We Real Cool: A Celebration of Gwendolyn Brooks’s 100th Birthday

Join us for the premiere of Manual Cinema's video honoring Gwendolyn Brooks, who was born one hundred years ago on June 7, 1917. Using simple, illuminative paper-cut puppetry, this enchanting video imagines the moment of witness that inspired Brooks to write her landmark poem, “We Real Cool.” Created by Manual Cinema in association with Crescendo Literary with story by Eve Ewing and Nate Marshall and music by Jamila Woods and Ayanna Woods.

This video is a companion to a live staged production of No Blue Memories: The Life of Gwendolyn Brooks, premiering in November 2017 to commemorate Brooks’s centennial year.

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