In this time of increasing social isolation, it is more important than ever to connect and engage with your community. That’s why we created Film Community Conversations, a series of video chats to help you stay motivated in your creative pursuits and connected to like-minded people! It’s free to join and open to all.

PAST CONVERSATIONS:

Tuesday, March 31 at 5:30 PM | We’re Made for This: Documentary Filmmaking in a Time of Transformation

Documentary filmmaker Arielle Nobile will facilitate a discussion about documentary filmmaking. You can check out her most current work at Belongingintheusa.com.

Tuesday, April 7 at 5:30 PM | Virtual Open Studio

For this conversation, artist Luis Benavides will present his latest research and then open up the conversation to participants to share their own works in progress via screenshare on Zoom. You can check out Luis’ work here: joseluisbenavides.com.

Tuesday, April 14 at 5:30 PM | Classic Sci-fi: Fear of Social Change or Hope for the Future?

Rondell Merrill, professor of sociology and documentary filmmaker, will moderate a discussion on the power of Science Fiction as a tool for social commentary. We’ll talk about Cold War Era science fiction, focusing primarily on television serials like The Twilight Zone, Outer Limita, and Star Trek. What did they have to tell us about our potential future? Did we have reason to fear or was there cause for hope?

Tuesday, April 21 at 5:30 PM | Telling the Stories Only You Can Tell

For this week’s discussion, we are excited to welcome two local documentary filmmakers, Arielle Nobile and Colette Ghunim. Arielle's current documentary work, Belonging in the USA, explores human connectedness through stories of ordinary people who have achieved extraordinary things. Colette Ghunim is the founder of the Mezcla Media Collective, an artist collective of more 500 women and non-binary filmmakers of color in Chicago. Colette is currently working on a documentary film Traces of Home, which retraces her family’s Mexican-Palestinian heritage. You can learn more on her website.

We’ll be discussing the work of these filmmakers, how they approach filmmaking, and how they are channeling their own personal life experiences to tell the stories that only they can tell. Join us for this free discussion by registering at the link below.

Thursday, May 14 at 5:30PM | Creativity and Wellness in a Time of Transformation

Moderated by Angie Gaffney, Executive Director of IFA Chicago, film producer and life coach for creatives, we will discuss work/life balance, fostering creativity during COVID-19, and how this could impact filmmaking in Chicago. Register below!