Upcoming festivals

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• FACETS: Anime Club

  • Start
    Thu, January 09, 2025
  •  
  • End
    Thu, December 11, 2025
  •  
  • Schedule
    12 sessions
  • Location
    FACETS (1517 W Fullerton Ave.)

  

  Every second Thursday, FACETS Film Club Members are invited to explore the exciting world of anime with a mystery selection of OVAs, complete series, features, and short films, hand-picked with the help of our regular attendees.

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  Anime Club screenings are a Film Club Member ($15 /month or $150 /year) exclusive perk and include two free tickets, so that members can invite a plus one. This film series encourages community building and discussion around all things anime, featuring built in intermissions every month where members are invited to hang out in the FACETS Studio or Lounge to chat about the films, grab a drink, rent rare DVDs or VHS, and and let us know what other anime they’d like to see on the big screen by voting in our suggestion box. 

  Every month, we offer exclusive drink specials like Sapporo and hold a raffle where members can enter to win unique event posters and curated anime prizes. To enter the raffle, members must purchase a concession for $4 or more. Become a member today to join a community of cinephiles with exclusive access to rare, hard-to-find films and be the first to know about to all FACETS anime-related programming.

  Anime Club is programmed by Emma Greenleaf, FACETS‘ Marketing Manager & Nick Edelberg, FACETS‘ Program Operations Manager. 

  Discover More about FACETS

  Official Website 

  facets.org

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• FACETS: Cold Sweat

  • Start
    Fri, January 17, 2025
  •  
  • End
    Fri, December 19, 2025
  •  
  • Schedule
    12 sessions
  • Location
    FACETS (1517 W Fullerton Ave.)

  
  

  

  FACETS’ new monthly COLD SWEAT series dives deep into the unnerving world of horror and cult cinema with unexpected, visceral double features designed to raise the hair on the back of your neck and make your lip quiver.

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  Each month, we’ll present a meticulously curated pair of films that push the boundaries of fear, blending classic chills with fresh, innovative scares. But this series isn’t just about the fright—it’s a journey into the psychology and physiology of horror. Why do we willingly subject ourselves to fear-inducing experiences? What is it about the adrenaline rush and the shivers that keeps us coming back for more? COLD SWEAT delves into these questions, exploring the complex relationship between our physical reactions and emotional responses when watching terrifying films. 

  
  

  Upcoming Double Features:

  eXistenZ + St. John's Wort (Fri. January 17 @ 7pm & 9pm)

  Possession + Tokyo Fist (Fri. February 21 @ 7pm & 9:30pm)

  The Skin I Live In + May (Fri. March 21 @ 7pm & 9:30pm)

  
  

  COLD SWEAT is programmed by Nick Edelberg, FACETS’ Program Operations Manager and Emma Greenleaf, FACETS’ Marketing Manager. 

  Discover More about FACETS

  Official Website 

  facets.org

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• Reel Film Club

  • Start
    Tue, January 28, 2025
  • End
    Tue, November 25, 2025
  • Schedule
    9 sessions
  • Location
    FACETS (1517 W Fullerton Ave.)

  
  

  

  Held on the last Tuesday of each month (except March, April and December), the Reel Film Club celebrates a themed night with a reception and screening showcasing films and filmmakers from around Latin America, Spain and Portugal followed by a post-screening discussion.

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  Now on its 17th year, the series kicks off with the CHICAGO THEATRICAL PREMIERE of Germán Kral’s Adiós Buenos Aires (January 28) and Ulisés Porra’s and Silvina Schnicer’s film about the tenuous relationship that exists between race, class, and family in the Dominican Republic, Carajita (February 25).

  Learn More about Chicago Latino Cultural Center

  Official Website 

  latinoculturalcenter.org

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• FACETS: Film Trivia

  • Start
    Thu, January 30, 2025
  •  
  • End
    Thu, December 25, 2025
  •  
  • Schedule
    12 sessions
  • Location
    FACETS (1517 W Fullerton Ave.)

  

  Every last Thursday, it’s trivia at 24 frames per second!

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  Test your knowledge against your friends and fellow cinephiles for bragging rights and take-home prizes. Questions from the arthouse to the multiplex, from current cinema news to the nitrate nights of yesteryear. We’re here to push you until the celluloid snaps.

  Join us at 7:00 pm for Film Trivia, a free team-based game with winning teams taking home special prizes, including film memorabilia. Then stick around until 9:00 pm for a one-night-only screening curated by our trivia host.

