Leading Black Deaf actress Michelle A. Banks stars in Compensation which is having its long-delayed theatrical release after 25 years.
————————————————————————————————————————————————-
A landmark of independent cinema, COMPENSATION is Zeinabu irene Davis’s moving, ambitious portrait of the struggles of Deaf African Americans and the complexities of loving relationships at the bookends of the twentieth 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 eighty 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.
In December 2024, Compensation was selected along with 25 others for preservation by the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress for “cultural, historical and aesthetic importance.”
Where: Northwest Film Forum; 1515 12th Ave, Seattle, WA
When: Tuesday, March 18. Screening starts at 7:15 pm PT
ID: Film Poster in vintage sepia. In the middle of poster, in old fashioned letters “Compensation” with hands fingerspelling letters above the title. Below Title, it says “A Film by Zeinabu irene Davis”. Above the title, a Black couple dancing on beach with Sundance Film Logo and “Thumbs Up! An enchating film about characters who endure and previal and trust themselves… it makes you feel good” - Robert Ebert. Below the title, a Black couple dressed in early 1900’s clothes dancing in water.