Chicago Beyond: The Films That Reveal the Soul of the Windy City

When mainstream cinema thinks of Chicago, it sees a stage. It sees the steel canyons of the Loop where superheroes collide, the luxury facades of the Gold Coast for romantic comedies, and the downtown streets shut down for breathtaking chases. It is a city-as-backdrop, magnificent and monumental.

But the real cinematic Chicago, the one that pulses with life, contradictions, and an unmistakable energy, moves at street level. It is a horizontal vision, moving toward the vast expanse of neighborhoods that constitute the city’s beating heart: the Cabrini-Green housing projects, the music-soaked streets of the South Side, the record stores of Wicker Park.

This is not a simple change of location, but a radical change of perspective. It is a path that unites the great classics with independent productions that do not use Chicago as a backdrop, but treat it as a complex and active character. Their stories are rooted in the specificity of its places, the tension of its racial and class divides, and the resilience of its communities. To truly understand Chicago through cinema, one must descend into its neighborhoods and unveil a portrait of the city that is far richer, more complex, and true.

Movement I: Pioneers of Urban Realism and Underground Cult

The roots of Chicago’s independent cinematic identity are sunk in fertile ground of social dissent and artistic audacity. The films of this first wave set a precedent, demonstrating an early commitment to capturing the raw energy of the city, its latent tensions, and the voices of its marginalized. Made with shoestring budgets and a guerrilla spirit, these works deliberately operated outside the studio system, forging a visual language that was as raw and direct as the city itself.

Medium Cool (1969)

An emotionally detached television cameraman, John Cassellis, finds himself covering the protests surrounding the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. As the city erupts in a chaos of violence and dissent, his shield of professional neutrality begins to crack. An encounter with a single mother and her son from Appalachia forces him to confront the ethical responsibility of his work, dragging him into the pulsating heart of the events he is documenting.

A seminal masterpiece of American political cinema, Medium Cool is more than a film set in Chicago: it is a film made of Chicago, at the moment of its most violent combustion. Director and cinematographer Haskell Wexler, financing the production with his H & J Pictures, performs a revolutionary act, dissolving the boundary between fiction and documentary. The narrative does not just use the ’68 protests as a backdrop; it absorbs them, allowing the real chaos of the streets to invade the story and overwhelm the characters. Chicago thus becomes an active and unpredictable antagonist, a political force of nature that exposes the illusion of media objectivity. It is a fundamental piece of independent cinema that captures the city not as a place, but as a historical event in the making.

Cooley High (1975)

Set in 1964, the film follows the lives of Preach and Cochise, two best friends in their senior year at Cooley Vocational High School. Between dreams of basketball scholarships, parties, first loves, and youthful antics, the two boys navigate the joys and dangers of life in the Cabrini-Green neighborhood. A chance encounter with two petty criminals drags them into a situation bigger than themselves, testing their friendship and forever changing the course of their lives.

Often described as an African-American version of American Graffiti, Cooley High is an essential cult work that offers a tender and bittersweet portrait of Black youth in Chicago. Produced by American International Pictures, an independent studio known for low-cost genre cinema, Michael Schultz’s film was a surprising success. Its strength lies in the authenticity with which it represents life in Cabrini-Green, avoiding sensationalist clichés to focus on the humanity, humor, and camaraderie of its protagonists. It is one of the first Chicago stories to give voice and dignity to a community often ignored or demonized, setting a template for African-American cinema to come.

Stony Island (1978)

On the South Side of Chicago, a young white musician named Kevin joins a group of talented African-American musicians to form an R&B band. Their goal is to break through and pay tribute to a local sax legend now in decline. Between improvised rehearsals, dreams of glory, and the daily challenges of a tough neighborhood, the group must overcome racial and personal divisions to create something unique and powerful, a sound that represents the true soul of their city.

The debut film of Andrew Davis, future director of The Fugitive, is a low-budget love letter (less than $380,000) to the music scene of Chicago’s South Side. Inspired by the experiences of the director’s brother, Stony Island was rejected by major studios before finding independent distribution with World Northal. The film captures a specific and vibrant moment in the city’s cultural history, using the rich soundscape of R&B and soul as the glue for a story of hope and interracial collaboration. Chicago here is not just a backdrop, but a living musical ecosystem, a place where social barriers can be broken down, at least temporarily, by the unifying power of music.

The Killing Floor (1984)

Frank Custer, a Black sharecropper from Mississippi, moves to Chicago during World War I in search of a better life, finding work in the city’s stockyards. There, he confronts brutal working conditions and deep racial tensions, skillfully exploited by the owners to divide the workforce. Despite his distrust, Frank joins the attempt to create an interracial union, a dangerous undertaking that will place him at the center of the violent Chicago race riots of 1919.

Produced by the independent company Public Forum Productions for the PBS series American Playhouse, The Killing Floor is a powerful and historically rigorous work that brings to light a crucial and often forgotten chapter of Chicago’s history. Directed by Bill Duke, the film uses the infamous Union Stock Yards not only as a setting but as a symbol of the city’s industrial power and the brutal conflicts upon which it was built. It is a fundamental example of independent cinema with a strong political conscience, digging into Chicago’s past to illuminate the deep roots of its labor and racial struggles, themes that still resonate today.

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)

Henry, a drifter with a dark past, settles into a Chicago apartment with his former cellmate, Otis. Together, they embark on a series of random and motiveless murders, sometimes documenting their deeds with a video camera. The situation becomes complicated when Otis’s sister, Becky, arrives in town seeking refuge and develops an attraction to Henry, unaware of his true nature. Her presence introduces an element of instability into an already precarious balance, pushing the violence toward an inevitable escalation.

Shot on 16mm with a budget of just $110,000 by the local Maljack Productions, Henry is a landmark of independent horror cinema, a work as disturbing as it is influential. Director John McNaughton avoids any sensationalism, presenting the violence in a cold, documentary-like manner. His Chicago is a desolate and anonymous landscape, a labyrinth of dirty streets, squalid apartments, and seedy bars, devoid of any iconic landmarks. This representation of the city as a cold and indifferent place serves as a perfect mirror for the protagonist’s empty psyche, making the film a chilling example of psychological geography, where the urban environment reflects the moral desert of its inhabitants.

Movement II: The City’s Conscience – The Documentaries of Kartemquin Films

No institution has defined Chicago’s independent cinema more than Kartemquin Films. Founded in 1966, this “documentary powerhouse” has acted for over half a century as the city’s critical conscience. Their approach is not that of detached journalism; it is a long-term commitment, a deep immersion into the lives of real people to tell stories of social justice, inequality, and resilience.

Kartemquin’s distinctive style—longitudinal cinéma vérité, following its subjects for years—is not a mere aesthetic choice, but a methodological response directly to the systemic and complex nature of Chicago’s problems. Issues like generational poverty, endemic violence, or school segregation cannot be understood in a snapshot. They require patience, trust, and the willingness to show the slow and arduous passage of time, the accumulation of small victories and crushing defeats. In this sense, the city’s chronic crises have shaped the very form of Kartemquin’s cinema, forcing it to develop a language capable of doing justice to their complexity.

The Last Pullman Car (1983)

In 1981, workers at the historic Pullman plant in Chicago face the factory’s closure, an event that threatens not only their jobs but also the future of the American railroad industry. The documentary follows their struggle, intertwining their personal stories with a century of corporate, union, and political history. The narrative traces the legacy of George Pullman, from the creation of his model company town to the decline of an industrial empire once considered eternal.

This Kartemquin documentary is an essential piece of labor history and Chicago independent cinema. The film goes beyond chronicling a single labor dispute to contextualize it within the broader trajectory of American industrial capitalism. Using the iconic Pullman company as a lens, directors Gordon Quinn and Jerry Blumenthal explore the decline of manufacturing, the erosion of workers’ rights, and the human cost of economic progress. It is a touching and politically sharp portrait of a community fighting for its dignity in the face of overwhelming economic forces, a recurring theme in the history of working-class Chicago.

Hoop Dreams (1994)

Filmed over five years, this epic documentary follows the lives of two African-American teenagers from Chicago, William Gates and Arthur Agee, as they pursue their dream of becoming professional basketball players. Recruited by a prestigious, predominantly white high school, the two boys and their families face a path fraught with obstacles: injuries, academic pressures, economic difficulties, and the harsh realities of life in their neighborhoods. The film documents their hopes, their triumphs, and their profound disappointments.

Hoop Dreams is simply one of the greatest documentaries ever made and a fundamental work for understanding contemporary Chicago. Produced by Kartemquin and distributed by the independent label Fine Line Features, Steve James’s film transcends the sports genre to become a devastating and intimate analysis of race, class, and education in America. Its longitudinal structure allows it to show in an unparalleled way how systemic barriers and inequalities of opportunity shape the lives of the two protagonists. Chicago is not just a backdrop, but a social labyrinth that the boys must navigate, a place of dreams and, more often, of broken promises.

