David Baldwin, brother of James Baldwin, being interviewed by Producer/Director Karen Thorsen for “JAMES BALDWIN: THE PRICE OF THE TICKET” in St. Paul-de-Vence, France, 1988 – the village where James Baldwin lived for 17 years. Credit: The James Baldwin Project
James Baldwin’s legacy will take center stage this week as art, film and conversation converge at the Wexner Center for the Arts.
In collaboration with the James Baldwin Project and Ohio State, the center will present a free screening of “James Baldwin: The Price of the Ticket” Wednesday at 7 p.m., followed by a Q&A with the film’s director and founder of the James Baldwin Project nonprofit, Karen Thorsen.
First released in 1989 and recently restored by the James Baldwin Project, the documentary blends archival footage, public speeches and interviews to accurately depict Baldwin’s life as a Black, gay writer navigating the 20th-century world from Harlem to Paris, according to the James Baldwin Project’s website.
Thorsen said the film traces Baldwin’s travels through nine countries and features rare footage from his funeral, noting Baldwin was closely involved in the documentary’s early development before his death in 1987.
“I got a letter from James Baldwin that had been dictated from his sick bed the week before in France,” Thorsen said. “He said, ‘Dear Karen, I’m sorry to say, for reasons of health, I won’t be able to participate in that film project as planned,’ and then he crossed out the period and wrote in shaky handwriting, ‘For the time being.’”
Thorsen said Baldwin passed away a week later, Dec. 1, 1987, and never had the chance to see the completed film.
“On our last phone call, he told me, ‘Don’t worry, Karen, we’ll be filming by the end of the year,’” Thorsen said. “Well, I didn’t know that it wasn’t going to be the film project we were working on. It was actually me filming his funeral.”
Thorsen said she has dedicated the past decade to bringing Baldwin’s message to a new generation.
“It’s not about the well-being of any given race,” Thorsen said. “It is about all of us and what we need to do to be better human beings.”
Maurice Stevens, associate dean for engagement at Ohio State’s College of Arts and Sciences, said though the film centers on Baldwin’s life, it also emphasizes his impact during a crucial era of cultural change, particularly with the Civil Rights Movement.
“He was a cultural observer and reflector,” Stevens said. “He was a brilliant writer. He had a very kind of intersectional identity and always kept his complexity at the fore. I think [the film will] offer folks an opportunity to actually be in conversation with each other around the kinds of issues that he tends to raise.”
Stevens said the screening is part of a year-long partnership between the James Baldwin Project and Ohio State. He said upcoming events between the two institutions will include an art exhibition, a community discussion focused on Baldwin’s writings and another off-campus screening next spring.
“Baldwin was constantly putting himself in conversation with people about the things that mattered,” Stevens said. “That’s why people came together around him — and that’s what we hope to create here.”
For more information about the screening, including how to reserve free tickets, visit the center’s webpage.
