 The Spook Who Sat by the Door
Novel by: Sam Greenlee (1966)
Original Screenplay by: Melvin Clay and Sam Greenlee
Directed by: Ivan Dixon (1973)
Genre: Action/Drama
Running time: 102 minutes
Rating: PG
The Spook Who Sat by the Door, begins with a U.S senator up for re-election and, afraid of losing and in desperate need of the Black vote, publicly makes accusations against the CIA of racism and segregation. As a concession the CIA recruits several Black candidates, believing that none of the young men will make it through the rigorous and bias training. The very quiet and unassuming Dan Freeman is the one and only recruit that completes the training, becoming the first Black CIA agent.
Freeman is given the unrewarding task of running the agencies photocopy machine operation. After giving a group of politicians a guided tour of the CIA headquarters he is promoted to having a “desk job” at the front desk, making him the first individual visitors and employees alike see when entering the building. This also allows him to become the token symbol of the agencies desegregation actions.
 After five years of actively playing the role of the happy and dutiful Uncle Tom, Freeman leaves the CIA for a higher paying job as a social worker in his hometown of Chicago. In his new profession he will be working with the King Cobras, the most notorious gang in the city. He secretly trains the members of the gang, using all that he learned during his CIA training. Freeman’s definitive objective is to train an army of Black revolutionaries throughout the nation, which will stand up and liberate Black America. After the police shoot and kill a small-time drug dealer, a riot ensues, allowing Freeman and his newly trained army to use the riot as the means to embark upon their cause.
Ivan Dixon best known as an actor who played Sgt. “Kinch” Kinchloe on Hogan’s Heroes directed the film, which was sold out during the three weeks it was released in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, and Oakland. Dixon and author Sam Greenlee contend that the FBI pressured the distributor to pull the film, claiming that it would incite riots.
The Spook Who Sat by the Door has been digitally re-mastered and released on DVD by filmmaker Tim Reid.
 The Murder of Emmett Till
Produced & Directed by: Stanley Nelson
Coordinating Producer: Laurens Grant
Written by: Marcia A. Smith
Genre: Documentary
Running time: 57 minutes
Emmett Till a Black 14- year old youth from Chicago was visiting relatives near Money, Mississippi in August of 1955. While leaving a small local grocery store, the young Till whistled at a young white woman behind the counter. Unbeknownst to him at the time he’d broken a cardinal rule of Jim Crow etiquette. Within days Emmett Till’s body was found beaten, mutilated, and almost completely unrecognizable in the Tallahatchie River.
Till’s mother Mamie Till Mobley refused to allow the murder of her son to rest silently along with his body. Boldly, she insisted upon holding an open casket funeral service in order to show the world the grisly injustice placed upon her son. Till’s killers were arrested and charged with murder, yet they were both quickly acquitted by an all white, all male jury. Later the two men “accused” of murdering the young Till publicly confessed to the crime.
Emmett Till’s horrible and untimely death awakened many to the racial bias within American social structures, and ignited the Civil Rights Movement of the mid 1950’s.
The film won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and made its television debut as a part of PBS’ American Experience Anthology in January of 2003.
 The Last Stain
Written, directed and produced by: Chicago Vocational Career Academy students
Genre: Drama
Running time: 17 minutes
When two small time street hoods attempt a robbery at a neighborhood convenience store, they cross paths with two older, hard-core criminals attempting a robbery at the same time. When the youths accidentally end up with the pros’ loot, their friendship is tested by a struggle to evade the gangsters’ wrath.
CVCA students wrote, directed and acted in the film, which was produced as part of the Summer Production Mentorship Program, a collaboration between IFP/Chicago and the Chicago Public Schools. The program brings local film professionals and high school students together as part of the Education To Careers program.
Last summer, IFP/Chicago mentorship producer John Mossman and Chicago Vocational Career Academy Radio/TV Teacher Roger Badesch led fifteen juniors from CVCA through the script-to-screen process of producing a short film and a ‘making of’ documentary. The student-written script was chosen from among scripts submitted by broadcast technology students throughout the school system.
 The program is structured around the elements of film work: pre-production, production and post-production. Twelve of the students worked on the short narrative film and three worked on the documentary about the making of the film.
Each participant on the narrative short served a primary role: producer, art director, videographer, editor, etc. and were each responsible for their element of the production. During pre-production, the students worked to fine tune the script, the shooting schedule and storyboards. They had to scout and secure locations and permits where necessary, create the sets and costumes, and cast the film with the help of a local casting agency. In post-production, the participants edited the film, trailers and the documentary. They also created titles and original music.
“The Last Stain” received one of seven National Student ‘Emmy’ Awards from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, beating out 600 entries.
 Asunder
Novel by: Eric Lee Bowers
Original Screenplay by: Eric Lee Bowers
Directed by: Tim Reid (1998)
Genre: Thriller
Running time: 101 minutes
Rating: R
Friends since college, two couples Chance and Roberta Williams and Michael and Lauren Hubs share an idyllic evening out at a local fair. The night ends in tragedy with the death of Roberta and her unborn child in a freak accident. Lauren and Michael try as best as they can to console Chance during his time of grief, yet gradually Chance becomes mentally unbalanced due to his loss.
 Chance makes an attempt to reestablish his former life by trying to re-ignite an affair that he once shared with Lauren. Michael realizes what is going on and soon he and Lauren decide that they no longer want Chance to remain a part of their lives. Not able to handle the rejection well, Chance allows his attraction to Lauren to turn fatal. This leads to disastrous results for all involved.
The film was directed by Tim Reid and released by New Millennium Studios and features standout performances by Blair Underwood and Debbi Morgan.
Displaced Person
Short Story by: Kurt Vonnegut
Screenplay by: Fred Barron
Directed by: Alan Bridges
Genre: Drama
Running time: 60 minutes
At the end of World War II, a young Black boy is being raised in an all White orphanage operated by an order of Nuns in a small German town. Peers and townspeople alike tease the boy, claiming that he is the son of a Black American GI who is a part of the occupation troops. When the young boy, who has never seen another Black person, decides to leave the orphanage to find his alleged father, he encounters an African American sergeant played by Stan Shaw in a memorable performance.
The film first aired on PBS’ American Playhouse Short Story Collection and won an Emmy for Outstanding Children’s Program.
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