Cooley High

The Cinesthesia film series at the downtown library has an eclectic lineup for the whole year. This month’s pick, 1975’s Cooley High, is a Black coming-of-age comedy/drama that in retrospect seems a precursor to everything from Do the Right Thing to The Chi. It was directed by Milwaukee native Michael Schultz, who attended UW-Madison (where he fell in love with foreign films) and Marquette before launching a Hollywood career — he also directed Car Wash with Richard Pryor, and the ill-fated Bee Gees musical Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band as well as Denzel Washington’s film debut, Carbon Copy. Cooley High stars Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs and Glynn Turman, and a soundtrack stuffed with Motown classics.

media release: Join fellow Madison cinephiles for a monthly movie night at Central Library! Hosted by Jason Fuhrman, Cinesthesia is an adventurous, eclectic series of classic and contemporary films that focuses on the complex relationship between literature and cinema. Cinesthesia strives to foster constructive dialogue, while breathing new life into controversial works, neglected masterpieces, and titles in the margins of film history. 

Find the schedule here: https://www.madisonpubliclibrary.org/new/cinesthesia-2025