This special screening of …LIKE CLOCKWORK is hosted at our Chicago Filmmakers Firehouse Cinema.

Saturday, August 19, at 7:00 PM CST
1326 W Hollywood Ave, Chicago

Chicago Filmmakers is excited to present the screening of …LIKE CLOCKWORK, a collection of short films created by previous guests of our weekly podcast, …Like Clockwork, followed by a live conversation moderated by Grace K. Schuler. The eight selected films seek to capture reality—either in the most objective way possible, or in the most colorful, strange, and confusing way. All of these films are, to some degree, documentaries, and all of them reckon with the past, present and future in different ways.

GODSPEED by Sonnie Wooden

Sonnie Wooden's GODSPEED is a straightforward short documentary that captures the stories of several Black citizens with an objective eye. It's very well put together and paced, all of the stories feel like they have enough time devoted to each of them, and it feels extremely honest despite its fourteen minute runtime. It's a short film that manages to feel completely real and engrossing—everything a good documentary can and should be.

A MONTH OF SINGLE FRAMES by Lynne Sachs

A MONTH OF SINGLE FRAMES was actually filmed in 1988—filmmaker Barbara Hammer moved up to Cape Cod for a month and filmed the world around her in that time, then, as she approached her death thirty years later, gave the footage to director Lynne Sachs and asked her to make a movie out of it. The documentary is one that's deeply in touch with nature and has Hammer reflecting on her mortality—it's a time capsule that depicts this standout time in her life, and one that preserves her forever on film.

GOAT by Paige Taul

GOAT is an essay film about the universality of the Nike brand—the narrator recalls a time when they were marketed as solely for men, but is now pleased with the fact that they can be for anyone. The film shows that anyone can wear the shoes—man, woman, anyone who wants to put them on—as long as they truly feel it.

IN RETROSPECT by Ji Stribling

IN RETROSPECT is a deeply nostalgic film—despite no indication as to where and when it was shot, it gives off the feeling of peering into someone's childhood memories, both due to its ethereal score and its home video-quality footage. The man behind the camera asks the young girl in front of it about her future, and as he does, the film shows its audience images of the world at large. It is not a straightforward experience, but it is a unique and fascinating one.

THE ROOTS WEAVER by Fernando Saldivia Yañez

A silent film that documents the outwardly simple but deeply complex process of crafting wholly organic earrings, THE ROOTS WEAVER is a gorgeous looking film made with a very natural feel. The lighting and environments make everything look sublime, and the lack of dialogue and straightforward story allows the audience to get lost in the film's rich atmosphere.

OPACITY by Michael Mersereau

OPACITY is a bizarre, colorful, and very creepy short film that documents a discussion between two unseen characters. The film plays with the viewer's senses, keeping up a distorted tone in the background that keeps them on edge while bombarding their sight with glitching visuals. It manages to be weird, uncomfortable, and effective, all in the span of six minutes.

CONFESSIONAL by Michael Mersereau

Easily the strangest film of the collection, CONFESSIONAL is a disorienting and dreamlike experience that leaves the viewer with no easy way to interpret it. The visuals are a mix of animation and edited-in images, while the sounds are composed of uneasy tones and distorted music. It effectively creates the experience of a dream, and keeps the viewer stuck inside of it until it's over.

MOCKINGBIRD (A MUSIC VIDEO FOR CHESTNUT) by M. Woods & Chestnut (Christina Santa Cruz and Daniel Watkins)

From Chestnut’s album, MOCKINGBIRD, M. Woods concocts a nightmarishly trippy film that assaults the senses with its rapid-fire visuals and loud, distorted music. MOCKINGBIRD is a challenging little film that pushes its audience's nerves to and over the edge, but it's also one that knows how to do this expertly. It's well shot, well thought out, looks and sounds great, and above all, leaves the viewer feeling as though they'd just woken from a bad dream with its abrupt and soft ending.

Screening at The Chicago Filmmakers Firehouse Cinema on Saturday, August 19 at 7PM Central

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

A review by Programming Intern J.S. Edited by Sofia Migaly.

Featured