Film Screening Types Archives: In-Person

Shorts 2: Animation

Directed by Various

Country Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Finland, France, Ireland, Japan, Portugal Run Time 90 minutes

Synopsis

Some worlds can only truly be conjured outside of physical reality. These eight thrilling shorts unfold in an inventive array of visual and narrative styles that come together to form a vibrant snapshot of contemporary animation. May not be suitable for all ages.

Paradaïz, an abstracted depiction of returning to Sarajevo, hums with absurdist humor and a real longing for home. This is not your Garden uses 3D scan data to capture a ghostly portrait of Bogota’s highland cloud forests, which are currently threatened by climate change and human development. One man’s plans for the future are laid out in Retirement Plan. Every resident chases their own version of happiness in the colorful apartment building at the center of Dollhouse Elephant. In the quiet sepia-toned countryside of Dog Alone, a young woman, her grandfather, and a nearby dog all confront loneliness. In dipolar bipolar, the internal life of a person managing bipolar disorder appears as pulsing, maximalist visions. As eight-year-old Agata boards a full bus from Poland to Belgium by herself in Autokar; she notices that those around her seem different. The present moment sits perfectly still in Ordinary Life.

Language Chinese, English, French, No Dialogue, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish

Content Considerations

Screenings & Events

Screening

Wed, Oct 22 @ 5:00pm

at Gene Siskel Film Center, Screen 1
Venue information...

Scheduled to Attend:
dipolar bipolar sound designer Chenxi Zhang

Accessibility options for this screening:

T-Coil Devices available

Learn about accessibility options...

Screening

Fri, Oct 24 @ 2:30pm

at AMC NEWCITY 14, Screen 01
Venue information...

Scheduled to Attend:
dipolar bipolar sound designer Chenxi Zhang

Sponsors

With support from

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Black Perspectives Documentary Shorts Program

Shorts 3: Black Perspectives

Directed by Various

Country Kenya, Nigeria, U.S. Run Time 87 minutes

Synopsis

Close ties abound in these short films spanning Brazil, Kenya, Nigeria, and the U.S. These six shorts explore the complicated relationships between parents and children, aunts and nieces, artists and their craft, and even former lovers.

In Breastmilk, first-time mother Aduke confronts societal expectations and the dynamics of her closest relationships as she struggles to breast feed. When a college student returns home for her grandmother’s repass, she gets a heavy dose of the best and worst her family has to offer in Them That’s Not. History and tradition live through contemporary musician Brandee Younger as she plays a specialized harp made for Alice Coltrane, gifted to Brandee by Alice’s children in Isis & Osiris. Not Dead displays modern-day exploration of W.E.B DuBois’s seminal work, portraying the heartbreaks of the Black experience across space and time. Victoria is a clear-eyed portrait of a single mother and businesswoman making it work in Nairobi, Kenya. The enemies-to-lovers trope jumps from page to reality when two voice actors butt heads in Narrated By.

Genres Coming of Age Drama Family Affairs Music Romance Women-Centered

Language American Sign Language, English, Portuguese

Content Considerations

Screenings & Events

Screening

Sat, Oct 25 @ 3:15pm

at AMC NEWCITY 14, Screen 01
Venue information...

Scheduled to Attend:
Them That's Not director Mekhai Lee;
Not Dead directors Alex Reis & Vaneza Oliveira;
Narrated By director Khaya Fraites & cinematographer Roberto De Cecco

Screening

Sun, Oct 26 @ 5:00pm

at Logan Center for the Arts, Screening Room
Venue information...

Scheduled to Attend:
Not Dead directors Alex Reis & Vaneza Oliveira;
Narrated By director Khaya Fraites & cinematographer Roberto De Cecco

Sponsors

Documentary Program Partner

Documentary Program Patron

Cynthia Stone Raskin

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City & State Documentary Shorts Program

Shorts 4: City & State

Directed by Various

Country Chile, U.S. Run Time 90 minutes

Synopsis

Chicago and Illinois-based filmmakers experiment with genre, topic, and form in this eclectic program by students, upcoming artists, and established directors.

In Bailey’s Blues, a Chicago-born musician turns up the heat in a confrontational interview. An ugly Christmas dinner leaves a young woman with one worthwhile family member in Madrina. The ever-mounting pressure of high school debate brings out the best and worst of its overachieving students and wise-cracking judges in Debaters. Your Tomorrow Will Be My Song is a vulnerable re-telling by Suni and Alondra, a real-life couple contemplating their trip back home to the Andes. In Chasing the Party, teenage exploration takes an unexpected turn when suburban best friends Melissa and Stephanie make their way into a bar with the fakest of IDs. The usual anxieties plague upcoming artist Anisa as she dodges gossip from art scene contemporaries, questions the value of her work, and navigates flaring tensions in It’s Just a Fucking Opening. In Make No Mistake: These Are the Glory Days, we witness moments of clarity, belonging, and acceptance as the band HOME IS WHERE tours the U.S. as an openly trans group with an openly trans audience.

