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Introduced by Leila Wills, director of the Historical Preservation Society of the Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther Party.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.
The Film Group’s THE MURDER OF FRED HAMPTON (1971) was photochemically preserved in 2017 by the UCLA Film and Television Archive, using elements deposited in their archive soon after Mike Gray’s passing in 2013. In 2019, CFA, in cooperation with UCLA, produced another 35mm preservation print of this remarkable film, now housed in CFA’s Film Group Collection.
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.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Gene Siskel Film Center of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 150 N State St, Chicago, IL 60601-3505, United States,Chicago, Illinois
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