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Licensor Information
Wimmin with a Mission Productions
Directed by: Zeinabu irene Davis
Featuring: Michelle A. Banks, John Earl Jelks, Christopher Smith, K. Lynne Stephens, Nirvana Cobb, Kevin L. Davis
A poignant portrait of Deaf African Americans and the complexities of love at both ends of the twentieth century, Zeinabu irene Davis’s film is a groundbreaking story of inclusion and visibility. In dual performances, Michelle A. Banks and John Earl Jelks play an educated dressmaker and an illiterate migrant in 1910s Chicago, and a resilient graphic artist and an endearing librarian living in the same city eight decades later. Employing archival photography, an original score blending ragtime and African percussion, and lyrical editing, Davis deftly intertwines the two couple’s stories, in ways both tender and tragic. Compensation is a landmark of American independent cinema that confronts the social forces and prejudices that hinder love.
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Release Information:
Technical Specifications
Format:
DVD
Disc:
DVD-9 (1 Disc)
Total: 1 Disc
Regions:
1 (DVD)
Aspect Ratio:
1.33:1
Audio Options:
English Dolby Digital Stereo 2.0
Resolution:
480p/29.97
Subtitles:
English
Supplements
Types of Supplements Included: Audio Commentary, Q&A, Short Film, Interview, Video Essay, Theatrical Trailer, Booklet
- Audio commentary featuring Zeinabu irene Davis, screenwriter Marc Arthur Chéry, and director of photography Pierre H. L. Désir Jr.
- Q&As with members of the cast and crew
- Two short films by Davis, Crocodile Conspiracy (1986) and Pandemic Bread (2023), the latter with audio commentary featuring Davis and cast and crew members and descriptive audio
- Interview with Zeinabu irene Davis from 2021
- New program about select archival photographs and adinkra and vèvè symbols in the film
- Trailer
- An essay by film scholar Racquel J. Gates, a director’s note, and a conversation between Zeinabu irene Davis and artist Alison O'Daniel about the process of captioning the film
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Restoration Information
Compensation
Restoration by:
The Criterion Collection
UCLA Film & Television Archive
Year: 2024
Scanned at: 4K Digital
Restored at: 4K Digital
Sources:
16mm Original camera negative
Release Notes on Restoration
Compensation is presented in the director's preferred aspect ratio of 1.33:1. Guided and approved by director Zeinabu irene Davis, this 4K digital restoration was undertaken by the Criterion Collection, the UCLA Film & Television Archive, and Wimmin with a Mission Produtions--in conjunction with the Sundance Institute--from a scan of the 16 mm original camera negative. The stereo soundtrack was mastered from digital audio tapes by the UCLA Film & Television Archive. The new open captions were designed by Alison O;Daniel, in collaboration with the Compensation caption creative team.