651 ARTS, Brooklyn’s premier institution for the African Diasporic performing arts, will present ESPN’s 30 for 30 presentation of Benji – this free film screening that will mark the final installment of its Against Gravity: Community Fly Zone Workshop Series which aims to encourage introspection, uplift key historical figures, and honor the abundance of ways Black masculinity exists today through movement, poetry, and film.

Directed by Chicago native Coodie Simmons and his New Orleans born collaborator Chike Ozah, Benji recalls the life and impact of rising Chicago basketball star Ben “Benji” Wilson who was ranked as the number 1 player in the country in the Summer of 1984. He was deemed to be the one that would make it to the league and put Chicago on the map but his life was cut tragically short at the age of 17 years old when he was shot and killed – and with him went the hopes and dreams of Black Chicago. The screening will be followed by a post-show discussion panel with Coodie, Chike and Against Gravity… creator André M. Zachery. The screening will be the first event hosted in 651 ARTS’ brand new theater home at 10 Lafayette Ave.