Kartemquin
Films’ The Trials of Muhammad Ali will be screening in
Chicago from November 8th to November 14th, with special appearances
by Khalilah
Camacho-Ali, the former wife of
Muhammad Ali, who also appears in the film, and director Bill Siegel.
The film covers the important, life changing period in Ali’s life when the former Cassius
Clay became Muhammad Ali, his conversion to Islam and refusal to serve during the Vietnam War which resulted in him being banned from boxing, and facing a five-year prison sentence.
According to director Siegel, he wanted to make the film
because “no Ali film has deeply explored his exile years, his spiritual
transformation and his impact on the world beyond the ring…. And when you
personalize those tensions through the humanity of Muhammad Ali, it gives them
depth and definition in ways that resonate now. Ultimately, it is a story that
has at least as much to say about our society and how Ali’s principles continue
to challenge us as it does about his own transformation.“
The film will have a special Opening Night Event screening at Music Box Theatre in Chicago at 3733 N. Southport Ave., on November
8th at 7PM along with a
reception with appearances by director Bill
Siegel, producer Rachel Pikelny,
and Khalilah Camacho-Ali with a Q
& A session with all of them after the screening
The film will continue to screen at the Music Box and at two
other Chicago area theaters until 11/14 at ICE
Lawndale 10, located at 3330 W. Roosevelt Rd, and the Chatham 14, located at 210
West 87th St.
In addition, at the Chatham Theater, there will be an
appearance by Siegel and Ms. Ali at the 4:45PM screening on Nov 9th.
Here’s the trailer:
