Yesterday was the 20th anniversary of the death of Harold Washington. The Chicago of 1983 was very different from the Chicago of 2007: factories were shutting down, and white middle-class homeowners were leaving the city in droves, taking their property taxes and urban stability with them. An alarming upswing in crime and drugs, coupled with escalating racial tensions left many Chicagoans nervous about the future. Richard J. Daley had been dead for seven years, and... more ›

For years -– 29 to be exact -– "Image Union" has brought great short films into our living rooms. For the second year in a row, it’s also bringing some of those same films into your local theater. Tomorrow night at the Vic, WTTW’s "Image Union" holds its 2nd Annual Short Film Festival and Season Premiere Party with some local filmmakers, their works and some cheap beer. You’ve likely heard about the short documentary film... more ›

Did you miss seeing the winner of the Gold Hugo at the Chicago International Film Festival last month? If so, you’ve got another chance this weekend. My Nikifor took home the golden boy at the CIFF this year and is one of the many films playing at the 17th annual Polish Film Festival in America, which starts this weekend in Chicago and runs through November 20th. With the largest urban population of Poles outside of... more ›

In the last several years, media offerings like the Independent Film Channel and iFilm.com have made it easy for anyone to see indie films from the comfort of their own home. But for the last 28 years, Chicago indie film lovers have been enjoying interesting and provocative films from the comfort of their couch thanks to WTTW’s Image Union. Its new season begins on October 4th and Image Union is celebrating by bringing the films... more ›

With apologies to Noah Baumbach: Chicagoist is too nostalgic, we admit it. This week’s European and Irish film fests had us nostalgic for last October, which was similarly chockablock full of fests. Then yesterday Maia Entertainment announced May 7th as the date for the 2nd Annual Chicago “Really” Short Film Fest at the Abbey Pub, which made us nostalgic for a Guinness we had last night. Once we came out of our misty water-colored... more ›