GROUP 312 ANNUAL REPORT 2023: A Full Program Review by J.S.
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
Trailer for GROUP 312 ANNUAL REPORT 2023.
INCOGNITO by Brian Klein
A very simple and silly film that is solely shots of Chicago where a strange man peeks out from behind an object for a few seconds. That's it, that's the entire movie. It's short, it's goofy, and it's a film that silently asks you not to take it seriously and just have a great time with it.
WHY WEEE by Kevin Ortinau
The majority of WHY WEEE's runtime is taken up by a plant. Sounds like an exaggeration, it's not. As the camera circles the plant and the film's audio gets more layered, the experience of watching it becomes more and more surreal. It's not a film that aims to present a straightforward narrative, but it is one that wants to make you feel something.
WRONG by Kevin B. Chatham
Another film that focuses solely on a plant, WRONG is narrated by on-screen text that is sometimes dark and sometimes abstract and tough to decipher. The ambient music and sound design turns it into a sensory experience that absorbs the audience into its visuals and text.
UNRELEASED by Kevin B. Chatham
UNRELEASED is a deceptive film that presents itself as a behind the scenes documentary but quickly turns into something more. It aims to present a normal situation and quietly twists it into something abnormal, and in doing so, creates a very solid and disturbing psychological horror thriller that is entertaining, dark, and memorable.
INCOGNITO by Kevin B. Chatham
INCOGNITO is the exact opposite of the other identically titled film in the catalogue. It's similarly simple, but it is instead dark, abrasive, and unsettling. Despite it being only three minutes of a out-of-focus man monologuing to the camera, it manages to burrow deep inside the viewer's head and refuses to leave.
NON INTERUM by Johnny Lange
Another film that focuses on a character's monologue and manages to be effectively unsettling in the process. NON INTERUM is bolstered by its filmmaking and selective uses of color, creating a creeping experience that grows on the viewer as it continues further and further.
MEDITATIONS ON MIDDLE AGE by Johnny Lange
Easily the weirdest and most graphic film of the catalogue. MEDITATIONS ON MIDDLE AGE is kind of what it says in its title, but is also a weird, kind of disturbing, and very memorable experience. Lots of weird effects and strange filmmaking in this one, but it comes together in the end.
IN A BOX by Dave Purdie
A ridiculously weird little film that reads as one part music video, one part meme. It's a guy walking around and opening cabinets and various boxes, but it's sped up and there's funny music playing over it the entire time. What you see is what you get.
THIS TIME IT WILL BE DIFFERENT by Kevin B. Chatham
A creepy film that relies on its crossfaded shots and unnerving music to (successfully) draw emotions out of its audience. Memorable, thought-provoking, and deeply disturbing.
INCOGNITO by Richard Syska
Unlike the other two films sharing its titled in the collection, INCOGNITO tells a story with mostly visuals that warns of total nuclear destruction. It's a heavy story to tell, but this film is up to the challenge with its foreboding, archaic visuals and older-sounding audio.
THE GREATEST MOVIE NEVER MADE by Richard Syska
A fake documentary following the career of its director, THE GREATEST MOVIE NEVER MADE is a work of historical fiction that wallows in the absurd. From movies that win a ludicrous amount of academy awards to movies so good they kill people, the director delights in crafting an experience that is as weird and funny as possible, and it's an experience that's hard not to get into.
NEXT TIME IT WILL BE BETTER by Kelly McGowan
A funny and weird stop-motion venture that revels in its creative visuals, NEXT TIME IT WILL BE BETTER is a breath of fresh air amongst the rest of the festival's live action shorts. The sound design, homemade sets, and plot give it a sense of unique humor that can't be found anywhere else amongst that catalogue, and it's a film that marks itself as distinct, even for this collection of very strange films.
METAMORPHOSIS by Kelly McGowan
Another weird and good-humored stop-motion film, with the added benefit of having a live-action cat in it. Even better set design, a simple yet enjoyable story, and some very good animation go with it.
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 J.S., edited by Sofia Migaly.
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
Hosted by Toni Asante Lightfoot!
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.
Toni Asante Lightfoot is a poet, educator, and community activist dedicated to improving the physical, emotional, and financial health of her adopted community of Chicago and of her home Washington, D.C. She has edited several collections of poetry . Lightfoot has taught poetry for over 25 years in libraries, prisons, universities, and juvenile detention centers across the United States and in Trinidad and Tobago, where she also co-owned a bed & breakfast dedicated to housing artists and connecting them with Trinidadian artists and activists.