"It's the rare film that decades later can seem as timely as it was the day it came out. The searing documentary THE MURDER OF FRED HAMPTON is such a film." - Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
Tuesday, December 3, 6:30 p.m. | As he lay asleep in bed on December 4, 1969, Fred Hampton, the leader of the Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther Party, was shot and killed by Chicago police. Filmmakers Mike Gray and Howard Alk, who were already at work on a documentary about the party and its programs, rushed to the scene, recording moments that would prove crucial in collapsing police testimony about the events that led up to his murder. THE MURDER OF FRED HAMPTON documents Hampton's enormous magnetism as a communicator, the Panthers’ free breakfast programs for kids, their free medical services for Chicago’s Black communities, and the formation of a Black Power movement, unrelenting and disciplined. But the backbone of this documentary consists of the events surrounding Hampton's death, the courtroom battles that followed, and the extraordinary life of the celebrated revolutionary Fred Hampton. Presented by Chicago Film Archives as part of Out of the Vault at 20, a series of screenings celebrating the 20th anniversary of the founding of CFA. (Chicago Film Archives) This screening will be introduced by Leila Wills, director of the Historical Preservation Society of the Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther Party and civil rights attorney Flint Taylor, co-founder of the People’s Law Office.
The Film Center is ADA accessible. This presentation will be projected without open captions. The theater is hearing-loop equipped. For accessibility requests, please email filmcenter@saic.edu