A Restored Indie Film, 1999’s ‘Compensation’ Has Been Deemed ‘Culturally, Historically or Aesthetically Significant’
Ultimately, the deaf experience provides a focal point, reinforced by director Zeinabu irene Davis’s mention in press notes that she knows of no other movie with a deaf Black lead.
The digitally restored 1999 film “Compensation” applies an impressive range of cinematic techniques and modes of storytelling to tell the tales of two deaf Black women in early and late 20th-century Chicago.
From archival photography and intertitles to metric montage and open captions, the drama’s eclectic filmic language dovetails with its depiction of two different eras in American history and its exploration of diverse forms of communication. This stylistic variety also proves central to the themes of struggle and inclusion as well as its narrative of love and loss.
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