WDCB Encore Film Series
Round Midnight

Round Midnight is a 1986 American-French musical drama film directed by Bertrand Tavernier and written by Tavernier and David Rayfiel. It stars Dexter Gordon, François Cluzet and Herbie Hancock. Martin Scorsese, Philippe Noiret and Wayne Shorter appear in cameos.

The protagonist jazzman, "Dale Turner", was based on a composite of real-life jazz legends Lester Young (tenor sax) and Bud Powell (piano). While the film is fictionalized, it is drawn directly from the memoir/biography Dance of the Infidels written by French author Francis Paudras, who had befriended Powell during his Paris expatriate days and on whom the character "Francis" is based. The film is a wistful and tragic portrait that captures the Paris jazz scene of the 1950s.

Gordon was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role and won a Grammy for the film's soundtrack entitled The Other Side of Round Midnight in the category for Best Instrumental Jazz Performance, Soloist. Hancock won the Academy Award for Best Music, Original Score. The soundtrack was released in two parts: Round Midnight and The Other Side of Round Midnight.

*** NOTE: This event is free for current Encore Club donors, as well as current WDCB contributors, as long as you reserve your tickets in advance. To reserve your pair of tickets, please follow the instructions that were mailed and/or emailed to you. If you are unsure of your current WDCB contribution status, give us a call or send an email to membership@WDCB.org.

FAQs

What are my transportation/parking options for getting to and from the event?

The film will be shown at the College of DuPage, in the Student Resource Center (SRC), Room 2000 (in the Jack H. Turner Conference Center - located on the north side of the SRC). Use parking lot FAWELL B or D (Lot C will be closed and under construction), and enter through doors marked SRC1.  The Conference Center is located up the stairs to the right.  There is also an elevator at the entrance.

How can I contact the organizer with any questions?

If you need more information, please call (630) 942-4200 during regular business hours.