The Interrupters (2011)

The film follows the work of three “violence interrupters” from the CeaseFire organization in Chicago for a year. These men and women, many with a past of violence themselves, immerse themselves in the city’s most at-risk communities to mediate conflicts before they escalate into shootings. From preventing retaliation to consoling grieving families, the documentary offers unprecedented access to the front lines of the fight against urban violence, showing the courage, fatigue, and complexity of their daily work.

Made by Steve James in collaboration with Kartemquin and Rise Films, The Interrupters offers a raw and necessary perspective on gun violence in Chicago, moving away from statistics to focus on people. The film is a powerful example of cinéma vérité that shows violence not as an abstract problem, but as a cycle of trauma that perpetuates itself at the community level. Instead of a city of monsters, a portrait emerges of a place populated by complex individuals fighting a grassroots war for peace, offering a glimmer of hope and an alternative model of justice.

’63 Boycott (2017)

On October 22, 1963, over 250,000 students boycotted the Chicago Public Schools to protest de facto racial segregation imposed by Superintendent Benjamin Willis. This short documentary combines unseen 16mm footage, shot at the time by Kartemquin’s founders, with the present-day testimonies of those who participated in that historic march. The film reconstructs one of the largest civil rights demonstrations in the northern United States, connecting it to contemporary struggles for educational equity.

‘63 Boycott is an act of cinematic archaeology and memory activism. By rescuing this crucial event in Chicago’s history from oblivion, Kartemquin does not just perform a nostalgic operation but creates a direct bridge between past and present. The documentary demonstrates how the issues at the heart of the 1963 protest—underfunded schools, segregation, and contempt for Black communities—are still painfully relevant today. It is a concise and powerful work that embodies Kartemquin’s mission: to use cinema to illuminate history and inspire action in the present.

Minding the Gap (2018)

Three young friends from Rockford, Illinois, a Rust Belt city near Chicago, find refuge from their dysfunctional families and economic precarity in skateboarding. The director, Bing Liu, one of the three, turns the camera on himself and his friends Keire and Zack as they face the challenges of adulthood: fatherhood, work, and confronting the traumas of a childhood marked by domestic violence. Skateboarding thus becomes the common thread to explore masculinity, friendship, and the difficulty of breaking cycles of abuse.

Although set in Rockford, Minding the Gap is a product of the ethos of Kartemquin Films, which produced the film, and represents an evolution of their model towards a more intimate and autobiographical space. Nominated for an Oscar and distributed by Hulu, Bing Liu’s documentary is a work of staggering vulnerability and honesty. It extends Kartemquin’s typical social critique to the microcosm of personal relationships, showing how economic forces and family traumas intertwine to shape the destinies of young men in a declining region. It is one of the most acclaimed documentaries of the decade.

Unapologetic (2020)

After the killing of two Black people by Chicago police, young abolitionist activists and organizers Janaé and Bella intensify their fight for justice. The documentary closely follows their journey within the Black Lives Matter movement, showing their work to create a political community led by Black and queer women. From street protests to political strategies, the film offers an intimate and powerful look at a new generation of leaders who are redefining the concept of activism in the city.

Directed by Ashley O’Shay and produced by Kartemquin, Unapologetic is a vital and contemporary continuation of the studio’s mission. The film urgently captures the energy of a historic movement, foregrounding the voices and perspectives of Black feminism. This is not the Chicago of institutions or traditional political leaders; it is a city seen through the eyes of those working on the margins to dismantle oppressive systems and imagine a radically different future. It is an essential document on 21st-century activism and Chicago’s central role in it.

City So Real (2020)

This five-part documentary miniseries offers a panoramic and multifaceted portrait of Chicago during a period of profound transformation. Beginning with the historic and chaotic 2019 mayoral election, the series explores the city’s political, social, and racial tensions. The story then extends to the summer of 2020, documenting the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the mass protests following the murder of George Floyd, showing how these events exacerbated existing divisions and ignited new hopes.

Directed by Steve James and produced by Kartemquin and Participant, City So Real is a monumental work that captures the complexity of contemporary Chicago like few other films. Its polyphonic structure, which gives voice to a wide range of citizens, from mayoral candidates to activists, from barbers to bartenders, creates a vibrant and contradictory mosaic. It is an epic snapshot of a city at a crossroads, struggling with its past of corruption and segregation while desperately trying to define its future.

