Spike Lee Tackles Gun Violence Head On In Debut Trailer For Chiraq

With little over a month until its release via Amazon Instant Video, we now have our first trailer for Spike Lee’s latest political satire Chiraq.

Coming by way of Amazon Studios and Roadside Attractions (via IMDb), Lee’s latest feature film as a timely and hard-pressing as ever, opening with lurid emergency message the grabs your attention with two firm hands and refuses to let go. Situated in Chicago, Illinois, the drama sheds light on the issue of violence and gun crime in the Windy City, and in case you hadn’t already guessed, the title itself is a play on the city’s name and the front lines of Iraq.

There’s more to Chiraq than meets the eye, though, as the director’s new creative venture acts as a modern-day adaptation of the ancient Greek play Lysistrata by Aristophanes. The official logline describes the picture as so: “After the murder of a child by a stray bullet, a group of women led by Lysistrata organize against the on-going violence in Chicago’s Southside creating a movement that challenges the nature of race, sex and violence in America and around the world.”

Collaborating with faces both old and new, Chiraq‘s cast encompasses the likes of Nick Cannon, Wesley Snipes, Jennifer Hudson, Teyonah Parris, D.B. Sweeney, Harry Lennix, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Steve Harris, Angela Bassett, John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson

Timely, politically-charged and deftly funny, Chiraq is every bit of a Spike Lee joint, and you can catch it when it opens in theaters in a limited run on December 4, 2015.