{"id":14856,"date":"2015-05-13T18:34:25","date_gmt":"2015-05-13T23:34:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=14856"},"modified":"2015-05-13T18:34:25","modified_gmt":"2015-05-13T23:34:25","slug":"video-thousands-turn-out-for-chiraq-casting-call","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/video-thousands-turn-out-for-chiraq-casting-call\/","title":{"rendered":"VIDEO: Thousands turn out for &#8216;Chiraq&#8217; casting call"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Aisha I. Jefferson<\/p>\n<p>More than 3,500 people started arriving as early as 4:30 a.m. Saturday at St. Sabina Church in the Auburn Gresham community for a chance at fame as an extra in Spike Lee\u2019s new film \u201cChiraq.&#8221;\u00a0<!--more--><\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Thousands Turn Out for &#039;Chiraq&#039; Casting Call\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/127773738?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Country Club resident Monique Keene, a spoke word artist, said she isn\u2019t nervous about making the cut.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m excited because I know whatever God has for me is for me. So, if it comes to pass, I\u2019m right there waiting on it,\u201d Keene said.<\/p>\n<p>Lee is reportedly centering \u201cChiraq&#8221; on a woman\u2019s quest to end gang violence in Chicago. It will be a musical comedy based on the Greek comedy \u201cLysistrata.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Samuel L. Jackson and Chicago area natives Jennifer Hudson and John Cusack will star in it. Rumors are circulating that another Chicago native, Kanye West, may contribute to the film\u2019s soundtrack.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen was the last time you ever heard of major movie holding open casting in the heart of the African American community? I think it\u2019s a great thing,\u201d said Pastor Michael Pfleger of St. Sabina Catholic Church, adding Lee, who he\u2019s known for 10 years, asked if he could hold the casting at the South Side parish.<\/p>\n<p>Despite Lee\u2019s intentions, many local residents, including Mayor Rahm Emmanuel, frown upon the film\u2019s title.<\/p>\n<p>Ameena Matthews, CEO of Pause for Peace, anti-violence organization, applauds Lee\u2019s efforts to make a film about the violence in the city, dislikes the name \u201cChiraq.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat name &#8211; it actually came from a white man that said, &#8216;Our young people in Chicago are terrorists and the violence is like Iraq. So I feel that it is appropriate to call our city Chiraq.&#8217; I tend to differ. We are not a third world country,\u201d Matthews said.<\/p>\n<p>Lee hasn\u2019t said whether or not he\u2019ll change the film\u2019s name, but several Illinois residents hope to land a spot in his film.<br \/>\nPhoto at top: Casting call for extras in Spike Lee&#8217;s movie &#8220;Chiraq&#8221; at St. Sabina on Chicago&#8217;s South Side.<\/p>\n<div id=\"featurecaption\">Photo at top: Casting call for extras in Spike Lee&#8217;s movie &#8220;Chiraq&#8221; at St. Sabina on Chicago&#8217;s South Side.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Aisha I. Jefferson More than 3,500 people started arriving as early as 4:30 a.m. Saturday at St. Sabina Church in the Auburn Gresham community for a chance at fame as an extra in Spike Lee\u2019s new film \u201cChiraq.&#8221;\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123,"featured_media":14850,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194,28,436],"tags":[192],"class_list":["post-14856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-culture","category-general-interest","category-spring-2015","tag-promo"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>VIDEO: Thousands turn out for &#039;Chiraq&#039; casting call - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/video-thousands-turn-out-for-chiraq-casting-call\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"VIDEO: Thousands turn out for &#039;Chiraq&#039; casting call - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Aisha I. Jefferson More than 3,500 people started arriving as early as 4:30 a.m. Saturday at St. Sabina Church in the Auburn Gresham community for a chance at fame as an extra in Spike Lee\u2019s new film \u201cChiraq.&#8221;\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/video-thousands-turn-out-for-chiraq-casting-call\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-05-13T23:34:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/05\/Chiraq-Image-sized.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1100\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"513\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"aishajefferson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"aishajefferson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/video-thousands-turn-out-for-chiraq-casting-call\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/video-thousands-turn-out-for-chiraq-casting-call\/\",\"name\":\"VIDEO: Thousands turn out for 'Chiraq' casting call - Medill Reports Chicago\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/video-thousands-turn-out-for-chiraq-casting-call\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/video-thousands-turn-out-for-chiraq-casting-call\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/05\/Chiraq-Image-sized.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-05-13T23:34:25+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/93c1466c035cc0aa654cb4d75f5bfb27\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/video-thousands-turn-out-for-chiraq-casting-call\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/video-thousands-turn-out-for-chiraq-casting-call\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/video-thousands-turn-out-for-chiraq-casting-call\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/05\/Chiraq-Image-sized.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/05\/Chiraq-Image-sized.jpg\",\"width\":1100,\"height\":513},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/video-thousands-turn-out-for-chiraq-casting-call\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"VIDEO: Thousands turn out for &#8216;Chiraq&#8217; 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