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The Chicago 8 is a 2011 American drama film written and directed by Pinchas Perry and starring Philip Baker Hall, Gary Cole, Steven Culp and Mayim Bialik.[1] The film is based on actual court transcripts from the Chicago Seven trial.
The Chicago 8 is a courtroom drama based on actual court transcripts from the trial that resulted when seven young leaders of the Vietnam anti-war movement including Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, David Dellinger, Rennie Davis, and Tom Hayden and Black Panther Party Chairman Bobby Seale were charged with conspiracy to incite a riot.[2]
Pinchas Perry, Al Bravo, Shirly Brener, Kate Connor, Alain Jakubowicz, and James Mathers all serve as producers. The film is edited by Colleen Halsey and Richard Halsey with James Mathers serving as cinematographer.[2]
Jason Bailey, writing for The New York Times, describes the film as "a bizarre oddity that tackles this historical event with the tools and aesthetics of a low-budget direct-to-video erotic thriller," noting that "Perry, who wrote and directed, follows his predecessors by lifting snatches of dialogue from the court transcripts, but shows little understanding of the rhetoric or events, and its slender 90-minute running time is padded with inexplicable sidebars: sequestered jurors arguing over entertainment options, a tender scene between villainous Judge Hoffman and his concerned wife, and, God help us, an Abbie Hoffman orgy scene."[3]
The film received the Audience Choice Award for Best Feature Film at the 2011 Beverly Hills Film Festival.