Collections
CFA's collections contain professional and amateur films of all genres, including documentaries, experimental films, and home movies, depicting histories of Chicago, the Midwest and the world. Our online catalog contains thousands of digitized items from our collections along with descriptive catalog records.
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1933 – 1979
A collection of 4 16mm films documenting the history of social movements from the Great Depression onwards, while also providing a vivid glimpse of life in Chicago during the 1930s through the late 1970s.
after 2000
This collection contains items created by or in collaboration with Chicago Film Archives in connection with its programs, including recorded oral histories with individuals related to CFA collections and original video works created by pairings of artists as part of CFA's annual Media Mixer event.
1963 – 1975
The Camille Cook Collection consists of outtakes, work prints, original negatives, collected films, home movies, and edited diary films of the experimental and personal work of Camille Cook, filmmaker and founder of The Film Center of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (now The Gene Siskel Film Center). The films depict various aspects of Cook’s life in Chicago throughout the mid 1960s, ranging from images of city street life to moments with her friends and family in Western Springs, IL, as well as her experiments in structural filmmaking.
1967 – 1990
The JoAnn Elam collection primarily consists of films made by independent filmmaker JoAnn Elam. Elam primarily shot on 8mm film, although she did work extensively with 16mm, Super-8mm film and early video. A number of 8mm films have been printed to Super-8mm stock, and films like Rape (1975) and the unfinished Everyday People employed multiple formats (16mm, video, and 8mm). This collection also contains several historically important medical films made by James O. Elam, M.D., JoAnn Elam's father, which document his development of the "rescue breathing" technique and numerous other advances in clinical anesthesiology and cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Additionally, there are at least two titles by experimental filmmakers and artists Dan Perz and Ruth Klassen. This collection is sponsored by Susan Elam, Kenneth Belcher and Sandy Ihm.
1961 – 1992
The Byron Grush Collection contains experimental and animation films made by Chicago filmmaker and animator, Byron Grush. Byron has ties to numerous local universities and organizations including the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago Academy of Fine Art, Goldsholl Design Associates, and Center Cinema Coop. This collection’s experimental films consist of hand drawn animated works and abstract short films, made primarily between the years 1961 and 1976. Films by other local filmmakers and artists are included in this collection. Also found in this collection are: an original drawing from Byron's film Why We Fight, a signed copy of The Shoestring Animator, newspaper clippings of Byron’s work, and other ephemera.
1960 – 1999
The Larry Janiak Collection contains experimental films and documentaries made by Chicago filmmaker, animator, and designer, Larry Janiak. The experimental films in the collection consist of direct animated works (DL1, DL2) and a handful of abstract short films, or "sketches," made by Janiak between the years 1960 and 1970. Also included in the collection are three documentary works. Two of these documentaries depict structures and ceremonies of the Vivekananda Vedanta Society of Chicago (Hale House, Vedanta Temple Dedication Ceremony), while the third documents Janiak's time as an animation instructor at the Institute of Design (Animation Film Making: A Teaching Method at the Institute of Design in Chicago 1968 to 1980). The collection also contains two boxes of books, personal papers and various ephemera, including two Chicago International Film Festival Hugo awards, various books on underground film & animation, graphic design samples by Janiak and three Center Cinema Co-op distribution catalogs designed by Janiak.
1963 – 1974
Completed films and footage shot by painter and filmmaker Richard Jeske. The films were made during Jeske's time living in Chicago.
1972 – 1987
The Chuck Kleinhans collection consists of home movies and experimental films by film scholar Charles "Chuck" Kleinhans. His Super 8 films depict a sensitivity to daily life, gender, and leftist politics, and frequently showcase his sense of humor. Highlights include a documentary about the Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon, tongue-in-cheek critiques of American masculinity, interviews with Northwestern University faculty and students, and diary films of everyday life with partner Julia Lesage and friends in Logan Square.
1964 – 1986
In 2008, three experimental films made by Chicago-based filmmaker Don Klugman were preserved with the support of the National Film Preservation Foundation in 2008. NIGHTSONG is a portrait of the Chicago Near-North nightlife scene in the mid-1960s, centering on the struggles and romantic desires of an African American singer played by long-forgotten folk sensation, Willie Wright. I'VE GOT THIS PROBLEM traces the romantic relationship between a young man and woman (played by Klugman and Judy Harris) who meet in a downtown coffee shop. Their nonstop dialogue fluctuates between playful psycho-babble and sincere attempts to relay their innermost feelings. YOU'RE PUTTING ME ON seems to pick up the same couple (again played by Klugman and Harris) a few years later, as they attend a swinging bohemian party where they pilfer personal objects from the unsuspecting guests. The archival materials created from these three Klugman films comprise the Don Klugman Collection.
