Cooked: Survival by Zip Code

Nightsong

January 1964 •English

A portrait of the Chicago Near-North nightlife scene in the mid-1960s, centering around the struggles and romantic desires of an African American singer played by long-forgotten folk sensation Willie Wright. (Courtesy Chicago Film Archives)

The 11th Hour

August 2007 •English

A look at the state of the global environment including visionary and practical solutions for restoring the planet's ecosystems. Featuring ongoing dialogues of experts from all over the world, including former Soviet Prime Minister Mikhail Gorbachev, renowned scientist Stephen Hawking, former head of the CIA R. James Woolse

1928: The Year the Thames Flooded

January 2024 •English

Exploring one of the most devastating but little-known disasters in London's history, this documentary reveals the shocking events that unfolded during the fateful Thames Flood of 1928.

17 Seconds

October 2013 •English

“17 Seconds” provides an all-access pass inside the Blackhawks locker room party in Boston and the airplane ride home with the Cup following Game 6, in addition to insight from the players on the Stanley Cup-winning team and members of the organization. Fans can ride along on the players’ buses during the championship parade and follow the Blackhawks as they spend their Cup days with family and friends, sharing the greatest trophy in sports with their communities. It also includes footage from the opening night banner raising ceremony.

Black Samurai

August 2020 •Italian

In Tanzania there is a growing clandestine market for albino skin, bones and hair as ingredients in potions that promise to make people rich. As a result people with albinism live in fear of being abducted or maimed. Jerome, a young karate master, has made teaching kids with albinism to defend themselves his life's mission. Now he’s determined to take one of them to a world championship in Japan.

¿Que Haces Aqui? A Documentary About Karen

September 2021 •English

Can flipping through the channels change your life? For Karen, a former prosecutor living in Chicago, her world changed forever when she accidentally fell in love with telenovelas. Now she has quit her job, and she's moving to Mexico City to write the telenovela she's always wanted to watch.

Eliot Ness vs. Al Capone

March 2009 •French

January, 1947. The public receives the news of Al Capone's death with indifference, although twenty years earlier he had ruled Chicago's crime underworld with brute force and corrupting many touchable individuals. Until the day the head of the Untouchables Brigade, Eliot Ness, entered the scene. Since then, a cruel battle between the two of them began, a battle that ended in trial, conviction, disease, insanity and death.

Gulf Stream and the Next Ice Age

January 2007 •English

As co-created by environmentalists Stephan Poulle and Nicolas Koutsikas, the documentary Gulf Stream and the Next Ice Age argues and provides evidence for the idea that mankind is wreaking permanent and potentially irreversible damage on the ecosystem by interfering with the natural course of the Gulf Stream. Koutsikas and Poulle suggest that this interference, in turn, will prompt a new Ice Age that virtually destroys the modern world.

Free Chol Soo Lee

August 2022 •English

On June 3, 1973, a man was murdered in a busy intersection of San Francisco’s Chinatown as part of an ongoing gang war. Chol Soo Lee, a 20-year-old Korean immigrant who had previous run-ins with the law, was arrested and convicted based on flimsy evidence and the eyewitness accounts of white tourists who couldn’t distinguish between Asian features. Sentenced to life in prison, Chol Soo Lee would spend years fighting to survive behind bars before journalist K.W. Lee took an interest in his case. The intrepid reporter’s investigation would galvanize a first-of-its-kind pan-Asian American grassroots movement to fight for Chol Soo Lee’s freedom, ultimately inspiring a new generation of social justice activists.

The Janes

May 2022 •English

Defying the state legislature that outlawed abortion, the Catholic Church that condemned it, and the Chicago Mob that was profiting from it, the members of “Jane” risked their personal and professional lives to support women with unwanted pregnancies. In the pre-Roe v. Wade era — a time when abortion was a crime in most states and even circulating information about abortion was a felony in Illinois — the Janes provided low-cost and free abortions to an estimated 11,000 women.

From Jack to Juke

January 2013 •English

Currently all the rage with hipsters worldwide, Chicago Juke music has roots that run deep. The film chronicles the birth and evolution of a genre over 25 years. A fascinating watch!

Dolores

January 1984 •Spanish

On the Rink

May 2018 •English

The regulars of Chicago's Southside Rink show off the style and personality of the place they have called home for generations.

Dream of San Juan

February 2013 •Polish

The last representatives of Mixteco culture inhabit a village in the Sierra Madre. Deprived of their identity by modern civilization, they are facing an even bigger threat: a landslide that may destroy the village during the next torrential rains. The mayor tries to prevent the disaster. He wants to invite a geologist, so that the approaching danger can be officially confirmed. But no help is coming and the inhabitants must simply wait for the disaster.

A Global Warning?

November 2007 •English

Global warming in context. What the climate of the past tells us about the climate of the future.

Sickened No More: Documenting the Life and Death of Weekend Nachos

October 2017 •English

In 2004 a group of friends took the stage at a small coffee house in Dekalb Illinois with the sole purpose of pissing off everyone. Surprisingly, enough people liked what the band was doing that they continued to play music under the name Weekend Nachos. This documentary simply tells the story of Weekend Nachos.

Chicago Bears: The Super Bowl Shuffle

January 2005 •English

In 1985, the Chicago Bears were headed for the Super Bowl for the first time in more than 20 years. Riding high on the success of the season, members of the Bears recorded "The Super Bowl Shuffle," which soon became celebrated anthem for Bears fans everywhere. This first-ever rap song and music video by a sports team even garnered a Grammy nomination. At Super Bowl XX, the Bears charged down the field once more with a 46-10 victory over the New England Patriots. This 20th Anniversary Collector’s Edition DVD is a must-have for both old and new fans who want to relive the glory of the 1985 season.

Hoop Dreams

September 1994 •English

Every school day, African-American teenagers William Gates and Arthur Agee travel 90 minutes each way from inner-city Chicago to St. Joseph High School in Westchester, Illinois, a predominately white suburban school well-known for the excellence of its basketball program. Gates and Agee dream of NBA stardom, and with the support of their close-knit families, they battle the social and physical obstacles that stand in their way. This acclaimed documentary was shot over the course of five years.

Wild Weather

Invalid date •English

An innovative documentary that illustrates how weather works by performing brave, ambitious (even unlikely) experiments that show how nature transforms simple ingredients like wind, water and temperature into something spectacular and powerful.

Mashed Media

January 2010 •English

From the front lines of the bankrupt Chicago Tribune, to the vibrant local online publishing and start-up scene, pioneering journalists struggle to reinvent a storied, yet troubled industry. "Mashed Media" visits bloggers, independent publishers, hacker journalists, and social media mavens working in the trenches of Chicago, providing a rare and intimate look at the future of journalism now.