  
  

  Upcoming Screenings:

  The Doom Generation (Thu. January 30th @ 9pm)

  Natural Born Killers (Thu. February 27th @ 9pm)

  Falling Down (Thu. March 27th @ 9pm)

  
  

  Film Trivia takes place in the FACETS Lounge and is programmed by CineRomero Productions.

  Discover More about FACETS

  Official Website 

  facets.org

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• 41st Annual Chicago Latino Film Festival

  • Start
    Thu, April 03, 2025
  • End
    Sun, April 13, 2025
  • Location
    TBA

    

  The Chicago Latino Film Festival began in 1985 with 14 films projected onto a concrete wall for an audience of 500. Today, the Festival screens close to 100 films from all over Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain, Portugal and the United States.  

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  The Festival offers Chicago film lovers from all walks of life the opportunity to view films that might otherwise be inaccessible because they have yet to secure a distributor or streaming deal. Its programming reflects recent trends in Iberoamerican cinema, from films that have become a sensation in the international festival circuit or were box-office hits in their country of origin or have yet to be released theatrically.
  

  The Chicago Latino Film Festival is produced by the International Latino Cultural Center of Chicago, a pan-Latino, nonprofit, multidisciplinary arts organization dedicated to developing, promoting and increasing awareness of Latino cultures by presenting a wide variety of art forms and education including film, music, dance, visual arts, comedy and theater. Imperative to the ILCC mission is to increase cultural opportunities for the Latino community, as well as, create a cultural dialogue amongst Latinos and non-Latinos to discuss universal cross-cultural experiences. 

  Discover More about CLFF

  Official Website 

  ChicagoLatinoFilmFestival.org

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• Chicago Southland International Film Festival

  • Start
    Thu, April 03, 2025
  • End
    Sat, April 05, 2025
  • Location
    F1622 Amphitheater, Governors State University (1 University Parkway, University Park, IL 60484)

  
  

  
  

  The Chicago Southland International Film Festival is excited to enter its seventh year! CSIFF2025 will continue the Feature Film Showcase and international short film competition.

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  Our festival features dozens of films submitted by filmmakers from across the globe of various genres from high school, collegiate, and professional filmmakers. The Feature Film Showcase celebrates independent filmmakers from the Chicagoland region. Film programs are followed by a live Q&A with the filmmakers.

  Join us as we propel “reel” stories forward and provide a platform for independent filmmakers with diverse perspectives to share their work and grow in their craft.

  Discover More about CSIFF

  Official Website 

  www.govst.edu/csiff 

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• Onion City Experimental Film Festival

  • Start
    Thu, April 03, 2025
  •  
    8:15 PM
  • End
    Sun, April 06, 2025
  •  
    11:00 PM
  • Location
    Gene Siskel Film Center (164 N. State St.)

    
  

  More information coming soon!

  View Official Site

  Discover More about Onion City

  Official Website 

  onioncityfilmfest.org

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• Queer Expression Film Fest Presents: BEST OF FEST

  • Start
    Wed, April 09, 2025
  •  
    12:00 PM
  • End
    Tue, May 13, 2025
  • Location
    Virtual

    

  QUEER EXPRESSION FILM FEST selected 11 films as BEST OF THE FEST with four programs streaming between April 9 and May 13. 

  Find More Information Here

  The QUEER EXPRESSION FILM FEST, now in its 12th year, announced 11 films as BEST OF THE FEST. with four programs streaming between April 9 and May 13. 

  
  

  FULL VIRTUAL SCHEDULE:

  April 9-22: BEST OF FEST SHORTS

  Get Tickets Here
  

  April 16-29: BEST OF FEST MID-LENGTH FILMS

  Get Tickets Here
  

  April 23-May 6: BEST OF FEST FEATURE - WARM FILM 

  Get Tickets Here
  

  April 30-May 13: BEST OF FEST FEATURE - IT'S ALWAYS BEEN ME

  Get Tickets Here
  

  
  

  The films come from eight countries: France, Canada, Iran, Bangladesh, Mexico, Denmark. Serbia and the United States.

  Discover More about QEFF

  Official Website 

  openspacearts.org

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• THE VISITOR: Presented by Queer Expression Film Fest & FACETS Film Trivia

  • When
    Thu, April 24, 2025
  •  
    7:00 PM
  • Location
    FACETS (1517 W. Fullerton Ave.)

    

  Join Queer Expression Film Fest and FACETS Film Trivia on Thursday, April 24th for Bruce LaBruce's new film, THE VISITOR.

  Get Tickets Now!

