The 60th Chicago International Film Festival is ongoing and I’ve seen a couple more films since my first dispatch! Thank you to everyone who is reading these, I really appreciate it. Since my last post, I’ve watched some more international features from all around the world, and an American classic that has returned after over 50 years.

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The Sp*** Who Sat by the Door (1973)

Director: Ivan Dixon

It’s rare in this day and age for it to be praxis to watch a film. The Sp*** Who Sat by the Door tells a fictional story of the first black CIA agent, who uses his training from within the agency to then lead an army of black revolutionaries against the U.S. government in a story of resistance and liberation. Based on the Sam Greenlee novel of the same name, the film is part political satire and part blaxploitation film. Not many films can still feel dangerous to the American status quo over 50 years later, but this one stands out in how confrontational and defiant it is in its politics. In 1915, then President Woodrow Wilson lauded the KKK reviving film Birth of a Nation, saying it was “like writing history with lightning.” The impact of such racist praise is clear, but a statement like that is misapplied. To truly understand The Sp*** Who Sat by the Door, its full context within history must be known. Only then can it be understood how “history written with lightning” is a much more apt description here.

When this film was first made back in 1973, the filmmakers would edit out the more political parts of the film for test screenings to trick the studios funding the project into thinking it was a more “typical” blaxploitation film. Only once it hit theaters did the true cut of the film reveal itself. Within a few weeks of its theatrical run in 1973, the film was removed by the FBI in an effort to suppress it due to its radical messaging and the fear that it would spark riots. The film was then hidden in a vault under a different name in order to ensure the FBI could not find it and burn the film negative in an effort to erase it from history. For years, the only way to watch this film has been through low quality bootlegs, however the recent 4K restoration has allowed this film the opportunity to be presented in theaters once again such as recently at the CIFF screening.

"You have just played out the American dream, and now we're going to turn it into a nightmare."

The screening I attended was introduced by Natiki Montano-Pressley, the daughter of the original author of the book this film is based on. She closed her introduction by saying, “this is the first time in over 50 years that this film has been viewed in theaters.” It was an incredible moment, one that makes you realize you are living through history. To this day, this film remains one of the few examples of an uncompromised representation of black armed resistance and revolutionary politics in the United States. It depicts candidly what the true cost of a revolution would be, and what it would look like to make one happen. Freedom for all might require you to sacrifice everything, but it is vital and necessary, even if you find yourself on the other end of the barrel of a gun.

By the Stream (2024)

Director: Hong Sang-soo

True domestic realism and authenticity on display. Hong Sang-soo is a filmmaker for fans of mumblecore. By the Stream tells the story of a retired theater veteran who is asked by his niece who teaches at a local university to direct a short play. Hong Sang-soo is a prolific filmmaker known for his slow-paced films depicting love affairs, daily life, and mundane and subtle dilemmas. He is often spontaneous while shooting, changing the story of his films on set and writing the scripts for his scenes on the morning of the filming day. His scenes are shot in one take with no editing, leading to the feeling as a viewer that you are a fly on the wall witnessing real life conversations.

What’s incredible about his work is how close he can get to reality in the performances and staging due to his naturalistic style. While his films never have the energetic highs or devastating lows of other films, they get to a specific kind of intimacy with the viewer that could not be replicated in films that try to be more traditionally "cinematic." When a character cries on screen in By the Stream, it evokes the same exact feeling of anxiety and discomfort as when you are sitting in a room in real life with your friend as they tell you about their problems and weep. It's almost as if by committing to the most naturalistic and simple presentation possible, without all the fancy bonuses editing and music can bring you, that the layer of separation between you as the viewer and the fictional story in front of you begins to dissolve.

All We Imagine as Light (2024)

Director: Payal Kapadia

A soulful tale of coming of age, friendship, and womanhood. All We Imagine as Light tells the story of 3 women living in working-class Mumbai as they try to navigate their emotional conflicts and balance the life they’ve been fated to have with the desire for the life that they seek. It is a film that shows us how the life that we want can be the sun on the horizon we reach for in an otherwise dark and shadowy world, and opening yourself up to support from those closest to you can be how you finally grow your wings and cross the ocean separating you from what you yearn for. With strong themes of loneliness in a big city and finding connection with those around you, All We Imagine as Light continues the emotional dialogue that new wave classics from throughout Asia, such as the works of Wong Kar-wai, helped initiate.

There are so many things that separate us: culture, religion, language, age, etc. Sometimes despite living in a bustling city such as Mumbai, we are filled with loneliness as we cut ourselves off from the outside world. As we are enshrouded in darkness, our desires for the life we want only become brighter, and it is in that moment that we can experience something truly revelatory. An image of the life we want brightens our days as we try to untangle ourselves from the fate we've been given. Hopefully we can one day see those desires made real, and the warmth of that reality will embrace us like the sun hitting our face as we look out the window of a busy train, staring at the countryside.

The Seed of the Sacred Fig (2024)

Director: Mohammad Rasoulof

A political crime drama that depicts the underpinnings of brutal and fascistic military regimes through the confines of family domesticity. The Seed of the Sacred Fig is an Iranian film that tells the story of an investigating judge in the Revolutionary Court in Tehran as he grapples with paranoia while nationwide political protests intensify. After his gun disappears, he reaches a breaking point and suspects the involvement of his wife and two daughters. He begins to impose drastic measures upon his family to find the culprit, leading to rising tensions, and the rules of family life and love are suspended as the sinister ideology of authoritarianism manifests in the home.

The film has since sparked controversy due to its open criticism of the Iranian government and how women are treated in the country. Director Mohammad Rasoulof has had to flee Iran since the release of this film, and 3 of the actresses in the film have also been forced into exile. This is a film that challenges institutions, and while it tells a story contextualized by what’s happening in Iran right now, it is also a story many across the world can relate to as political consciousness is continuing to grow globally. The way the father's indoctrination into the system has led him to recreate the oppressive structures of his work at home for his wife and daughters to suffer under. Politics, brutalization, and bureaucracy have bled people dry out in the streets and now it is bleeding into this family's home life, leading to irreconcilable differences between the conservative patriarch of the family and the women he claims to love. The personal is political and the political will become personal, as your belief system will influence how you treat others whether you want to admit it or not. The Seed of the Sacred Fig shows you how if you are not part of the solution, you will inevitably succumb to becoming part of the problem, or that perhaps you always were out of blind and uncritical loyalty to your nation.

That’s all for this 2nd dispatch from the 60th Annual Chicago International Film Festival. I have one more dispatch planned after I attend the remaining film screenings I have for this year’s festival. Thank you again for reading, and stay tuned for more coverage. Happy 60th birthday CIFF!