News

November 21, 2014

JoAnn Elam Collection Update (part 2)

I thought it was about time to share an update on one of our most complicated and cherished collections – the JoAnn Elam Collection. Over the past few months, we’ve made a lot of progress and discoveries. And just this past week, we received a valuable package from JoAnn’s widower and former USPS colleague, Joe Hendrix. In the package was an unassuming...

September 12, 2014

Announcing our new YouTube Channel: “Wrestling From Chicago”

“This is Russ Davis, ringside, International Amphitheatre Chicago…” We are proud to announce the launch of our new YouTube page, Chicago Film Archives presents “Wrestling from Chicago.” The channel consists of digitized wrestling films from our Russ & Sylvia Davis Collection, and with one hundred videos already uploaded, visitors will have the opportunity to binge watch golden age wrestling predominantly...

August 4, 2014

45 years ago….the Chicago Apollo 11 Parade

As Collections Manager at CFA, I love finding connections among our collections, or better yet, finding documentation of the same event spread across various collections. Whenever this happens I admittedly find myself daydreaming of filmmakers crossing paths…possibly chatting with each other, comparing cameras and stocks. In the context of our collections, having multiple films shot on the same day of...

July 14, 2014

Nancy in the Tribune!

E. Jason Wambsgans, Chicago Tribune This past weekend CFA’s Executive Director, Nancy Watrous, was spotlighted in the Chicago Tribune. Take a look here or read below….     Nancy Watrous, film archivist Executive director of Chicago Film Archives preserves pictures of the city in reel time July 13, 2014|By William Hageman, Tribune Newspapers Being executive director of Chicago FilmArchives has...

July 3, 2014

Ruth Page Collection Update + a Surprise Find

RUTH PAGE COLLECTION UPDATE… We’re almost finished uploading all of the Ruth Page films to the Ruth Page Collection Finding Aid (we have about 25 films more to go). After that we will be uploading the collection’s videos, whose formats range from 2″ and 1″ open reel formats to the more familiar cassette varieties of Betacam and Betacam SP.  Thanks...

June 24, 2014

Introducing CFA CRASHERS

**CORRECTION** – please note the new start time of 6:00PM  Exciting news! We have a new film series in the works. It’s called CFA CRASHERS and it starts this August (over happy hour) at the Hideout. We’ve invited some of our favorite locals to guest curate a program of CFA films all their own (no rules or strings attached). The...

May 15, 2014

Earthkeeping, Episode Six: “Help Yourself”

The final episode of Earthkeeping delves into behavioral concepts such as nature vs. nurture, and investigates the ways in which the environment shapes personal behavior. Several psychological questions are raised, such as the degree to which an individual may act independently of his/her environment. The work of Dr. Roger Park, who spent 25+ years living in and studying a small...

May 1, 2014

Helen Balfour Morrison (1901-1984)

Our FIRST STEPS program tonight spotlights dancers/choreographers Ruth Page and Sybil Shearer, but let’s not forget about another talented woman behind these films – Helen Balfour Morrison. Helen collaborated with Sybil Shearer to produce a large collection of extraordinary dance photographs and films. Helen was behind the camera, while Sybil was in front of it. The Morrison-Shearer Film Collection, which...

April 30, 2014

Premiere of Jeff Parker Film Scores

For tomorrow’s FIRST STEPS program at Columbia College we enlisted the talented Jeff Parker (pictured above) to score all of the silent Ruth Page films and home movies, including: DANSE MACABRE (1922), BOLERO (1930), VARIATIONS ON EUCLID (circa 1938),  FRANKIE & JOHNNY (1938), and Ruth Page Home Movies shot in Bali, Indonesia (circa 1928) We have been blown away at the quality of...

April 7, 2014

Earthkeeping, Episode Five: “Sodbusters”

The historical approach taken in “Sodbusters” differentiates the episode from the others in Earthkeeping – the narrative draws a comparison between the pioneer mindset of westward expansion/Manifest Destiny and the sense of entitlement possessed by corporate developers in the twentieth century. How much have modern practices of resource exploitation changed since the days of John Jacob Astor and the American...

