Sergio Mims, film expert and classical music advocate, dies at age 67

Though best known as a Chicago-based film critic and the co-founder of the annual Black Harvest Film Festival, Sergio Mims championed classical music, especially the works of Black composers. He died Tuesday, Oct. 4, after months of ill health, according to his family. He was 67.

During his weekly show on WHPK-FM (88.5), modestly titled “Stuff From My Collection,” Sims would discuss his favorite recordings, from living Black composers such as Aldolphus Hailstork and Anthony Davis to early pioneers such as Joseph Bologne and Scott Joplin. “What I’m really interested in is giving people a broad view of what classical music is, which is why I’ve done everything from Baroque to 21st-century stuff,” he said in a 2014 interview with the South Side Weekly.

National and local cultural leaders took to social media to pay tribute and affirm his impact. “We are saddened to hear of the passing of critic, journalist and co-founder of the Black Harvest Film Festival, Sergio Mims,” Turner Classic Movies posted on Twitter. “Mims joined us at TCMFF earlier this year to introduce two films starring the late Sidney Poitier. His knowledge and passion will be greatly missed.”

Brian Tallerico, president of the Chicago Film Critics Association and editor of rogerebert.com, wrote: “I am just absolutely devastated. We have lost a brilliant, kind soul. ... Sergio didn't just talk movies with me; he talked life. He asked about the kids, my life and encouraged everything. I feel like I've lost some of my foundation.”

Marcus Leshock, features reporter on “The WGN Morning News,” wrote: “One of the joys of being in the critics’ screening room in Chicago was listening to Sergio talk about anything involving movies. Had such passion and a great sense of humor. I learned a lot just listening. RIP.”

This year's Black Harvest Film Festival, presented at the Gene Siskel Film Center on Nov. 4-27, will be dedicated to Mims. “He knew everything about film, which he always called pictures,” said Jean de St. Aubin, executive director of the Siskel Center, in an obituary published Oct. 6 in the Chicago Sun-Times. “He was definitely not limited to Black cinema. He was just a film scholar.”

Despite his illness, Mims continued to work as a programmer and consultant for the festival, now in its 28th year.

“He helped so many people,” filmmaker Barbara E. Allen told the Sun-Times. “He read people’s scripts. He gave them notes. He encouraged people. He helped build a generation of Black filmmakers.” She also recalled his humor: “He was hilarious. When he’d look over those glasses, you knew a ‘Sergio-ism’ was coming.”

Along with founding and and programming Black Harvest, one of the world's largest Black film festivals, Mims also was a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and a commentator for Blu-ray DVDs released by Vinegar Syndrome, Kino Lorber and Arrow Films. A former member of the Directors Guild of America, he once worked as an assistant director in Chicago and Los Angeles. Survivors include his mother and two sisters.  They hope to establish a foundation in his memory to help Black students interested in film.

Mims credited Gilbert & Sullivan for his love of classical music. “I have to go back to when I was 10 years old,” he told the South Side Weekly. “My father used to give me all kinds of recordings to listen to, and one day, he gave me a recording of Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Mikado, [and] I just gravitated toward it, I thought it was the happiest music I ever heard. I said, gee, I’d like to hear more like this.”

Though he followed and admired all genres, including jazz and movie scores, he felt especially drawn to classical. "Why? I don’t know, that’s sort of an eternal question. It’s just something that spoke to me; I just gravitated toward it more than any other music.”