Documentary

Filmmaker Isidore Bethel mixes fiction and documentary in this tender exploration of hookup culture, gay sexuality, and universal questions about what it means to love and be loved.

A New Orleans hair salon becomes a place for communal reflection.

An examination of Joan Jett Blakk’s historic bid for the White House in 1992.

A delicate, empathic portrait of a survivor of the Khmer Rouge who is now visually impaired.

This film follows artist and architect Mohamad Hafez as he recreates—and attempts to understand—scenes from his native Syria to which he can no longer return.

A filmmaker grapples with her father’s early stages of Alzheimer’s.

An inventive and imaginative interrogation of the troubling double bind of those trying to enforce the law within a dysfunctional system in which morality has no sway.

A view into the Black identity through twenty-six vignettes representing the letters of the alphabet.

In the face of precarious ice floes and punishing frostbite, an expedition of 11 women from across Arab and Western countries join together with the audacious goal of reaching the North Pole before it becomes impossible to do so.

Relationships to personal history, geography, and familial lineage layer and merge.

In the shadow of genocide, unsuspecting tourists enjoy a peaceful holiday.

A cosmetologist reflects on her experiences as we bear witness to her unusual work.

Examines the experiences of three interpreters of the Yugoslavia Tribunal in the Hague.

Brazilian filmmaker Luiz Bolognesi returns to the rainforest of his homeland to tell the bewitching yet tragic story of Indigenous culture under threat from outside forces.

This film chronicles the archive of the establishment of the Guyanese Space Center.

Director Tsai Ming-Liang paints a nighttime scene with his camera of Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay.

A group of filmmakers is invited to search a cavern-esque treasure trove left by futurist Italian artist Giacomo Balla.

An attorney couple breaks the law to help their good friends and clients, The Weather Underground.

This eclectic showcase highlights the vibrancy of the Chicago and Illinois filmmaking communities across an array of forms and genres.

These non-fiction films include intimate portraits and daring confrontational works that exhibit the myriad textures of everyday life. Autobiographical memories and reimagined histories shape new perspectives.

This suite of shorts offers nuanced approaches to storytelling, delving into self-discovery, cultural legacies, and the creation of safe spaces.

Reacting to architecture, manufactured public spaces, and psychogeographies, this program, ranging from abstract cinema to emotive documentary, unpacks the ways that the buildings, cities, and spaces where we live ultimately affect every facet of our lives. 

Older generations are forced to question their worth while facing unmet emotional needs.

A surreal cloud of anxiety hovers over a city and its citizens.

This film explores a precious archive of collected materials.