Now Film/Video | Visiting Filmmakers | Documentaries

James Baldwin: The Price of the Ticket

(Karen Thorsen, 1989)

Karen Thorsen, director and founder of the James Baldwin Project, in person

New Restoration

Info & Tickets

James Baldwin drinking tea, he is sitting outside next to an ornate large metal decanter.

Apr 23, 2025 7:00 PM

Film/Video Theater

Free for all audiences with ticket

For ticketing questions please call the Visitor Desk at (614) 292-3535.

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Filmmaker and James Baldwin Project founder Karen Thorsen joins us to present her powerful, newly restored documentary of writer and social activist James Baldwin.

Using rarely seen footage from Baldwin’s life and his travels through nine different countries, James Baldwin: The Price of the Ticket melds interviews and eloquent public speeches by Baldwin and his peers with candid scenes of Baldwin and footage from his extraordinary funeral service. One of the great intellectuals of our time, Baldwin recounts what it is to be born Black, impoverished, gifted, and gay in a world that has yet to understand that “all men are brothers.” Featuring Maya Angelou, Amiri Baraka, Ishmael Reed, and Bobby Short. (90 mins., DCP)

IMAGE CAPTION
James Baldwin: The Price of the Ticket, photo: Sedat Pakay.

"A haunting, beautifully made biography! Deeply passionate."

Los Angeles Times

Tag(s)

Film/Video

Cosponsored by Ohio State’s College of Arts and Sciences Office of Engagement, the Vice Provost for the Arts, and the James Baldwin Project.

FILM/VIDEO PROGRAMS MADE POSSIBLE BY
Ohio Humanities

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY
Rohauer Collection Foundation

WEXNER CENTER PROGRAMS MADE POSSIBLE BY
Greater Columbus Arts Council
The Wexner Family
Institute of Museum and Library Services
Mellon Foundation
Every Page Foundation
Ohio Arts Council, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts
CampusParc
Nationwide Foundation
Lois S. and H. Roy Chope Fund of The Columbus Foundation
The Columbus Foundation
Axium Packaging