We are excited to announce that A.B.L.E.'s feature film, The Spy Who Knew Me, is an official selection of the Chicago Onscreen Showcase. We are one of 15 local films selected for screenings around the city through the movies in the parks program this summer!
The Chicago Onscreen Local Film Showcase gives local filmmakers the opportunity to share their work with a citywide audience through free outdoor public screenings in local parks. Over the past 4 years, Chicago Onscreen has screened more than 60 local films in 25 neighborhood parks across the city, giving Chicagoans a chance to see themselves, their neighborhoods and our city on the big screen. The Spy Who Knew Me will have two screenings in August:
Tuesday, August 28
at West Pullman Park (401 W. 123rd St.)
Wednesday, August 29
at Independence Park (3945 N. Springfield Ave.)
The week will culminate in a multi-screen weekend-long festival and celebration of local film, filmmakers and film organizations:
Thursday, August 30 – Saturday, September 1
at Ping Tom Memorial Park (1800 S. Wentworth Ave.)
All 15 Official Selections will be screened over the course of this weekend festival. Specific screening dates and times will be announced soon! Be sure to check our event page for more details as they become available.
This is A.B.L.E.’s second outing with the Showcase, having previously been featured in 2015 with our first movie, The Curse of the Tempest Jewel, a film noir detective story about a lost treasure. The Spy Who Knew Me is A.B.L.E.’s second film, featuring an ensemble cast of 20 actors with Down syndrome. Actors collaborated with a professional film crew and teaching artists to create this unique spy movie.
A riff on the classic spy-adventure genre epitomized by James Bond, The Spy Who Knew Me follows super spy Tabitha Link and the ladies of the all-female agency U.N.I.T.E. After receiving an anonymous tip, Tabitha winds up at the scene of a jewelry heist where she sees a familiar face from her past. She and her fellow spies must race to find the connections between a series of thefts, a top-secret military experiment, and several missing operatives before they lose themselves completely to the evil organization E.C.H.O. The finished film is 70 minutes long and, since premiering in September 2017, has been touring local schools and community organizations for screenings and talkbacks with the cast and crew. We hope will raise awareness and show what individuals with Down syndrome can do when they are given equal access to creative opportunities.
Want to learn more about The Spy Who Knew Me?:
