Our Mission
Chicago Filmmakers is a not-for-profit media arts organization that fosters the creation, appreciation, and understanding of film and video as media for artistic and personal expression. Our organization is a catalyst for media of important social and community impact. Chicago Filmmakers' twofold mission is to serve independent film and digital video artists by supporting the creation and dissemination of new media artworks, while enriching Chicago’s culture, connecting audiences to screenings of artistically innovative, socially relevant, and diverse films and videos.
Chicago Filmmakers nurtures the development of aspiring filmmakers of all ages by offering affordable and subsidized classes, free workshops, year-round programming, summer camps, and community building events; we empower artists to create new work through production grants, equipment access, fiscal sponsorships, mentorship, and other services & resources. We encourage the professional advancement of media artists through free workforce training, seminars, panel discussions, lectures, rough-cut & open screenings, as well as other networking events and opportunities for artistic exchange. Chicago Filmmakers develops diverse audiences through its year-round exhibitions and its two annual film festivals, Reeling: The Chicago LGBTQ+ International Film Festival and The Onion City Experimental Film Festival.
Our History
In 1973, a group of experimental filmmakers formed an artist-run weekly screening series in response to the lack of an exhibition space to show their own work and the work of other new and emerging filmmakers. This Saturday night screening program, started under the auspices of N.A.M.E. Gallery, was called Filmgroup at N.A.M.E. In 1976, Filmgroup separated from the gallery and incorporated as Chicago Filmmakers. The exhibition program is now one of the longest-running showcases in the country for American and foreign independent film and video. Meanwhile, Chicago Filmmakers has evolved into more than a venue for screening films; it is now a diverse media arts center with programs in adult and youth education, equipment access and other filmmaker services and production funding.