In the Game (2015)

At a public high school on the South Side of Chicago, with a majority Hispanic student body, the Kelly High School girls’ soccer team fights for success on and off the field. The documentary follows the lives of four players during their high school years, highlighting the challenges they face: poverty, lack of resources, family pressures, and the difficulties of being young women of color in an inequitable educational system. Under the guidance of their tenacious coach, the girls find in the team a source of support and a lifeline.

Directed by Maria Finitzo for Kartemquin, In the Game offers a crucial and often overlooked perspective on life in Chicago. Using the microcosm of a sports team, the film illuminates the systemic barriers that Latina students must overcome to pursue higher education. It is a touching portrait of resilience and female solidarity, showing how sport can become a tool of empowerment and a catalyst for building a better future, even when the playing field is anything but level.

Movement III: Intimacy and Alienation – The Chicago Mumblecore Scene

In the mid-2000s, Chicago’s independent cinema underwent a significant transformation. The focus shifted from grand social narratives and public spaces—the streets, factories, protest squares—inward, to the private spaces of apartments, bars, and bedrooms. This change was driven by the mumblecore movement and its main Chicago proponent, the prolific director Joe Swanberg. Armed with low-cost digital cameras and a DIY ethic, these filmmakers abandoned conventional plots to focus on hyper-naturalistic, often improvised, dialogue that explored the relational, professional, and existential anxieties of urban youth.

This transition from public to private redefined the city’s cinematic geography. Chicago was no longer the stage for systemic struggles, but the container for intimate psychological dramas. The conflict was no longer against “the system,” but against personal indecision, emotional precarity, and the difficulty of communication. The result is a body of films that, despite their small scale, offer a sharp and recognizable portrait of a specific generational sensibility.

Kissing on the Mouth (2005)

Joe Swanberg’s debut film is a raw and unfiltered dive into the life of Ellen, a recent graduate navigating a post-college limbo of confusing sexual relationships and a lack of direction. Her relationship with her ex-boyfriend and the tensions with her jealous roommate create an atmosphere of unease and uncertainty. The film mixes explicit sex scenes with naturalistic conversations, offering an unidealized portrait of the emotional and relational difficulties of twenty-somethings.

Considered one of the founding texts of the mumblecore movement, Kissing on the Mouth was self-produced by Swanberg with a minimal cast that also served as the crew. Its lo-fi aesthetic and brutal honesty established the coordinates for much of his subsequent work. The film captures a sense of alienation and drift that, while universal, is rooted in an anonymous urban context that reflects the inner state of the characters. It is an essential starting point for understanding the low-budget revolution that redefined a part of American independent cinema.

LOL (2006)

Three young men in Chicago struggle to find a balance between their online lives and their real-world interactions. Alex, Tim, and Chris use computers and cell phones to communicate, but these tools seem to create more distance than connection. Between long-distance relationships mediated by screens, misunderstandings via email, and the anxiety of social media, the three protagonists find themselves increasingly isolated, unable to decipher the conflicting signals of modern communication and establish authentic bonds.

Swanberg’s second feature film, distributed by Benten Films, is a prescient and sharp analysis of the impact of technology on human relationships. Made well before digital alienation became a mainstream theme, LOL captures the dawn of an era in which intimacy is increasingly filtered through a screen. The film’s Chicago serves as an almost indifferent backdrop for characters who are more connected to their devices than to the city around them, a melancholic and ironic portrait of a generation learning to “laugh out loud” in silence, alone, in front of a computer.

Hannah Takes the Stairs (2007)

Hannah, a young intern at a Chicago production company, finds herself romantically adrift. After breaking up with her boyfriend Mike, she begins to flirt with two of her colleagues, Matt and Paul, triggering a chain of insecurities and emotional realignments within their small group of friends and collaborators. Unsure of what she truly wants, Hannah navigates her relationships with a mixture of curiosity and passivity, leaving a trail of broken and confused hearts.

Distributed by IFC Films, Hannah Takes the Stairs is perhaps the film that best defines the aesthetics and themes of mumblecore. Directed by Swanberg and co-written by its star, Greta Gerwig, who found her first major role here, the film is a total immersion into the articulate indecision and privileged anxiety of a group of young Chicago creatives. With a cast that includes other key figures of the movement like Mark Duplass and Andrew Bujalski, the film is a precise generational portrait, at times frustrating but undeniably authentic, of a world where much is said but little is decided.

