Synopsis

The seven short films in this program radically push towards new and singular forms of expression. Through the use of archival footage, historical recreation, and dreamlike narratives, these films grapple with the past and the future of cinema — and the world. Featuring works by Marisa Hoicka, Isadora Neves Marques, María Salafranca, Valentin Noujaïm, Chi Jang Yin, Alison McAlpine, and Kevin Jerome Everson.

Teen Girl Fantasy (Canada) is a poetic archival excavation of the complex cultural signals surrounding teen girlhood. In My Senses Are All I Have to Offer (As minhas sensações são tudo o que tenho para oferecer) (Portugal), Lourdes and her girlfriend Lana can communicate telepathically using “sensory pills.” Black Shadow (Negra sombra) (Cuba) is a delicate and deeply moving portrait of Maria, a griveing woman. In To Exist Under Permanent Suspicion (France), a woman has fantasies of burning the skyscraper in which she works. Newly discovered archival images of postwar Hiroshima mix with contemporary footage of the city in I Was There, Part II (U.S., Japan). In Perfectly a Strangeness (Canada, Chile) three donkeys wander an abandoned landscape and come upon an observatory. And Hazel (dual) (United States) is a dual-screen recreation of Eddie Hazel’s famous 10-minute guitar solo on the song “Maggot Brain” by Funkadelic.

Synopsis

Newly discovered archival footage shot in Hiroshima after the nuclear bomb is mixed with images of the city in the present moment. This work is a haunting meditation on war and memory.

This film screens as part of the Experimental Shorts: The Act of Seeing program.

Synopsis

A dual-screen, fictionalized recreation of Eddie Hazel’s famous 10-minute guitar solo on the Funkadelic song “Maggot Brain.” According to a much-shared anecdote, George Clinton elicited an especially soulful performance by telling Hazel to imagine his mother’s passing as he recorded the track.

This film screens as part of the Experimental Shorts: The Act of Seeing program.

Synopsis

CineYouth is Cinema/Chicago’s annual festival for filmmakers aged 22 and younger. This “best of fest” program showcases eight award-winning shorts from CineYouth 2024, and includes surrealist comedies, touching dramas, and boldly crafted stories from young people with impressive visions. Featuring work by Caroline Bates, April Aquino, Mitch Davila Armendano, Roso Pérez Bueno, Raine Yung, Nathan William Frost, Olivia Huilin Gao, and Ángel Villahermosa.

A group of friends come to terms with the end of childhood in a dying tourist town in Space Coast (United States). In Trigonometry’s Ultimate Method to Putting the Fun Back in Your Own Funeral (United States), a character’s untimely death inspires him to go out with one last hurrah by crashing his own funeral. Mitch, Jaden, and Stevie, three students with visual impairments at the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind, detail common misconceptions and their struggles for accurate representation in Blind Sighted (United States). As a toxic substance slowly ravages a celebrity’s body, he has to decide how far he will go for the advertising money in Too Much Sand (Sweden). I Can No Longer See (United States) is a self-portrait of trauma, objectification, and relief told through a collection of experimental shorts. Artist On The Go! (DS Advanced Unreleased Gameplay) (United States) is a surreal, nightmarish game in which the player (or viewer) is charged with completing abstract and frightening tasks. In The Damp Season (United States), a young girl comes across the teenaged version of her estranged immigrant mother. And as Pablo falls in love with altar boy Sebastián, he finds that God is obstructing their relationship in more ways than one in Body of Christ (Mi primera comunión) (Spain).

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Synopsis

A group of friends come to terms with the end of childhood in a dying tourist town home to the former space program.

This film screens as part of the Best of CineYouth 2024 program.