Chameleon Street

Introduced by Ryanaustin Dennis

“Winner of the Grand Prix award at Sundance in
1990, but now relegated to the status of hard-to-find cult film,
Chameleon Street tells the extraordinary, fictionalized account of
real-life Michigan conman William Douglas Street (who posed successfully as a
lawyer and a gynecological surgeon, among other things). Featuring sharp
dialogue and a fine performance from writer-director Wendell B. Harris as
Street, it’s a complex, witty, and often shocking examination of the interplay
between race, identity, and economics.”

— British Film Institute

Ryanaustin Dennis is an Oakland-based curator, artist, writer, and founding member of The Black Aesthetic. His practice is concerned with how twentieth- and twenty-first-century experimental performance, film, and writing histories are shaped by the metaphysics of blackness.

Film Details

Country: USA
Language: English
Year: 1989
Running time: 94 min
Format: Digital
Director: Wendell B. Harris
Screenwriters: Wendell B. Harris
Producer: Dan Lawton
Cinematographer: Daniel S. Noga
Editor: Matthew Mallinson
Source: Atlas Industries

Films and schedules may be subject to change.

Modern Cinema’s Founding Supporters are Carla Emil and Rich Silverstein. Generous support is provided by Nion McEvoy and the Susan Wildberg Morgenstein Fund.

Community support for Black Powers: Reframing Hollywood is provided by the Museum of the African Diaspora.