Irish Chicago

Avelino Chillarón was 12 or 13 years old when he realized that his surnames and those of his cousins ​​didn't match, so he decided to ask his uncle. This is how he learned that, although his father and aunt were siblings, they didn't have the same father, so he and his cousins ​​didn't share the same grandfather. In this way, Avelino realized that there was a part of his family he didn't know. The protagonist of this story feels partially mutilated from a part of his family history, a part that was taken away from him by a regime that established, over the years, a long period of widespread social amnesia about a series of corpses and missing persons throughout the spanish geography.

Filmmaker Judith Helfand's searing investigation into the politics of “disaster” – by way of the deadly 1995 Chicago heat wave, in which 739 residents perished (mostly Black and living in the city’s poorest neighborhoods).

Few amateur films with sound were produced in the 1930s and fewer remain extant. A charming artifact that demonstrates the expressive possibilities and technical limitations of amateur talkies, "The Spider and the Fly" includes a backyard Labor Day gathering, a trip to the Riverview Amusement Park, and a homemade Halloween parade of witches and ghouls.

Your War (I'm One Of You) chronicles the life and career of Chicago's Tim Kinsella, frontman of ever-shifting band Joan of Arc and '90's pioneers Cap'n Jazz. With appearances from Tim's friends, family, and admirers, we learn what has made his legacy so unique and enduring for more than 20 years.

30 years in the making, the film Jan Terri: No Rules tells the story of an irrepressible, and often delightfully perplexing personality. As a child, Jan would dance and sing for anyone who would listen. As a teenager, she began writing and performing her own songs. After earning her BA in Arts and Entertainment Management, she continued making music while working full-time as a limo driver. The income from that job allowed her to hire a studio as well as a videographer to help her make her unorthodox DIY music videos and distributing them on VHS tape. Without her knowledge, her videos made their way to the nascent YouTube. The fact that her most popular YouTube video was given the title “Worst Music Video Ever” didn’t dampen her spirit. Her fanbase grew to include such luminaries as Marilyn Manson and Cynthia Plaster Caster. Over the years, Jan’s independent spirit attracted many collaborators who’ve helped bring her vision to life.

In September of 2022, with over 41,000 fans in attendance, The Lumineers took fans on an anthemic, foot-stomping journey with the BRIGHTSIDE World Tour, ending their largest worldwide tour to date at Chicago's historic Wrigley Field.

Born into poverty in Panama, Cirilo McSween’s journey is one of defiance, resilience, and triumph over systemic barriers. Against the backdrop of Jim Crow America, he confronts racism while pursuing the American Dream. From his arrival in the U.S. as an ambitious immigrant to his rise as a trailblazing entrepreneur and civil rights activist, McSween’s life stands as a testament to determination and community. Through tireless advocacy for equality and opportunity, he helped shape both Panama’s identity and Chicago’s civil rights movement. A confidant of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a pioneering insurance executive, and a philanthropist empowering underserved communities, McSween’s story bridges nations and generations. CIRILO, A Legacy Untold illuminates a transformative figure whose legacy continues to inspire across the Americas.

This documentary takes the viewer on a journey along Halsted Street, from the southern tip of Illinois, north through various Chicago neighborhoods, to the end of the road at Broadway in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood.

Archival footage, animation and music are used to look back at the eight anti-war protesters who were put on trial following the 1968 Democratic National Convention.

Caged. Invisible. Shamed. Trapped. These words mark the tenants, clerks and even the owners of Chicago's last remaining Singe Room Occupancy (SRO) hotels. These small spaces are home for many at the bottom of Chicago's housing ladder. Cloaked in darkness and secrecy, these hotels are often maligned as drug dens and havens for prostitution but the people who live, work and own these hotels have never fully shared their stories. Caged Men is a feature-length documentary which examines the disquieting stories of near-homeless Americans living on the margins and their invisibility in a largely indifferent and, at times, hostile community. It attempts to lend a voice to SRO residents, clerks, owners and to the hotels themselves.

The Mystery of Al Capone's Vaults is a two-hour live American television special that was broadcast in syndication on April 21, 1986, and hosted by Geraldo Rivera. It centered on the live opening of a secret vault in the Lexington Hotel in Chicago once owned by noted crime lord Al Capone.

Chicago 1969: Activists from the Black Panthers, Young Lords, and Young Patriots united African Americans, Latinos, and poor whites to confront police brutality and unfair housing practices in one of America’s most segregated cities. A timely story of collective action, The First Rainbow Coalition tells this little-known chronicle of political struggle with insight and urgency using archival footage and interviews with those who lived it.

In this special documentary that inspired a two-season television series, scientists and other experts speculate about what the Earth, animal life, and plant life might be like if, suddenly, humanity no longer existed, as well as the effect humanity's disappearance might have on the artificial aspects of civilization.

The rock-wild youth of the 1960s during the apparitions of their idols.

In 150 years, twice marked by total destruction —a terrible earthquake in 1923 and incendiary bombings in 1945— followed by a spectacular rebirth, Tokyo, the old city of Edo, has become the largest and most futuristic capital in the world in a transformation process fueled by the exceptional resilience of its inhabitants, and nourished by a unique phenomenon of cultural hybridization.

Every school day, African-American teenagers William Gates and Arthur Agee travel 90 minutes each way from inner-city Chicago to St. Joseph High School in Westchester, Illinois, a predominately white suburban school well-known for the excellence of its basketball program. Gates and Agee dream of NBA stardom, and with the support of their close-knit families, they battle the social and physical obstacles that stand in their way. This acclaimed documentary was shot over the course of five years.

Suffering debilitating grief from the passing of his best friend who introduced him to the world of dance, Derrick must confront a monster that seeks to separate him from everything he loves.

Video dedicated to the celebration of the centenary of Edison Carneiro’s birth, one of the great exponents of folklore studies in Brazil, whose contribution remains present to this day, forming important documentary collections and influencing the institution’s mission.

Filmmaker Kevin McMahon accompanies the Haida delegation on a repatriation trip to Chicago in 2003. His film reveals the whole repatriation process through the stories and experiences of the people who participated, both Museum staff and the Haida people.

Meet Duewand Collier Jr.-Male, 68 years old, American Citizen, a child conceived in the backdrop of the Philippines-American Mutual Defense Treaty, born and raised with Catholic guilt. He has made peace with his past and now tells his story-a story of love.