April 2, 2014

Robert & Theresa Davis Collection Update

Oh, the glorious Kodachrome… Last week (March 24-27), CFA hosted University of Alberta associate professor Liz Czach as she conducted research on our Robert & Theresa Davis Collection. Liz is currently researching a number of travelogue filmmakers, but her particular interest in the Davis Collection stems from its relative completeness – in many instances, archives only hold on to the...

April 1, 2014

Early 8mm Films of the Chicago World’s Fair Arrive at CFA

This year, we were fortunate to acquire five more reels of home movies featuring the 1933 Chicago “Century of Progress” World’s Fair. They were shot by Russell V. Zahn (1901-1993) of Racine, Wisconsin and part of a larger collection of home movies donated by the family (you can read more about our Zahn Home Movie Collection here). Previously, we only had two...

March 31, 2014

Earthkeeping, Episode Four: “Megapolis”

Architect Harry Weese describes the structural design of Park Forest South, IL (today known as University Park) Over the next six weeks, CFA will present newly digtized episodes of Earthkeeping – a series produced in the early 1970s for WTTW that explores environmental, ecological and sociological issues. In presenting this series, we hope to reintroduce DeWitt Beall, a Chicago-based filmmaker...

March 24, 2014

“Small gauge film is not larger than life, it’s part of life.”

This Wednesday, March 26th, we’re celebrating Home Movie Day in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood. Per usual, we’re inviting the community to bring their celluloid home movies (16mm, 8mm and/or Super 8mm) to have them projected in front of a live audience. Don’t have any films? Don’t fret! We also have a program of CFA home movies in store (more on...

March 17, 2014

Earthkeeping, Episode Three: “Little Big Land”

Over the next six weeks, CFA will present newly digtized episodes of Earthkeeping – a series produced in the early 1970s for WTTW that explores environmental, ecological and sociological issues. In presenting this series, we hope to reintroduce DeWitt Beall, a Chicago-based filmmaker primarily active in the 1960s and 70s. Now to episode three, “Little Big Land”: Last week’s episode, “Greenbacks,” introduced the “external...

March 10, 2014

Earthkeeping, Episode Two: “Greenbacks”

Second City’s “Pass the Buck” sketch (from l-r: Eugenie Ross-Leming, Jim Fisher, Ann Ryerson, Harold Ramis) Over the next six weeks, CFA will present newly digtized episodes of Earthkeeping– a series produced in the early 1970s for WTTW that explores environmental, ecological and sociological issues. In presenting this series, we hope to reintroduce DeWitt Beall, a Chicago-based filmmaker primarily active in the 1960s...

March 3, 2014

Online Launch of DeWitt Beall’s Earthkeeping series

Opening title card of Earthkeeping Over the next six weeks, CFA will be presenting episodes of Earthkeeping, a series produced in the early 1970s for WTTW that explores environmental, ecological and sociological issues. In presenting this series, we hope to reintroduce DeWitt Beall, a Chicago-based filmmaker primarily active in the 1960s and 70s. Earthkeeping was written, directed and produced by DeWitt,...

February 25, 2014

CFA Media Mixer 2014: Meet this Year’s Artists

It’s hard to believe that our little toddler of a fundraiser, CFA MEDIA MIXER, turns three this year (right?!). At the heart of each year’s event is the premiere of 3 video collaborations made entirely with footage from CFA. More specifically, we ask three artists and three musicians to team up with one another to create and score a short film using...

February 11, 2014

LORD THING Restoration Complete

Reel 1 & 2 of the new restoration print of LORD THING We recently received the 16mm restoration print of LORD THING, and boy is it beautiful! DeWitt Beall’s LORD THING (1970) is a film that documents the Conservative Vice Lords of Chicago’s near-west side and dozens of small neighborhood gangs from different parts of the city, that in time, unite forces...

December 19, 2013

CICERO MARCH…an educational film

As mentioned in our previous post, CICERO MARCH was one of a seven part “module” or educational film series (“The Urban Crisis and the New Militants”) produced by the Chicago-based Film Group Inc. The majority of the series dealt with the 1968 Chicago Democratic National Convention, while two of the films (Cicero March and Black Moderates, Black Militants) are concerned with similar issues of civil rights...