The Chicago Film Society exists to promote the preservation of film in context. Films capture the past uniquely. They hold the stories told by feature films, but also the stories of the industries that produced them, the places where they were exhibited, and the people who watched them. The Chicago Film Society believes that all of this history — not just of film, but of 20th century industry, labor, recreation, and culture — is more intelligible when it’s grounded in unsimulated experience: seeing a film in a theater, with an audience, and projected from film stock.
Chicago Film Society
35mm test film on screen before a screening of The Adventures of Prince Achmed (Lotte Reiniger, 1926), 2019. Photo credit: Katherine Greenleaf
Students focusing projector lamps at the archival film handling and projection workshop, 2018. Photo credit: Katherine Greenleaf.
Fred Camper, Dan Potter,1968, 16mm print. Preserved by CFS in 2016. Image courtesy the filmmaker
A lesson in contrast and optics at the archival film handling and projection workshop, 2018. Photo credit: Chicago Film Society.
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“The Foundation’s commitment to supporting artists by funding the institutions that incubate, encourage, exhibit and critically engage their work is unwavering. Non-profit arts organizations face profound challenges due to the political, economic, social and cultural upheavals of our current moment. At the same time, and more than ever, artists need the supportive community and creative encouragement that these organizations provide.”
Joel Wachs, President