1994 – 2003
The Silvia A. Malagrino Collection consists of production master tapes from her 2005 experimental documentary Burnt Oranges, which mixes poetic personal narrative with documentary to confront the painful period of the 1976-1983 military dictatorship in Argentina. Also included are production master tapes from her 1994 documentary poem Hotel America.
1940 – 2001
The Tom Palazzolo Collection consists of experimental films and documentaries, their elements, and outtakes made by Chicago-based filmmaker Tom Palazzolo, once called "Chicago's filmmaker laureate" by critic Roger Ebert. Although the subjects of his films vary widely, they are all united in their humanist depiction of those living on the margins of society. Included in the collection are well-known works like Jerry's (1976), featuring the explosive owner of a deli in Chicago's Streeterville neighborhood and At Maxwell Street (1984), about the city's storied Maxwell Street market, as well as lesser-known films like Pigeon Lady (1966), Palazzolo's first film, and Rita on the Ropes (2001), the most recent film in the collection.
1974 – 1978
Four short films made by Tony Phillips during his time teaching painting at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Inspired by filmmakers at SAIC, Phillips began experimenting with time-lapse and high-speed cameras and, from 1974 to 1978, created one Super-8mm and three 16mm films which explored aspects of time in ways he could not with his painting.
1980 – 1982
The Ron Lynn Richardson Collection includes a 16mm print of his film Lohengrin, as well as it's elements and various elements from other films of his from the early 1980s. Richardson was born and raised in Chicago and started making experimental films while attending the School of the Art Institute.
1947 – 2012
The films in this collection were made and collected by Chicago photojournalist, critic and filmmaker Bill Stamets. The bulk of the collection consists of Super 8 films and footage shot by Stamets in the 1970s and 1980s. They depict political events primarily in the city of Chicago, including former Chicago Mayor Harold Washington's two election campaigns, inaugurations, and time in office; numerous street protests and marches; and cultural festivals around the city.
1964 – 1980
A collection of experimental films and home movies created by Chicago-based photographer and Institute of Design alum, Robert Stiegler. The collection also contains numerous 1/4" audio reel to reels.
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Collections in Progress
Our staff is always working to expand CFA's catalog by researching, describing, and digitizing new collections. Here are the collections that are currently in progress.
Five 8mm home movies shot in Chicago between 1958 and 1962.
A collection of 129 16mm films, mainly educational titles.
Materials related to the work of experimental filmmaker and Chicago high school teacher Eleanor Binstock.
Films and audio tapes created by Chicago-based filmmaker Norm Bruns.
13 reels of 16mm adult films rescued from the Oak Theater in Chicago, at Armitage Ave and Western Ave, as it was being cleared out for renovation.
52 reels of 16mm home movies and collected films from the Beverly and South Shore areas of Chicago, shot and collected by Chester Faust.
Two 16mm films about Fred Flom, of Menasha, Wisconsin, who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam from 1966 to 1973.
circa 1963 – 1967
The Leon P. Granacki Family Collection consists of twelve 8mm home movies taken by Leon P. Granacki. The films capture the life of a Polish American family living in the Old Irving Park neighborhood of Chicago. The footage features vacations, trips to the Squaw Lake (Minnesota), Channel Lake and Long Lake (Illinois), and travel to St. Louis. Other films document Easter and the Graduation of Leon’s daughter, Victoria Granacki.
Collection of films produced by Guzik as part of his work for various companies during the late 1970s.
Collection of 13 home movies from the mid-1950s, most of which were shot by Judith Hembree's father.
Films made by, worked on, or collected by documentary filmmaker Judy Hoffman.
3 reels of family outings; 1 reel, Bar Mitzvah party, Albany Park, 1956; 1 reel, Carnival, 1956 at the University of Illinois, Champaign.
38 reels of 8mm home movies shot by Sydney Katz, primarily of family birthday parties, weddings, holidays, and vacations.
Collection of 71 8mm home movies.
