WE GROWN NOW World Cinema

Screening to be followed by a conversation with director Minhal Baig.

Set against the backdrop of the Cabrini-Green public housing complex in 1992 Chicago, the latest film from Minhal Baig (HALA, AFI FEST 2019) charts the prepubescent friendship between two boys, Malik and Eric. Sidestepping any infatuation with its infamous reputation of organized crime and destitution, the film instead focuses on the humanity and community within these spaces. Malik and Eric spend their days jumping on old mattresses in the playground and skipping school to go on an impromptu field trip to the Art Institute Museum. But when tragedy strikes the neighborhood and an argument ensues, the boys must find a way to make amends before it’s too late. With a supporting cast of S. Epatha Merkerson, Jurnee Smollett and Lil Rel Howery as parental figures, WE GROWN NOW paints a textural, lyrical portrait of Black American working class families in Chicago. Brimming with nostalgia for one’s childhood best friend, it is an ode to a bygone neighborhood many once called home. –Anna Li