*From* ***GROUP 312 ANNUAL REPORT 2023*** *trailer.*

Over the past year, not-for-profit artists’ collective Group 312 Films has gathered their best shorts for their annual report at Chicago Filmmakers. Tune in to see the wacky, poetic, and experimental featured works by Kevin B. Chatham, Johnny Lange, Kelly McGowan, Richard Syska, David Purdie, Brian Klein, and Kevin Ortinau.

The GROUP 312 ANNUAL REPORT 2023 screening is hosted at our Chicago Filmmakers Firehouse Cinema.

Saturday, August 26, at 7:00 PM CST.
1326 W Hollywood Ave, Chicago

From Richard Syska’s satirical tone and archival experimentation to Kelly McGowan’s colorful stop-motion puppetry, prepare to be amazed by the inventive storytelling of each director and their distinctive voice. Every director has approached their short from a variety of skill levels and expertise, all while collaborating with one another to perfect their craft.

Some of the most notable films of this year’s report were recorded on a mobile phone, and my personal favorite all-encompassing aspect of the cohort was each director’s attention to detail in sound design. Certain stories have reverberating narration that phase out into a three dimensional soundscape, while others have a multi-functional score (from electronic to orchestral) that could break the fourth wall.

Especially given that these films were all crafted on a monthly timeline under a given theme, I could not be more impressed with the economic yet vibrant use of the visual medium.

Visit Chicago Filmmakers, Saturday August 26th at 7PM, to catch the screening of GROUP 312 ANNUAL REPORT 2023.

For tickets: www.chicagofilmmakers.org/upcoming-screenings-and-events

A review by Anna Castagnaro

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RUSSELL BANKS: I WRITE IN ORDER TO BE A BETTER PERSON | IN-PERSON (10/10)

$10.00

Saturday, October 10, 7:00 PM

Chicago Filmmakers (1326 W. Hollywood Ave)

Denis Mueller and Ilko Davidov | 2026 | 86 min | Digital Projection

Directors Denis Mueller and Ilko Davidov in Person!

Russell Banks: I Write in Order to Be a Better Person examines the life and work of the renowned American writer, author of the acclaimed novels Affliction, Continental Drift, Book of Jamaica, The Sweet Hereafter, and Rule of the Bone, focusing on his ability to use fiction to question his own life and to confront the biases and cultural assumptions, thus allowing him to become a better person. This drive to become a better person through literature allowed Banks to develop the empathy and compassion necessary to recognize the full, shared humanity of those with backgrounds and outlooks different from his own.

“A thoughtful, literary look at the works and life of one of the best US storytellers in the last fifty years” - Ron Jacobs, CounterPunch

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LEGALLY DRUGGED | IN-PERSON (10/23)

$10.00

Friday, October 23, 7:00 PM

Chicago Filmmakers (1326 W. Hollywood Ave)

Vagabond Beaumont | 2026 | 117 min | Digital Projection

Director Vagabond Beaumont and Co-Executive Producer Floyd Webb in Person!

Legally Drugged is the story of a Brooklyn boy who becomes a successful real estate investor but not without some major obstacles along the way. Richard Schneeberg tells his own harrowing yet ultimately triumphant true story. When Schneeberg is hospitalized for depression/insomnia and malaise, he is given antidepressants, which cause him to hallucinate, become manic, and even become suicidal.

He loses his marriage and custody of his child. A former teacher, his hospitalizations also left him jobless and homeless. But through shrewd business investments he becomes a multimillionaire, owning some of the most desirable real estate in the country. It’s a story of one man’s journey “from the nuthouse to the penthouse.”

An outspoken advocate of non-drug therapies for the mentally ill, Schneeberg makes a case that antidepressant medications are overused and points out that they can sometimes cause more problems than they solve.

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READING THE WORLD | IN-PERSON (10/30)

$10.00

Co-Presented by HotHouse

Friday, October 30, 7:00 PM

Chicago Filmmakers (1326 W. Hollywood Ave)

Catherine Murphy and Iris de Oliveira | 2025 | 70 min | Digital Projection

In 1963, global icon Paulo Freire led an experimental project teaching hundreds of rural farmers to read, write and vote in Brazil, until he was arrested and forced into exile during a U.S.-backed coup d'état.

Told through the collective memories of farmers, students, and educators who participated in the “Culture Circles," where they learned to read and write in 40 hours, Reading the World contains rare archival footage of 1960s Brazil that was recently recovered after being buried for decades. The innovative teaching method used critical and creative thinking instead of memorization and repetition. By contextualizing and personalizing the lessons, educators used their surroundings to teach vocabulary and construct meaning. Hundreds of Brazilians became literate and were allowed to vote as a consequence, strengthening the blossoming democracy and social movement that was disrupting the colonial structures. After a shocking coup d’état, the farmers’ notebooks were set on fire, and Freire was eventually forced into exile for 16 years, spreading his pedagogy around the globe and impacting democracy and education until today. Today Freire is considered one of the most influential philosophers of education in the twentieth century, and revered by educators across the world.

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