36 reels of 8mm and Super 8 home movies shot in the Chicago, Albuquerque, and Milwaukee areas.
Collection of predominantly industrial films worked on by Charles S. C. Lee, who worked in film production in Chicago from the 1960s – 1980s.
About a dozen rolls of 16mm film, mainly comprising unedited footage shot during the 1966 football season, as well as 16mm kinescopes of the Vince Lombardi Show and the George Halas Show.
Home movies on 8mm and Super 8 film.
A collection of independent/student films made in the late 1960s and early 1970s in and around Chicago, Park Ridge, and Niles, Illinois.
Collection consisting mainly of 16mm elements of films made by or in collaboration with Robert Orr, both during his high school years and his professional career.
Collection of 4 16mm home movies.
47 reels of 8mm home movies found in a dumpster and donated to CFA. Reel labels indicate that the films depict visits to Europe as well as to Crivitz, Wisconsin.
13 reels of 16mm film from Dr. Herbert Ratner, who was health commissioner of Oak Park, IL, from 1949 to 1974.
This collection of 8mm and 16mm films, and some audio tapes, belonged to Dr. Martin Ross of Lincolnwood, IL. He was an avid traveler and photographer, and often shot 8mm and 16mm film on his trips in addition to slides and snapshots. He shot all of the films which are home movies and travelogues.
2 reels of 16mm film about urban planning in Chicago, produced by the City of Chicago Department of Urban Renewal.
circa 1955 – 1974
Multiple 8mm and Super 8 films taken by Caroline Wenz Rubin in the 1950s-'70s in Chicago, lL; Perrysburg, OH; Yellow Springs, OH; Newton, MA; Washington, DC; and various other locations. Collection includes one or more short movies filmed by Betsy Rubin, then a high school student. Most films are family or travel documentary in nature; a few are filmed stories or plays, including one stop-action short film.
circa 1955 – 1964
The Sanetra Family Collection consists of 27 home movies (including thirteen of 8mm and fourteen of Super 8mm) taken by Charles Sanetra. The films capture family holidays and celebrations – Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, communions, church picnics, parades, and neighborhood sporting events. Among them are documentation of Cardinal Karol Wojtyła’s (Wojtyła) visit to Chicago in 1976 and the 1964 Alaskan earthquake in Anchorage.
Collection of over 200 16mm films, predominantly home movies shot by Arthur Senior of Homewood, Illinois.
The Jerzy “George” Skwarek collection consists of 80 films (including one 16mm, thirteen Regular 8mm, and sixty-five Super-8mm) taken by Jerzy “George” Skwarek. The films document travels with friends and clients of Polish travel agencies, mainly in the United States, including Florida, California, Texas, Arizona, North and South Carolina, and Peru. Among Skwarek’s captured friends is the famous Polish actress and singer Kalina Jędrusik. The Midwest is portrayed in films from Chicago and Wisconsin, as well as in documentation of his visits with friends to the Ponderosa Sun Club and Naked City in Roselawn, Indiana.
The collection also includes home movies from the early 1950s of an unknown moviemaker and family. These include trips to Saugatuck in Michigan, Starved Rock State Park, Illinois, Florida, Bermuda, and Mexico. Additionally, Skwarek’s collection consists of short commercial pornographic films, including Wet & Wild, which was likely directed by Edward D. Wood Jr. in 1973.
The collection also includes home movies from the early 1950s of an unknown moviemaker and family. These include trips to Saugatuck in Michigan, Starved Rock State Park, Illinois, Florida, Bermuda, and Mexico. Additionally, Skwarek’s collection consists of short commercial pornographic films, including Wet & Wild, which was likely directed by Edward D. Wood Jr. in 1973.
Collection of 31 reels of 16mm home movies from a Michigan family.
Three reels of film found in the church when they were clearing out old things.
A collection of educational films, newsreels, and student films.
12 cans of 35mm negatives in cans from National Film Archives - Public Archives Canada.
Films, videos, and audio tapes related to the organization's activities.
1973 – 1974
The Vince Waldron Collection consists of 13 black & white Super-8 films and one 1/4" magnetic audio tape. The films were shot and edited by Vince Waldron as a student in and around the Antioch College campus in Yellow Springs, Ohio and in downtown Chicago from 1973 to 1974.
Materials documenting street cars in Chicago, including films, mini DV tapes, and paper materials.
Collection of 8mm home movies.