Screening will be followed by a Q&A with composer Renee Baker!

BORDERLINE (1930)
Adah, a black woman, has an affair with Thorne, a white man, much to the dismay of some of the prejudiced townsfolk and Thorne's wife, Astrid. Adah attempts a reconciliation with her man, Pete, but eventually leaves him and the town. Meanwhile, Astrid goes mad and cuts Thorne's face and arm with a knife, but then mysteriously dies. Thorne is tried but acquitted. Because of the events, the mayor sends Pete a letter asking him to leave town for the good of all concerned.

Scored by Renée Baker and the Chicago Modern Orchestra Project.
Directed by Kenneth MacPherson
Starring Paul and Eslanda Robeson

RENEE BAKER is founding music director and conductor of the internationally acclaimed CHICAGO ORCHESTRA PROJECT CMOP), a polystylistic organization that grew from the plums of classical music as well as jazz. A member of the world-renowned collective Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), there are few barriers to the creative turns of this composer, conductor, artist, and instrumentalist. As a featured ensemble, CMOP has been chosen to work with NewMusicUSA and the EarShot program of the American Composers Orchestra. Called the latest AACM visionary by DownBeat Magazine, Baker is one of the brightest and most fertile minds in active in composition today.

Sponsored by The Black Film Center/Archive at IU and hosted by the IU Libraries Moving Image Archive/Screening Room.

*This event is free and open to the public.


*The Screening Room temperature tends to run cool, so please remember to bring a jacket or sweater. 

*No food or drink is permitted in the Screening Room.