Local Movie Lockdown Recommendations

04/22/20

by Raul Benitez

Now that we are on our third week of lockdown—or is it the fourth week? I can’t remember—, most of us have a lot of time in our hands after working from home and endless Zoom meetings. Our normal outlets to relax, relieve stress and socialize have all been shuttered, especially the movie theaters, arthouse and DIY cinemas we love to go to. Fortunately, many of these spaces now offer options to view films while staying at home. To help you out and inform you about what local theaters, film organizations and film festivals are offering, I put together a list of programs to choose from in your quarantine time this week.

Full Spectrum Features and Mana Contemporary started a series this month called “Shorts from the Underground.” Their first feature short was Laura Harrisons “Limits of Vision.” Starting on April 20th and running until April 26th, from 1 to 2pm, the series features “Drifting” by Hanxiong Bo. You can get more info here.

The Mezcla Media Collective has been doing a series called MezCla Movie Night! They just had their latest one on April 16th, featuring local film maker Zanah Thirus and her “Black Feminist” film. Along with the screening they host a live Q&A with the featured filmmaker. There are more features upcoming, so keep an eye out on their Facebook page. 

OpenTV, local distribution platform that Aymar Jean Christian helped found at Northwestern University, has a virtual screening on May 1st, called #OTVTONIGHT. You can sign up on their website to join their premiere. 

***THIS EVENT WILL BE LIVE STREAMED AT OPENTELEVISION.LIVE ON MAY 1 AT 8PM CST*** The intersectional Late Show #OTVTonight is back with another Fearless Premiere on May 1st. Tune in from the comforts of your sofa as intersectional web platform, OTV - Open Television, premieres fearless original pilots and shorts: Get your snacks ready! Some shows may contain adult content. #OTVFearless -------- PROGRAM: PUP Pup created by Avon Haughton: A lonely young man leaves his place of quarantine to retrieve a beloved item from an old companion, a brilliant expat. MODELS Models created by Wanjiku Kairu: Two (wannabe) models flecked with anxiety reach their dreams, learn new lessons, and try to keep touch with reality. Join them on a surreal rollercoaster of neuroses and contained hijinks across the streets of Chicago. ARABICA Arabica created by Sohib Boundaoui: Arabica is a web-series of character profiles from a Chicago Arab community that struggles with, but also perpetuates the feeling of being constantly watched and judged. ----- About OTV - Open Television OTV | Open Television is a non-profit platform for intersectional television. We incubate, distribute, and exhibit artists that commercial television networks and art institutions do not develop consistently: artists who identify with multiple identities marginalized by the market and society. OTV experiments with alternative ways to develop, produce, and exhibit art and television. Our programs center artistic expression, intersectionality, Chicago and digital networking. About #OTVtonight: Tune in from the comforts of your quarantined home as intersectional web-TV platform Open Television premieres original pilots and shorts from Chicago-based artists. Finally, the inclusive Late Night Show you’ve been missing in your life: interviews with show creators, comedic skits, performances and more—all set to a FutureHood Soundtrack and live-streamed to the screen you’re using right now. Get your snacks ready.

The Gene Siskel Film Center is offering virtual screenings of arthouse titles, through the new program Film Center from your Sofa. Their next virtual screening runs from April 24th to 30th, showing “Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson”and The Band,” directed by Daniel Roher. 

Music Box Theater is also doing virtual screenings of arthouse films. Starting April 22, the series Stream Local screens “EATING UP EASTER,” a documentary about conditions on Easter Island by filmmaker Sergio Mata’u Rapu.

Facets is going to screen some selections from their Children's International Film Festival. You can catch the “Fest Selects” on their website, as well as further arthouse virtual screenings.

The Chicago Park Districts local film series, Chicago Onscreen, is screening some past selections in weekly schedules, as “Chicago Onscreen at Home.” All the films are from local filmmakers and, and this is a great way to see what the Chicago Onscreen series is all about. 

You can also catch local filmmaker Lori Felkers’ wonderful and weird documentary about no-wave musician Von Lmo, “Future Language: The Dimensions of VON LMO.” You can rent the feature on Vimeo for just $2.99. I can’t recommend this movie enough. 

Finally, local filmmaker Michael Glover Smith’s excellent film "Mercury In Retrograde" will be screened on Gene Siskel's virtual series until April 23rd. 

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Raul Benitez is the lead film programmer for Full Spectrum Features. He also programs the Comfort Film series at Comfort Station and The Nightingale Cinema, and has worked with the Chicago Underground Film Festival for over a decade.  In 2015, 2017, and 2019, Raul was featured in Newcity’s Film 50: Chicago’s Screen Gems.