Western Illinois University is showing Ava DuVernay's documentary, titled "13th," at 3 and 7 p.m. in the Sandburg Theatre March 22.
A discussion about the film will take place after the 3 p.m showing.
The documentary chronicles what happened after the 13th Amendment, which ended slavery, was ratified. The focus of the documentary is about racial control methods that took place after slavery was abolished, all the way up to current times, according to a release on the school's website.
DuVernay interviewed experts to get a look into modern slavery. Michelle Alexander, author of "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness," and Bryan Stevenson, author of "Just Mercy," are two of the experts interviewed. The film also has an interview with Newt Gingrich about racial matters in the United States.
"The director interweaves the voices of her interviewees with carefully researched archival footage into a skillfully conceived whole, making a forceful argument for her position," said Professor Peter Cole of the WIU Department of History,
The 3 p.m. screening of the film will be introduced by Cole; afterwords he and Professor Erik Brooks lead talks about the film's conclusion.
Alerts Sign-up