The High Low Gallery presents a special screening of episodes 1 and 2 of, ‘GONZO,’ a series by St. Louis filmmaker and Kranzberg Artist in Residence David Kirkman. ’GONZO’ is 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., are playing on a loop now through Friday, October 31 in the High Low Gallery during regular gallery hours, daily from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“I wanted to make GONZO because when I learned that Black people only make up 4 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.”
Kirkman’s feature film “UNDERNEATH: Children of the Sun,” which made its debut at The Grandel in 2024, is nominated for a 2025 Septimus Award for Best Experimental Film. A visionary writer, film director, and film composer from Ferguson, Kirkman is the founder of Woke Nation Studios and is known for creating films about Black superheroes and documentaries showcasing Black life.