Genres Art Comedy Coming of Age Drama Family Affairs LGBTQ Music Social Commentary Women-Centered

Language English, French, Quechua, Spanish

Screenings & Events

Screening

Thu, Oct 16 @ 5:30pm

at AMC NEWCITY 14, Screen 06
Venue information...

Scheduled to Attend:
Your Tomorrow Will Be My Song director Fernando Saldivia Yáñez;
Chasing the Party director Jessie Komitor;
It's Just a Fucking Opening directors Josh Brainin, Camille Bacon & Youssef Boucetta;
Bailey's Blues director Shiloh Tumo Washington;
Debaters producer Eugene Sun Park;
Madrina director/producer Missy Hernandez;
Make No Mistake: These Are The Glory Days director Texas Smith

Screening

Sun, Oct 19 @ 12:30pm

at Chicago History Museum
Venue information...

Scheduled to Attend:
Your Tomorrow Will Be My Song director Fernando Saldivia Yáñez;
It's Just a Fucking Opening directors Josh Brainin, Camille Bacon & Youssef Boucetta;
Debaters producer Eugene Sun Park;
Make No Mistake: These Are The Glory Days director Texas Smith

Accessibility options for this screening:

Open Captions
T-Coil Devices available

Learn about accessibility options...

Sponsors

Documentary Program Partner

Documentary Program Patron

Cynthia Stone Raskin

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Comedy Shorts Program

Shorts 5: Comedy

Directed by Various

Country France, Ireland, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, U.S. Run Time 87 minutes

Synopsis

Laugh away the woes of the world with this eclectic collection of comedies. From the absurd anxieties of wannabe filmmakers to the ridiculous delusions of the recently dumped, these stories are insightful, unexpected, and delightfully irreverent.

In Nervous Energy, two fiercely ambitious aspiring filmmakers make a pact to break up with their boyfriends to free them up for the next phase of their careers. In 1:10, a schoolyard tussle between two friends escalates when the kids’ self-righteous and macho fathers get involved. Heartsick follows Jess who, spiraling from a recent breakup, writes a detailed email to her ex about how well she is doing, with a few embellishments here and there. When Jamie finds a mysterious trombone case one night—the contents of which might change his life forever—he convenes an emergency meeting with his friends in Moonluck Wonton. In Duck Duck Goose, recently divorced Juju is pressured by her mother to make an impression as an eligible wife while attending a funeral. A couple is put to the test, literally, when they agree to participate in a joint therapy session that will be observed by an international panel of psychology experts in Exam.

Genres Art Coming of Age LGBTQ Noir Romance Social Commentary Women-Centered

Language Arabic, English, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Polish, Swiss-German, Turkish

Screenings & Events

Screening

Fri, Oct 17 @ 5:00pm

at AMC NEWCITY 14, Screen 01
Venue information...

Scheduled to Attend:
Heartsick director MK Quane;
Moonluck Wonton director Siddiq Saunderson

Sponsors

With support from

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Shorts Program

Shorts 6: Departures

Directed by Various

Country Kenya, U.S. Run Time 86 minutes

Synopsis

Unique perspectives and fresh stories drive this program of shorts by filmmakers new to the Festival who are reinventing cinema in ways both subtle and overt.

A young doctor has a series of strange experiences in Now, Be Still, a beguiling, unclassifiable and continually surprising film. In Transaction, as a 25th birthday present to herself, a woman decides to hire a male sex worker so she can lose her virginity. In The Non-Actor, a young woman travels to Los Angeles to treat her hearing loss and stays at her ex’s house with his new girlfriend. all the love I could handle tells the story of a mother struggling to balance her artistic career with parenthood.

Genres Art Drama Family Affairs Noir Sex and Sexuality Social Commentary

Language English, Kikuyu, Kiswahili

Content Considerations

Screenings & Events

Screening

Sat, Oct 18 @ 12:00pm

at AMC NEWCITY 14, Screen 01
Venue information...

Scheduled to Attend:
Now, Be Still director Myles Keogh;
all the love i could handle director Ruby Rose Collins

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Film Screening Types Archives: In-Person

Shorts 2: Animation

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Shorts 3: Black Perspectives

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Shorts 4: City & State

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Shorts 5: Comedy

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Shorts 6: Departures

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