The Chicago Film Society and Northeastern Illinois University are pleased to announce their Spring 2024 film series, which kicks off on Wednesday, Jan. 10, in the Auditorium of the University’s Main Campus, 3701 W. Bryn Mawr Ave. in Chicago.
This is the Chicago Film Society’s and Northeastern’s 22nd season of collaboration, which is sponsored by the Department of Communication, Media and Theatre. Tickets cost $5 with a Northeastern ID and $10 for the general public. If anyone is interested in attending, but is having financial hardships, please contact info@chicagofilmsociety.org. Complimentary parking for audience members on Wednesday nights is available in Parking Lot D adjacent to the Bryn Mawr entrance.
Northeastern Professor of Communication, Media and Theatre Shayne Pepper, Ph.D., helped foster the collaboration between the University and the Chicago Film Society.
"Since Northeastern began our partnership with the Chicago Film Society in the summer of 2015, we have screened over 200 feature films on 35mm in the NEIU Auditorium,” said Pepper. “Each semester, we have a mix of well-known classics, rediscovered gems and curious artifacts of film history. Audience members from all over the Chicagoland area come to NEIU to enjoy seeing these movies on analog celluloid film. In fact, NEIU operates as the only cinema in the North Park and Albany Park neighborhoods.”
This season features a new restoration of Jean Renoir’s 1947 film “The Woman on the Beach,” Yasujirō Ozu’s timeless masterpiece “Tokyo Story” and Luis Buñuel’s critically acclaimed 1961 satire “Viridiana.” Rounding out the season are 1962’s “Kid Galahad” (starring Elvis Presley) and a rare surviving release print of Fran Rubel Kuzui’s 1988 “Tokyo Pop.” Many of the screenings are preceded by short films or original film trailers. A few highlights of this include the Feb. 7 screening of “An American Tragedy,” which will be preceded by “The Runt Page,” starring Shirley Temple; and the Feb. 14 screening of “Viridiana” will be preceded by the the 1965 trailer of “The Sound of Music.”
Founded in 2011 by projectionists, the Chicago Film Society makes rare and classic films available to local audiences in their original forms — on 35mm and 16mm motion picture film. The screenings spotlight the restoration efforts of archives, studios and private collectors, as well as the experience of seeing films projected in a theater with an audience.
In addition to Northeastern, the Chicago Film Society also screens films at the Music Box Theatre in the Southport community and the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts at the University of Chicago.
CHICAGO FILM SOCIETY AT NORTHEASTERN SPRING 2024 SCHEDULE
All screenings begin at 7:30 p.m.
- Jan. 10: “Tabu: A Story of the South Seas” (F.W. Murnau, 1931)
- Jan. 24: “The Woman on the Beach” (Jean Renoir, 1947)
- Jan. 31: “Cutter’s Way” (Ivan Passer, 1981)
- Feb. 7: “An American Tragedy” (Josef von Sternberg, 1931)
- Feb. 14: “Viridiana” (Luis Buñuel, 1961)
- Feb. 21: “Kid Galahad” (Phil Karlson, 1962)
- March 6 “Pumping Iron II: The Women” (George Butler, 1985)
- March 27: “Tokyo Pop” (Fran Rubel Kuzui, 1988)
- April 24: “Tokyo Story” (Yasujirō Ozu, 1953)
For more information about events at Northeastern, please see our University Events Calendar.
Pepper also noted that screenings are also integrated into Northeastern’s Film Studies curriculum in the Department of Communication, Media and Theatre. In particular, he mentioned that students from departments across the University regularly take CMTM 390: NEIU Cinémathèque. In this one-credit elective course, students attend screenings, learn about the differences between analog and digital filmmaking and distribution, take part in an Analog Film Workshop presented by the Chicago Film Society, and learn about material practices of cinema such as archives, preservation, and restoration.
Northeastern’s Spring 2024 semester begins Tuesday, Jan. 16. Students interested in taking CMTM 390 are encouraged to meet with their academic advisors to discuss registration.
Top photo: A still image from the film “Tabu: A Story of the South Seas.” Courtesy of the Chicago Film Society.