  Legendary provocateur Bruce LaBruce reimagines Pier Paolo Pasolini’s 1968 film Teorema for our modern dystopian times. A key figure in both the New Queer Cinema and punk rock’s queercore movements, LaBruce gives us yet another politically radical and sexually transgressive cinematic feast.

  A film of art, protest, and raw sexuality, The Visitor reminds us that everything is political - including, and especially, sex. We live in a hypercapitalist world where the rich use the bodies of the poor to metaphorically, yet still physically, gain their pleasure. 

  Watch the Trailer for The Visitor
  

  Discover More about QEFF

  Official Website 

  openspacearts.org

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• CineYouth 2025

  • Start
    Fri, April 25, 2025
  • End
    Sun, April 27, 2025
  • Location
    FACETS - 1517 W Fullerton Ave, Chicago, IL 60614

    
  

  CineYouth is the Cinema/Chicago’s annual film festival showcasing short films made by filmmakers 22-years-old and younger from around the world.

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  Created in 2005, CineYouth encourages the talent of young filmmakers and supports diverse youth voices by providing opportunities to have their work showcased, to learn about filmmaking from industry experts, and to network with their peers. Held annually in Chicago, CineYouth offers both in-theatre and online film screenings, filmmaking workshops, live Q&A’s, and more!

  Select award-winning CineYouth films are screened at the following edition of the Chicago International Film Festival at the CineYouth “Best of the Fest” screening. All events at CineYouth are free and open to the public. 

  Discover More about CY25

  Official Website 

  chicagofilmfestival.com/cineyouth

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• 15th Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival

  • Start
    Sun, April 27, 2025
  • End
    Tue, May 06, 2025
  • Location
    Classic Cinemas Elk Grove XQ, 1050 Elk Grove Town Center, Elk Grove Village, IL 60007

    
  

  Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival (BWiFF) will be presenting its 15th festival at the Classic Cinemas Elk Grove from April 27 - May 6. The 2025 Blue Glass Awards presentation will be privately recorded and premiere online on Wednesday, May 14. 

  View Official Site
  

  The annual festival welcomes submissions from filmmakers that utilize story elements in a new and exciting way, presenting character-driven independent cinema that is fueled by the filmmaker’s passion for the art without large studio support. 

  Discover More about BWiFF 2025

  Official Website 

  bwiff.com

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• CHERUB: Presented by Queer Expression Film Fest

  • When
    Tue, April 29, 2025
  •  
    7:00 PM
  • Location
    FACETS (1517 W. Fullerton Ave.)

    
  

  Join Queer Expression Film Fest at FACETS on Tuesday, April 29th for the Chicago premiere of CHERUB.

  Get Tickets Now!
  

  CHERUB, a gentle character study, has almost no dialogue. Rather, writer/director Devin Shears observes what to some is an ordinary life. But that life changes when Harvey makes a discovery at his local porn store.

  Watch the Trailer for CHERUB 
  

  Discover More about QEFF

  Official Website 

  openspacearts.org

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• The Midwest Film Festival: Film Fair

  • When
    Fri, May 16, 2025
  • Location
    Chicago Cultural Center

    

  More details to come soon!

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  Official Website 

  midwestfilm.com

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• The Midwest Film Festival: Rush the Suburbs

  • When
    Sat, June 14, 2025
  • Location
    Copley Theater (8 E. Galena Blvd., Aurora)

    

  More details to come soon!

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  Official Website 

  midwestfilm.com

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• The Midwest Film Festival: EVENT TBD

  • When
    Mon, July 28, 2025
  • Location
    Chicago Cultural Center (78 E. Washington St.)

    

  More details to come soon!

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  Official Website 

  midwestfilm.com

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• The Midwest Film Festival: EVENT TBD

  • When
    Mon, August 25, 2025
  • Location
    Chicago Cultural Center (78 E. Washington St.)

    

  More details to come soon!

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  Official Website 

  midwestfilm.com

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• The Midwest Film Festival: EVENT TBD

  • When
    Mon, September 29, 2025
  • Location
    Chicago Cultural Center (78 E. Washington St.)

    

  More details to come soon!

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  Official Website 

  midwestfilm.com

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• The Midwest Film Festival: EVENT TBD

  • When
    Mon, October 27, 2025
  • Location
    Chicago Cultural Center (78 E. Washington St.)

    

  More details to come soon!

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  Official Website 

  midwestfilm.com

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• The Midwest Film Festival: The Best of the Midwest Awards

  • When
    Sat, November 01, 2025
  • Location
    CineCity Studios Chicago (2429 W. 14th St.)

    

  More details (including final date) to come soon!

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  Discover More about MFF

  Official Website 

  midwestfilm.com

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