Hogtown (film)


Hogtown is a multi-racial, multilingual "period-less" 2015 independent film. Set against the backdrop of the 1919 Chicago race riots, the story revolves around the mysterious disappearance of a millionaire theater owner during a snowstorm. Bill Stamets of the Chicago Sun-Times acknowledged Hogtown as "the most original film made in Chicago about Chicago to date". It was named one of the 10 Best Films of 2016 by Ben Kenigsberg, who reviewed the film for The New York Times, and JR Jones of The Chicago Reader named it the best film about Chicago and the best film made in Chicago, "period," for 2015. The film won Best Picture awards at the 30th Black International Cinema Berlin, the 2015 International Black Film Festival, the 2015 Los Angeles Black Film Festival, and the 2015 Independent Film Playoff. It is the second of three films in an unnamed trilogy, following the 2010 film Chicago Heights. The third film, Sister Carrie, is in development.

Factual basis

The era in which the story is set was when the infamous Chicago Race Riots of 1919 had the city in the throes of racial tension, and includes characters based on individuals involved in that crisis, including its first victim, Eugene Williams, and the first injured policeman, Dan Callahan.
Ambrose Greenaway, the theatre owner of the film, is modeled on Ambrose Small, who disappeared during a snowstorm in Toronto on December 2, 1919. The prime suspects in his disappearance are similarly modeled on real people - Theresa Greenaway on Theresa Small, and John Doughty, based on Small's accountant of the same name.
Ernest Hemingway, who lived in Toronto and in Oak Park in this period, is also a character, as is the American author Sherwood Anderson, who was living and working in Chicago at that time.
In 1919 Chicago also faced the Black Sox Scandal, one of Major League Baseball's first, and biggest, cheating scandals.

Cast

Hogtown was filmed on location in Chicago and nearby cities; Crown Point, Indiana; Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada; and Paris, France. A portion of the film’s micro-budget was courtesy of an Individual Artists Program Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events and the Illinois Arts Council.

Music

Hogtown's orchestra score is performed by the College of William and Mary Wind Ensemble and conducted by Paul Bhasin, who composed the score. The film also contains original gospel songs with music by Minister Raymond Dunlap and lyrics by Nearing.

Reviews

wrote that Hogtown is "the most original film made in Chicago about Chicago to date".
Ben Kenigsberg of The New York Times included Hogtown in the 10th position on his list of the 10 Best Films of 2016, saying “Daniel Nearing has carved out an original and boldly unfashionable niche. Hogtown plays like a find from a forgotten archive.”
The Chicago Reader named it the best film about Chicago and the best film made in Chicago, "period," for 2015.
The Chicago Tribune commented that although "Some of the poetic conceits are a bit much; I'm not sure having actors grind through lengthy descriptive verbal passages while simulating lovemaking is really a viable idea," Hogtown "captures nooks and crannies and the underside of the elevated train tracks with a true artist's eye. There's a brief montage of gorgeously photogenic fire escapes, seen in all weather, scored beautifully by composer Paul Bhasin, that's better than the entirety of the last few features I've seen, period."

Awards and recognition