Join St. Louis filmmaker and Kranzberg Artist in Residence David Kirkman for a special artist reception and screening of episodes 1 and 2 of his series, “GONZO,” a coming-of-age story set in 2005 following a college student who invents a groundbreaking algorithm that could reshape the world. As his creation threatens powerful industries in this high-stakes drama, the price of innovation is steep, and the fight to protect it even steeper. The first two episodes, starring Jordan Walker and Shawn Roundtree, Jr., will be playing on a loop in the gallery.
“I wanted to make GONZO because when I learned that Black people only make up four percent of the entire tech industry, I couldn’t stop thinking about what it means to create something world-changing when the odds are already stacked against you,” says Kirkman. “The support from the Black Studies department at Washington University helped ground the series in real history and cultural memory, so even as the narrative evolves, it’s tethered to truth. GONZO is about what happens when that brilliance goes up against global empires and systems designed to keep progress out. It’s a story I’ve never seen told from our point of view.”
