Compensation is a 1999 independent drama film produced, co-edited and directed by Zeinabu irene Davis and written by Marc Arthur Chéry. The film is about two parallel love stories set in turn-of-the-century and present-day Chicago, with both stories concerning a relationship between a deaf woman and a hearing man. The story is inspired by the 1906 poem of the same name from early African-American writer Paul Laurence Dunbar. The film stars Michelle A. Banks and John Earl Jelks in the leading roles. The early part of the story is shot like a silent film. Though the film was not released until 1999, filming took place in 1993.The film premiered at 1999 Atlanta Film and Video Festival and was later screened at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival in the Dramatic Feature category. The film was also shown at the Museum of Photographic Arts in San Diego, the Independent Film Market in New York, and the Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles. Film critic Richard Brody has described the film as "one of the greatest American independent films ever made."