2020

CHICAGO – The combination of the divisive Donald Trump election and the pandemic affected many U.S. communities. David Siev, an American filmmaker from a Cambodian-origin family, turned on his camera to tell the story of that time in his hometown of Bad Axe, Michigan. The results became the documentary “Bad Axe.”

CHICAGO – In a low key and later-in-the-awards season ceremony due to the pandemic, the 93rd Academy Awards took place on Sunday, April 25th, 2021. ‘Nomadland,’ the story of on-the-road drifters in the U.S., scored Best Picture, Best Director (for Chloé Zhao) and Best Actress (Frances McDormand).

CHICAGO – Getting through Year 2020 intact would prove to be a major accomplishment for any monthly film festival, but the Midwest Film Festival (MFF) did it with both style and their trademark sense of a film community during a year where that was missing for so many. The Fest is going virtual and online for their BEST OF THE MIDWEST AWARDS on January 14th, 2021. 7-9pm. You’ll need a ticket for this spectacular event, click here for all the particulars, including General Admission and VIP levels.

CHICAGO – In a world gone a bit madder and sadder, the films of 2020 were a welcome escape from the travails of weekly reality. Without theater exhibition by and large, films had to be experienced on smaller home screens, shrinking bold cinematography and emphasizing the story.

CHICAGO – The great advantage of film festivals this year, if we’re to see a silver lining, is that most of the offerings are available to a wider audience via online virtual screenings. The 37th Chicago International Children’s Film Festival will be virtual/online and available to children of all ages from November 13th-22nd, 2020.

CHICAGO – Artist Lonnie Edwards is traveling the film festival circuit again, exhibiting his latest short “Periphery,” and this time it will appear at the 27th Chicago Underground Film Festival (CUFF 27) Chicago Shorts Program 2, at the Chi-Town Movies Drive-In on Friday, November 13th, 2020.

CHICAGO – The 1950s/60s Southern author Flannery O’Connor gets an overdue documentary by co-directors Elizabeth Coffman and Mark Bosco. “Flannery” screens at the 27th Chicago Underground Film Festival Drive-In on November 12th, 2020.

CHICAGO – The one great off-the-beaten-track cinema festival remains the Chicago Underground Film Festival (CUFF). Like all festivals around 2020, CUFF 27 will be virtual and online from November 9th-22nd, 2020, with special Drive-In events.

CHICAGO – The 2018-19 mayoral campaign in Chicago was a historic moment for the city, as the first woman of color (Lori Lightfoot) was elected. Director Steve James, of the legendary “Hoop Dreams,” takes on the events leading up to this history and beyond, in “City So Real.”

CHICAGO – In this challenging year the 56th Chicago International Film Festival provided a sense of normalcy, within the context of the “new normal.” Offering virtual, online and in-person drive-in screenings, it succeeded in doing what its 2020 slogan said, “Film Will Take You There.”