A Brief History of Chasing Storms
Synopsis
From The Wizard of Oz to the Twister movies, the tornado has become an iconic American symbol. In A Brief History of Chasing Storms, Chicago filmmaker Curtis Miller takes us on a road-trip through “tornado alley”—an ever-widening region that extends from Texas and Oklahoma across the Great Plains and up into Wisconsin and Minnesota. Along the way, he reflects on the multifaceted myths and histories around the famously destructive weather events, recounted by those who have been impacted as well as by opportunists looking to profit.
From a guide at the Twister Museum to the owner of a company that builds tornado shelters and a team of intrepid storm chasers, tornado-philes of all stripes are featured as the film traverses the U.S., capturing the landscape in carefully staged tableaux. Through an evocative series of vignettes, quirky yet swirling with meaning in a world increasingly reshaped by environmental catastrophe, this thoughtful cinematic essay maps out the ways in which history, inequality, climate, colonization, and capitalism are entwined with these natural disasters.
Screenings & Events
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Media
Film Credits
- Curtis Miller
- M Sage
- Midwest Exegesis
- https://www.abriefhistory.online/
Sponsors
Program Partner
Program Patron
Cynthia Stone Raskin
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Calle Malaga
Synopsis
Fiercely independent eighty-year-old Spaniard María is a vibrant lifelong member of her beloved Tangier community, but her stability is threatened when daughter Clara arrives for a long-overdue visit. In dire financial straits after a divorce, Clara intends to sell the family home, left to her by her late father, and even begins liquidating the property’s antiques to hasten the proceedings. But María won’t go so easily. Determined to find the financial means to keep her apartment and win back her belongings, María sets out on a surprising, romance-fueled late-in-life adventure.
Screen legend Carmen Maura (Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Volver) delivers an unforgettable performance suffused with warmth, humor, and gentle defiance in this crowd-pleasing story of a woman refusing to relinquish neither her independence nor her dignity. Making her Spanish-language debut, Moroccan director and Festival alum Maryam Touzani (The Blue Caftan) brings a palpable sense of place to the screen. She renders María’s colorful coastal enclave in bright hues and her winning ensemble of neighbors with affection, richness, and complexity.
Screenings & Events
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Media
Film Credits
- Nabil Ayouch, Amine Benjelloun, Jean-Rémi Ducourtioux, Simon de Santiago, Fernando Bovaira, Fred Burle, Sol Bondy, Sebastian Schelenz
- Maryam Touzani, Nabil Ayouch
- Teresa Font
- Virginie Surdej
- Carmen Maura, Marta Etura, Ahmed Boulane, María Alfonsa Rosso
- Freya Arde
- Les Films du Nouveau Monde, Mod Producciones, One Two Films, Velvet Films, Ali n’ Productions
Sponsors
With support from
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Christy
Synopsis
Kicked out of his last foster home, sullen and misunderstood 17-year-old Christy moves in with his older brother’s family in a working-class neighborhood in Cork. While the brothers struggle to reconnect after years of separation in the shadow of their shared traumatic pasts, Christy begins to find a sense of belonging among the rest of the community, allowing a softer side of himself to emerge. A meaningful life awaits him, if he can evade the darker forces threatening to undermine his future.
A vivid and complex study not only of its protagonist but also of the endearing and strong cast of characters of Cork’s North Side, Christy paints this tight-knit community with humor and tenderness. Rooted in impressive realism, this coming-of-age offers a hopeful portrait of a teen on the precarious threshold of adulthood.
Screenings & Events
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Film Credits
- Marina Brackenbury, Meredith Duff, Rory Gilmartin
- Alan O'Gorman
- Allyn Quigley
- Colm Hogan
- Danny Power, Diarmuid Noyes, Emma Willis, Cara Cullen, Helen Behan, Lewis Brophy, Chris Walley, Alison Oliver, Jamie Forde, Darren Stewart, Ian Tabone, Sophie McNamara, Rúaidhrí Conroy
- Daithí O'Dronai
- Yann Demange, Claudia Yusef, Niamh Fagan
- Wayward Films, Sleeper Films
Sponsors
Program Patron
Robert and Penelope Steiner Family Foundation
With support from
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The Condor Daughter La Hija Cóndor
Synopsis
High in a remote community in the Bolivian Andes, a tender Quechua song ushers a new life into the world. Young Clara has learned these songs, and the sacred ways of midwifery, from her adoptive mother Ana, with whom she cares for the pregnant women of the surrounding villages. Despite her sense of duty to her people and respect for their midwifing tradition, Clara is a smart and curious girl tempted by the outside influences creeping into the community. When she runs off to the city to become a singer, she leaves a dark void in her wake.
Álvaro Olmos Torrico’s mesmerizing tale of encroaching modernity in an Indigenous family is a film of stunning contrasts: the sweeping pastoral landscapes and lush warmth of the village against the decadent neon of Cochabamba nightlife; the windswept quiet against the cacophonous city streets; the sounds of Quechua and Spanish. Grounded by deeply affecting performances and a cinematic exploration of music and song, Clara’s poetic journey is one toward the self.
Screenings & Events
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Media
Film Credits
- Álvaro Olmos Torrico, Cecilia Sueiro Mosquera, Diego Sarmiento Pagán, Federico Moreira, Iris Sigalit Ocampo Gil
- Álvaro Olmos Torrico
- Álvaro Olmos Torrico, Irene Cajías
- Nicolás Wong Díaz
- María Magdalena Sanizo, Marisol Vallejos Montaño, Nely Huayta
- Cergio Prudencio, Marcelo Guerrero
- Iris Sigalit Ocampo Gil, Aniceto Arroyo
- Empatía Cinema, Ayara Producciones, La Mayor Cine
Sponsors
Program Patron
Robert and Penelope Steiner Family Foundation
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Arco
Synopsis
After falling from the sky and accidentally landing in 2075, adolescent time traveler Arco is shocked to find a world in peril and seemingly on the brink of collapse. Soon after, he encounters 10-year-old Iris, a lonely and isolated girl being raised by her trusted robot caretaker Mikki. Buoyed by her newfound friendship with the mysterious boy in the rainbow suit, Iris’s outlook begins to change. Banding together, the unlikely duo, with Mikki in tow, sets out to help return Arco to his peaceful, idyllic future—and to save Iris’ environmentally ravaged home.
With his charming full-length debut, French illustrator, graphic novelist, and animator Ugo Bienvenu crafts a warm, uplifting tale that possesses an undeniable visual splendor recalling the great work of Japanese master Hayao Miyazaki. An engaging sci-fi inflected fantasy and a love letter to the power of the imagination, Arco offers an uplifting look at the power of kinship and camaraderie to affect change, both on a personal level and in the larger world.
Screenings & Events
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Film Credits
- Félix de Givry, Sophie Mas, Natalie Portman, Ugo Bienvenu
- Ugo Bienvenu, Félix de Givry
- Nathan Jacquard
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