2019 DOC CHICAGO
In 2019, the inaugural DOC CHICAGO brought over 200 filmmakers together for a mini-conference. In addition to Chicago-based filmmakers, a number of documentarians travelled from as far away as Peoria, IL, Detroit, MI, Madison, WI and Dayton, OH, underlining the strong interest in a Midwest-based documentary conference. The 2019 DOC CHICAGO conference took place at Chicago Filmmakers' firehouse location and presented a mix of panels, a screening of short documentaries, and a community conversation about regional filmmaking.
DOC CHICAGO is a project of Percolator Films, a 501c3 non-profit media arts organization, and was presented in collaboration with Chicago Filmmakers. DOC CHICAGO efforts were spearheaded by Percolator Films' Ines Sommer, with programming contributions by Bent Huffman, Amber Love, and Chicago Filmmakers' staff member Sophie Maennerts. Thanks for their assistance during the conference to Benjamin Buxton, Kapra Fleming, Abbigail Vandersnick, Santosh Venkatamaran, and others.
DOC CHICAGO is a project of Percolator Films, a 501c3 non-profit media arts organization, and was presented in collaboration with Chicago Filmmakers. DOC CHICAGO efforts were spearheaded by Percolator Films' Ines Sommer, with programming contributions by Bent Huffman, Amber Love, and Chicago Filmmakers' staff member Sophie Maennerts. Thanks for their assistance during the conference to Benjamin Buxton, Kapra Fleming, Abbigail Vandersnick, Santosh Venkatamaran, and others.
Panelists and moderators included:
Danielle Beverly, professor, Northwestern University Qatar and Evanston, and filmmaker (Old South).
Colette Ghunim, filmmaker, co-founder of Mezcla Media Collective, a hub for women of color in Chicago’s media community.
Brent Huffman, documentary filmmaker (Saving Mes Aynak), journalist, and professor, Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University
Morgan Johnson, co-founder of The TRiiBE, a digital media platform that reshapes the narrative of Black millennials in Chicago.
Ruth Leitman, filmmaker and professor, Columbia College. Director: Lady Parts Justice League (Kartemquin Films)
Amber Love, festival programmer & filmmaker
Nick Nummerdor, filmmaker, The Skatepark: Concrete Dreams
Kristin Pichaske, filmmaker and professor, Columbia College. Producer, Kindling Group.
Gordon Quinn, co-founder and Artistic Director, Kartemquin Films
Anuradha Rana, filmmaker, Chair of the Documentary Program at DePaul University, and program coordinator, Kartemquin Films’ Diverse Voices in Docs program.
Jiayan Jenny Shi, documentary filmmaker (Finding Yingying) and video journalist, The Real Chi/Free Spirit Media, Kindling Group
Jeff Spitz, filmmaker, creator of The Doc Talk Show, and professor, Columbia College
Molly Veh, Milwaukee Filmmaker Alliance
Yvonne Welbon has produced over 20 films, which have screened on PBS, Starz, TV-ONE, Bravo, BET, HBO, Netflix, iTunes, etc. She is the founder of Sisters in Cinema and Senior Creative Consultant for Chicken & Egg Pictures, a national support organization and funder for women nonfiction filmmakers.
Marco Williams, award-winning filmmaker of seminal documentaries Two Towns of Jasper, Banished, In Search of Our Fathers, and more. Professor, Northwestern University Qatar and Evanston,
Raquel Zaldivar, visual journalist at the Chicago Tribune. Her work has been published with NPR, the Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post and The Atlantic.
Danielle Beverly, professor, Northwestern University Qatar and Evanston, and filmmaker (Old South).
Colette Ghunim, filmmaker, co-founder of Mezcla Media Collective, a hub for women of color in Chicago’s media community.
Brent Huffman, documentary filmmaker (Saving Mes Aynak), journalist, and professor, Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University
Morgan Johnson, co-founder of The TRiiBE, a digital media platform that reshapes the narrative of Black millennials in Chicago.
Ruth Leitman, filmmaker and professor, Columbia College. Director: Lady Parts Justice League (Kartemquin Films)
Amber Love, festival programmer & filmmaker
Nick Nummerdor, filmmaker, The Skatepark: Concrete Dreams
Kristin Pichaske, filmmaker and professor, Columbia College. Producer, Kindling Group.
Gordon Quinn, co-founder and Artistic Director, Kartemquin Films
Anuradha Rana, filmmaker, Chair of the Documentary Program at DePaul University, and program coordinator, Kartemquin Films’ Diverse Voices in Docs program.
Jiayan Jenny Shi, documentary filmmaker (Finding Yingying) and video journalist, The Real Chi/Free Spirit Media, Kindling Group
Jeff Spitz, filmmaker, creator of The Doc Talk Show, and professor, Columbia College
Molly Veh, Milwaukee Filmmaker Alliance
Yvonne Welbon has produced over 20 films, which have screened on PBS, Starz, TV-ONE, Bravo, BET, HBO, Netflix, iTunes, etc. She is the founder of Sisters in Cinema and Senior Creative Consultant for Chicken & Egg Pictures, a national support organization and funder for women nonfiction filmmakers.
Marco Williams, award-winning filmmaker of seminal documentaries Two Towns of Jasper, Banished, In Search of Our Fathers, and more. Professor, Northwestern University Qatar and Evanston,
Raquel Zaldivar, visual journalist at the Chicago Tribune. Her work has been published with NPR, the Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post and The Atlantic.
