A WEEKEND WITH TOM PALAZZOLO
Sat, Jan 27 + Sun, Jan 28, 2024 – filmmaker in person!
A beloved figure in Chicago's filmmaking community for decades, Tom Palazzolo has captured the absurdities of everyday life and the allure of colorful public spectacles – be they parades, beauty contests, demonstrations, or political campaigns – like no other.
Doc Chicago has teamed up with Chicago Film Archives, Chicago Filmmakers and the Gene Siskel Film Center to present a mini-retrospective of Tom Palazzolo's films on Saturday, Jan. 27 and Sunday, Jan. 28. We are excited that Tom will be present for Q+As at each one of the screenings. Program curated by Doc Chicago founder Ines Sommer.
Please purchase tickets for Chicago Filmmakers and Gene Siskel Film Center screenings separately at each venue.
Doc Chicago has teamed up with Chicago Film Archives, Chicago Filmmakers and the Gene Siskel Film Center to present a mini-retrospective of Tom Palazzolo's films on Saturday, Jan. 27 and Sunday, Jan. 28. We are excited that Tom will be present for Q+As at each one of the screenings. Program curated by Doc Chicago founder Ines Sommer.
Please purchase tickets for Chicago Filmmakers and Gene Siskel Film Center screenings separately at each venue.
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CHICAGO FILMMAKERS – Sat, Jan 27, 5pm
ADDED LESSONS Dir. Tom Palazzolo, 1990, 73 minutes Legendary Chicago filmmaker Tom Palazzolo is best known for his experimental and documentary works, but turned to fiction film in Added Lessons, an absurdist fever dream that follows young Francis (Liam Hayes) as he's bounced between maternal demands, burgeoning sexual desires, the church, and pretentions of the art world. Filled with painted sets, symbolic gestures, and a who's who of Chicago's performance art scene of the late 1980s, Added Lessons is decidedly non-naturalistic, instead referencing 1920s surrealist and expressionist silent films for its cinematic visual language. Chicago Filmmakers' Allen Ross served as cinematographer and the cast includes performance artists Carmella Rago, Lynn Book, Jack Helbig, and Michael K. Meyers, alongside appearances by many Chicago artists and SAIC students, including Kapra Fleming, Susan Anderson, the late Jon Schnepp, and others. Filmmaker Tom Palazzolo in person! |
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CHICAGO FILMMAKERS – Sat, Jan 27, 7pm
TOM PALAZZOLO'S SHORT TAKES This program takes us from some of Palazzolo's earliest experimental and documentary films including O (1967), The Tattoed Lady of Riverview (1968), and Campaign (1968) to later shorts like Rita on the Ropes (2002) and Hey Girls (1990), a funny "instructional" film made in collaboration with his SAIC film students and featuring Chicago filmmaker and cartoonist Heather McAdams. Filmed during the early days of Chicago's Pride Parade, Gay for a Day (1976) is a wonderful time capsule, while It's This Way at Deel Ford (1980) is a hilarious behind-the-scenes look at the filming of a car dealership commercial. Approximate program running time: 77 min. Filmmaker Tom Palazzolo in person! |
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GENE SISKEL FILM CENTER – Sun, Jan 28, 3pm
TOM PALAZZOLO'S CHICAGO Nobody has captured Chicago quite like legendary filmmaker and SAIC alumnus Tom Palazzolo, who has spent six decades training his irreverent and often humorous gaze at our public spectacles and rituals. This program gathers some of Palazzolo's most iconic shorts that take an unvarnished look at American politics and sexual liberation alongside portraits of everyday people that together make up a provocative time capsule of Chicago in the 1960s-70s. Blending documentary and experimental techniques, Palazzolo takes us from the unveiling of the Picasso sculpture and the 1968 Democratic National Convention to a nude beauty contest, a backyard wedding shower, and a gruff deli owner to a disturbing look at a Neo-Nazi rally. Films included are: The Bride Stripped Bare (1967); Love It/Leave It (1973); Ricky and Rocky (1972, co-directed with Jeff Kreines); Jerry's Deli (1976); and Marquette Park II (1980, co-directed with Mark Rance). Filmmaker Tom Palazzolo in person! |
