archival photography, an original score featuring ragtime and African percussion and an editing style both lyrical and tender. Malindy, an industrious, intelligent dressmaker, falls for Arthur, an illiterate migrant from Mississippi, along the shore of Lake Michigan. On the same beach in the present, Malaika, an inspired and resilient graphic artist, softens before a brash yet endearing children’s librarian, Nico. Each pair faces the obstacles of their time as Black Americans, including structural racism and emerging pandemics. COMPENSATION remains a groundbreaking story of inclusion and visibility that bears witness to the social forces and prejudices that stand in the way of love. (Note courtesy of Janus Films.) DIR/PROD Zeinabu irene Davis; SCR/PROD Marc Arthur Chéry, from the poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar. U.S., 1999, b&w, 92 min. In English and American Sign Language with English subtitles and intertitles. NOT RATED

Please note that this screening will be presented with open captions.

Guided and approved by director Zeinabu irene Davis, this 4K digital restoration was undertaken by the Criterion Collection, the UCLA Film and Television Archive and Wimmin with a Mission Productions in conjunction with the Sundance Institute from a scan of the 16mm original camera negative. The 5.1 surround soundtrack was mastered from DAT tapes by the UCLA Film and Television Archive. Newly created open captions have been implemented, designed by Alison O’Daniel in collaboration with the Compensation Caption Creative Team.