“Chicago’s most hotly contested seventy acres of land” is the apt description of the central area of the city covered by Ronit Bezalel’s documentary, “70 Acres In Chicago: Cabrini Green.” Bezalel’s 1999 short, “Voices of Cabrini,” was her introduction to her subject, and the feature encompasses two decades in its heated history. The dense, anecdotal result is a valuable chronicle of the particulars of urban change, from the experiment under Daley of creating the vast housing project to its demolition to the gentrification of the area. 70m. (Ray Pride)
“70 Acres in Chicago: Cabrini Green” plays Friday, November 13, Saturday, November 14, Sunday, November 15, Wednesday, November 18 and Thursday November 19. The trailer is below.
Ray Pride is Newcity’s Senior Editor and Film Critic. He is a contributing editor of Filmmaker magazine.
Ray’s history of Chicago Ghost Signs is planned for publication next year. Previews of the project are on Twitter and on Instagram. More photography on Instagram.
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