Drinking Buddies (2013)

Kate and Luke work together at a craft brewery in Chicago and share a friendship built on flirting and drinking. The problem is, they are both already in serious relationships: she with Chris, he with Jill. When the two couples spend a weekend together at a lake house, the lines between friendship and romantic attraction become dangerously blurred. The latent tension between Kate and Luke threatens to shatter the balance of their lives, forcing them to confront what they truly want.

With Drinking Buddies, Joe Swanberg moves closer to the mainstream, working with professional actors like Olivia Wilde and Anna Kendrick, but without abandoning his improvisation-based method. The film is a brilliant example of how the mumblecore aesthetic can be applied to a more conventional premise. The setting in a real Chicago brewery is crucial: the local craft beer culture is not just a backdrop, but an integral element of the film’s social world, a place of work and leisure that fosters conviviality and emotional ambiguity.

Happy Christmas (2014)

After a recent breakup, the irresponsible Jenny moves to Chicago for the Christmas holidays, moving into the basement of her older brother Jeff’s house, a young filmmaker who lives with his wife Kelly and their two-year-old son. Jenny’s arrival disrupts the couple’s domestic routine, but her chaotic energy also pushes Kelly to reconsider her own life and creative ambitions, which have been sidelined by motherhood.

Shot in Joe Swanberg’s real Chicago home on a budget of only $70,000, Happy Christmas marks a return to the director’s micro-budget roots, while maintaining a high-profile cast with Anna Kendrick and Lena Dunham. The film is an intimate, funny, and touching portrait of family, responsibility, and immaturity. The domestic space becomes the main stage, transforming a typical Chicago house into a microcosm where family dynamics, sacrifice, and the difficult search for a balance between personal life and artistic aspirations are explored.

Unexpected (2015)

Samantha, a teacher at a downtown Chicago high school, discovers she is pregnant just as her school is about to be permanently closed. At the same time, she learns that one of her most promising students, Jasmine, is also pregnant. The two women, from very different social and economic backgrounds, develop an unexpected friendship as they navigate the uncertainties and fears of pregnancy together, confronting the difficult choices their futures hold.

Directed by Kris Swanberg and premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, Unexpected offers a mature and female-centered perspective that combines the social concerns typical of Kartemquin’s cinema with the naturalistic and intimate style of mumblecore. The film sensitively explores themes such as motherhood, social class, and disparities of opportunity in Chicago, using the parallel pregnancies of the two protagonists as a vehicle for a touching analysis of the different paths life can take depending on one’s starting point.

I Used to Go Here (2020)

Kate, a thirty-five-year-old writer whose first novel was a flop, suddenly finds herself single and with her book tour canceled. In the midst of a crisis, she receives an unexpected invitation from her favorite former professor to give a talk at her old university in Illinois. The return to campus catapults her into a whirlwind of nostalgia, causing her to bond with a group of students who see her as an icon of success. Soon, Kate finds herself reliving her student days, with parties, drama, and questionable decisions.

Directed by Kris Rey (formerly Swanberg) and produced by, among others, the comedy group The Lonely Island, I Used to Go Here is a witty and melancholic comedy about the gap between youthful ambitions and the reality of adulthood. Although set on a fictional campus, the film perfectly captures the feeling of returning to a place from one’s past—in this case, a university that evokes the atmosphere of Chicago and its surroundings—and finding it both familiar and hopelessly alien. It is a funny and touching exploration of the desire to go back and the need to move forward.

Movement IV: New Voices and Contemporary Perspectives

The current landscape of independent cinema in Chicago is a vibrant and multifaceted ecosystem, populated by a new generation of filmmakers telling bold and diverse stories. These recent films defy easy categorization, spanning genres and communities to reflect the complex reality of the city.

This flourishing is not accidental but is the result of a local infrastructure that has strengthened over time. Organizations like Chicago Filmmakers, the Chicago Underground Film Festival (CUFF), Full Spectrum Features, and the Independent Film Alliance Chicago have created a crucial support environment. By providing resources, training, and a network of contacts, these institutions act as a counterbalance to the commercial pressures of Hollywood, allowing for the creation of culturally vital, even if commercially risky, films. It is thanks to this ecosystem that stories about Pakistani-American lesbian wrestlers, Muslim teenagers searching for their identity, or honest comedies about mental health can be made, enriching the city’s cinematic fabric.

