This festival of work by black artists from around the world runs Friday, August 3, through Thursday, August 30, at the Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State. Unless otherwise noted, tickets are $9, $5 for Film Center members; for more information call 312-846-2800. Following is the schedule for August 3 through 9; a complete festival schedule is available online at www.chicagoreader.com.
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And Then Came Love Tailored for Vanessa Williams, this video has a contemporary subject (resolutely single mothers) but feels more like Doris Day’s farcical 60s comedies about independent career women who remain unfulfilled until they meet Mr. Right. Williams plays an unwed Manhattan journalist and author whose son’s behavioral problems prompt her to locate the sperm donor who’s his biological father. Dad turns out to be a young, struggling actor (Kevin Daniels) who soon comes between Williams and her lover (Michael Boatman). Director Richard Schenkman creates a subtext promoting traditional nuclear African-American families, yet oddly the heroine has no black friends. With Eartha Kitt and Ben Vereen. 99 min. (AG) a Thu 8/9, 8:15 PM.
E.S.P. This 2006 video comedy by Adedapo Akisanya may be short on budget and technique, but its concept is refreshingly original. Fired from his job, a Chicago car salesman (B.K. Battle, both likable and credible) is egged on by his materialistic, unfaithful wife (Monica Williams) to pass himself off as an African telephone psychic. His transition from hustling cars to hustling callers is so successful he has to hire additional “psychics” to meet consumer demand, and one of them, a pretty coed (Yvette Thompson), catches his eye. Shaky camerawork and indifferent lighting distract from mostly sincere performances, while poor sound recording and mixing render some lines unintelligible. Yet thanks to Battle the story’s moral about taking responsibility for one’s own mistakes goes down easily enough. 89 min. (AG) Akisanya will attend the screenings. a Sun 8/5, 5 PM, and Tue 8/7, 8:15 PM.
Mr. Untouchable 91 min. a Sat 8/4, 8:30 PM.
