Out of the underground dance clubs on the South Side of Chicago, a group of friends turn a new sound into a global movement.

In the chaos of Disco Demolition Night at Comiskey Park, a teenage usher named Vince Lawrence witnessed the fiery backlash against disco—a sound that defined freedom and pride. Undeterred by the hostility, Vince used his earnings to buy a synthesizer, setting in motion a journey that would change music forever. 

Venturing into the underground sanctuary of The Warehouse, where Frankie Knuckles spun revolutionary sounds, Vince teamed up with Jesse Saunders to form Z Factor, a scrappy collective of visionaries who captured the pulse of Chicago’s underground on wax. Their track, On and On, became the first recorded house music anthem, sparking a movement that transformed a local DIY culture into a global phenomenon.

From those gritty Chicago streets to festival stages worldwide, Vince’s story is an electrifying testament to how a dream, born in the ashes of rejection, ignited a genre that continues to unite and liberate people across the globe.

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This showing features a post-film Q&A with director Elegance Bratton and producer Chester Algernal Gordon, moderated by TTO’s Joseph V. Porter.