Love Jones (1997)

Darius, a young poet and aspiring novelist, and Nina, a talented photographer, meet at a spoken word club in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood. An immediate and intense attraction sparks between them, but both are reluctant to call it “love.” Their relationship develops through deep conversations, jazz nights, and the challenges posed by their respective exes and career ambitions. The film explores the question of whether their connection is just a passing infatuation or something deeper: a “love jones.”

Produced by New Line Cinema during its more independent phase, Love Jones has become a cult classic for its sophisticated and authentic portrayal of Chicago’s African-American intellectual and artistic bourgeoisie. Unlike many films of the era, which focused on stories of crime and hardship, Theodore Witcher’s work celebrates a space of love, creativity, and intellectual debate. The North Side neighborhoods become a welcoming setting for a mature love story, offering a rare and precious representation of Black urban life.

Chicago Cab (1997)

It’s Christmas Eve in Chicago, and a lonely taxi driver faces an endless, freezing day behind the wheel of his car. During his shift, a procession of bizarre, desperate, violent, and sometimes moving passengers enters and exits his cab. From the preacher to the drug addict, from the couple in love to the woman just assaulted, each ride becomes a vignette on the human condition. The driver, a silent observer, absorbs the stories and anxieties of the city, ultimately being profoundly marked by this urban odyssey.

Also known as Hellcab and based on a play, this independent film is an episodic and gritty portrait of Chicago’s soul. With an ensemble cast that includes many actors connected to the city like John C. Reilly and Laurie Metcalf, the film uses the taxi as a mobile confessional, a perfect microcosm to explore the diversity and loneliness of the metropolis. Far from the monuments and glamour, Chicago Cab shows us a city made of fleeting encounters and silent desperation, seen through the windshield of a working-class man.

Animals (2014)

Jude and Bobbie are a young couple living on the fringes of Chicago society, trapped in a cycle of heroin addiction. Their existence is a series of small scams and cons to get their next fix, all masked by an illusion of bohemian love. They live in their beat-up car, dreaming of a normal life that seems increasingly unattainable. When the reality of their situation becomes unbearable, their relationship is put to the test, forcing them to choose between love and survival.

Written by and starring Chicago native David Dastmalchian, Animals is a raw and uncompromising independent drama. The film creates a powerful contrast between the setting, which includes seemingly idyllic places like the Lincoln Park Zoo, and the desperate, parasitic lives of its protagonists. This Chicago is a city of hidden suffering, where the struggle for survival takes place just out of sight of the affluent majority. It is a heartbreaking portrait of addiction, showing how even in the most beautiful parts of the city, lives can be consumed by darkness.

Princess Cyd (2017)

Sixteen-year-old Cyd, athletic and self-assured, leaves her home in South Carolina to spend the summer in Chicago with her aunt Miranda, a well-known writer. The two women are very different: Cyd is explosive and focused on the body, while Miranda is cerebral and introverted. During her stay, Cyd explores her burgeoning sexuality, falling for a barista named Katie, while also pushing her aunt to open up and reconnect with the world. Their relationship transforms into a delicate exchange of perspectives on life, faith, and desire.

Written and directed by Chicago filmmaker Stephen Cone, Princess Cyd is a sensitive and luminous coming-of-age film. The summer setting of Chicago, with its tree-lined streets and cozy cafes, becomes the perfect backdrop for a tale of intellectual and sexual awakening. Far from shouted drama, the film focuses on intimate conversations and small moments of discovery, creating a gentle space to explore complex themes like spirituality, art, and the fluid nature of desire. It is a delicate and affirming portrait of personal growth.

Signature Move (2017)

Zaynab, a thirty-something Pakistani-American lawyer, lives in Chicago and cares for her widowed mother, who is obsessed with finding a husband for her daughter. Zaynab’s life takes an unexpected turn when she falls for Alma, a vibrant and confident Mexican-American woman. While trying to keep her relationship hidden from her traditionalist mother, Zaynab discovers a new passion and a way to vent her frustrations: professional wrestling, taught to her by a former wrestler.

Produced by the local cultural magazine Newcity and Full Spectrum Features, Signature Move is a vibrant and original romantic comedy that could only emerge from a healthy and diverse independent scene. The film breaks down stereotypes with humor and warmth, using Chicago as a multicultural canvas where different identities meet and clash, from the wrestling ring to the living room. It is a joyful celebration of love, family, and finding one’s place in the world, deeply rooted in the city’s heterogeneous reality.

Slice (2018)

In a bizarre town called Kingfisher, pizza delivery boys from Perfect Pizza Base start getting killed in gruesome ways. The murders reignite tensions between the human inhabitants and the ghost population residing in a local spectral neighborhood. When a fired delivery boy, a werewolf named Dax, becomes the prime suspect, he must team up with his ex-girlfriend Astrid to clear his name and find the real culprit, uncovering a conspiracy involving witches and a portal to hell located beneath the pizzeria.

Produced by the independent production company A24 and directed by Austin Vesely, a long-time collaborator of Chance the Rapper (who stars in the film), Slice is a quirky and stylish horror-comedy. Although set in a fictional town, the film is imbued with the creative energy of Chicago’s new generation of artists. It is a playful and postmodern work that mixes genres and tones, creating a surreal version of suburban Chicago where the supernatural is commonplace. A cult film that reflects a fresh and irreverent approach to cinema.

Hala (2019)

Hala is a Pakistani-American teenager living with her family in a quiet Chicago suburb. She tries to balance her life as a typical American teen, with a passion for skateboarding and a crush on a classmate, with the duties and expectations of her Muslim upbringing. As she explores her burgeoning sexuality, she discovers a secret that threatens to shatter her parents’ seemingly perfect marriage, forcing her on a difficult path of self-discovery and to confront the complex truths of her family.

Premiering at Sundance and acquired by Apple TV+, Hala is an intimate and beautifully observed coming-of-age film by director Minhal Baig. The film offers a nuanced and personal portrait of the first-generation immigrant experience, exploring the internal conflict between two cultures. The suburban Chicago setting provides the context for a universal story of growth, where the struggle to define one’s identity takes place between high school hallways and the walls of home, where tradition and modernity collide.

Saint Frances (2019)

Bridget, a thirty-four-year-old without a clear direction, takes a summer job as a nanny for the small and precocious Frances. Her new responsibility comes at a complicated time: she has just had an abortion and is still dealing with the physical and emotional consequences of her decision. While caring for Frances, Bridget forms an unexpected bond with the child and her parents, a lesbian couple facing their own challenges. The summer turns into a journey of growth and acceptance.

Written by and starring Kelly O’Sullivan, Saint Frances is a critically acclaimed comedy-drama, a gem of Chicago independent cinema. Distributed by Oscilloscope, the film tackles themes like abortion, postpartum depression, and motherhood with refreshing honesty, humor, and warmth. Set in a sunny Evanston, a suburb north of Chicago, the film tells a profoundly female and modern story that celebrates the complexity of human relationships and the possibility of finding family in the most unexpected places.

We Grown Now (2023)

In the fall of 1992, Malik and Eric, two ten-year-old boys, are best friends and neighbors in the Cabrini-Green housing project in Chicago. Their childhood is a world of imaginary adventures and discoveries, an oasis of joy in an environment marked by poverty and violence. When a sudden tragedy strikes their community, their bond is tested, and their families are forced to make difficult decisions about their future, threatening to separate them forever.

We Grown Now revisits the iconic and now-demolished Cabrini-Green projects with a lyrical and poetic gaze, through the eyes of its youngest protagonists. Minhal Baig’s film, produced by Participant, avoids sensationalist narrative to focus on the magic and resilience of childhood friendship. It is a touching portrait of a specific place and time in Chicago’s history, capturing the beauty and pain of growing up in a world that is about to disappear.

The Year Between (2022)

Clemence, a college student, moves back into her parents’ basement in a Chicago suburb after being diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Her forced return creates turmoil in the already tense family dynamic, with an over-anxious mother, a stoic father (played by Steve Buscemi), and two younger siblings who don’t know how to relate to her. With dark humor and brutal honesty, Clemence tries to navigate her new reality, severely testing the patience of everyone around her.

Written, directed by, and starring Alex Heller and produced by Full Spectrum Features, The Year Between is a brave and painfully authentic comedy-drama about mental health. The film uses the claustrophobic setting of the suburban home to explore the messy, uncomfortable, and often hilarious reality of living with mental illness. It is a deeply personal work that rejects easy sentimentality, offering instead a raw and witty portrait of the complexities of family bonds in the face of a crisis.