All These Sons (2021)

The Janes

Defying the state legislature that outlawed abortion, the Catholic Church that condemned it, and the Chicago Mob that was profiting from it, the members of “Jane” risked their personal and professional lives to support women with unwanted pregnancies. In the pre-Roe v. Wade era — a time when abortion was a crime in most states and even circulating information about abortion was a felony in Illinois — the Janes provided low-cost and free abortions to an estimated 11,000 women.

Irish Chicago

The colorful stories of Irish-American immigrants and their descendants who lived the history and exemplify the repeated cycle of the outsider becoming the ultimate Chicago citizen-insider.

Eliot Ness vs. Al Capone

January, 1947. The public receives the news of Al Capone's death with indifference, although twenty years earlier he had ruled Chicago's crime underworld with brute force and corrupting many touchable individuals. Until the day the head of the Untouchables Brigade, Eliot Ness, entered the scene. Since then, a cruel battle between the two of them began, a battle that ended in trial, conviction, disease, insanity and death.

Life After People

In this special documentary that inspired a two-season television series, scientists and other experts speculate about what the Earth, animal life, and plant life might be like if, suddenly, humanity no longer existed, as well as the effect humanity's disappearance might have on the artificial aspects of civilization.

Pooh: The Derrick Rose Story

A never before seen look at the meteoric rise of Derrick Rose, the young Chicago superstar that was suddenly derailed by devastating injuries and unrealistic expectations for a hometown hero.

'85: The Greatest Team in Football History

Through never-been-seen-before footage and fascinating interviews with key members of the 1985 Chicago Bears -- Mike Ditka, Jim McMahon, Mike Singletary, and others -- you will hear the inside story of their historic season.

Hoop Dreams

Every school day, African-American teenagers William Gates and Arthur Agee travel 90 minutes each way from inner-city Chicago to St. Joseph High School in Westchester, Illinois, a predominately white suburban school well-known for the excellence of its basketball program. Gates and Agee dream of NBA stardom, and with the support of their close-knit families, they battle the social and physical obstacles that stand in their way. This acclaimed documentary was shot over the course of five years.

Michelle Obama: Life After the White House

Former First Lady Michelle Obama's story has just begun. The Obamas have remained quite busy with their new life of activism which includes their issue-oriented production company, Higher Ground, which won an Oscar for Best Documentary in 2020. Mrs. Obama's autobiography, Becoming, has become the best-selling memoir of all time and even won a Grammy following the publication of her book. Get lost in the incredible journey of this modern-day First Lady's story in the making...

Disney: Through the Looking Glass

Tito del Amo, a passionate 72-year-old researcher, takes the final step to unravel the enigma about the alleged Spanish origin of the American cartoonist Walt Disney, making the same journey that his supposed mother made to give him up for adoption in Chicago. A journey that begins in Mojácar, Almería, Spain, and ends in New York. An exciting adventure, like Alicia's through the looking glass, to discover what is truth and what is not, with an unexpected result.

Chicago 10

Archival footage, animation and music are used to look back at the eight anti-war protesters who were put on trial following the 1968 Democratic National Convention.

Cooked: Survival by Zip Code

Filmmaker Judith Helfand's searing investigation into the politics of “disaster” – by way of the deadly 1995 Chicago heat wave, in which 739 residents perished (mostly Black and living in the city’s poorest neighborhoods).

The John Wayne Gacy Murders: Life and Death in Chicago

Summaries "The John Wayne Gacy Murders: Life and Death in Chicago", Focuses on serial killer John Wayne Gacy's time in Chicago and includes information about Gacy's childhood, his career of crime in Waterloo, Iowa, and Gacy's becoming a celebrity in prison. Containing interviews with Chicago attorneys, news reporters, law enforcement officers, and history experts, the film illustrates what the atmosphere was like in Chicago when Gacy was murdering and ultimately apprehended. Gacy's time in prison as a celebrity serial killer is also explored in this groundbreaking film by Chicago native filmmaker John Borowski. —John Borowski

Chicago at the Crossroad

While gun violence was on the decline in most major US cities, why did it continue to increase in Chicago's segregated communities? What is known about the systems that created the problem, the laws that isolated it, and the policies that abandoned it? Using dramatic footage, including interviews with residents on the front lines over the last 15 years, this documentary opens a rare historical window into the systematic creation of poverty stricken communities plagued by gun violence. 

The Saint of Second Chances

Mike Veeck, son of MLB franchise owner Bill Veeck, blows up his father's career. Exiled from the game he loves, the younger Veeck spends the next few decades clawing his way up from rock bottom, determined to redeem himself.

Special When Lit

What made more money than the entire American movie industry through the 50s and 60s? Pinball. Special When Lit rediscovers the lure of a lost pop icon. A product of the mechanical and electrical age, the American invention swept the world and defined cool. Now it is relegated to a nostalgic footnote deserving a better fate. Joining the fans, collectors, designers and champion players from across the globe who share a world many of us didn't know still existed.

Best of Enemies

A documentary about the legendary series of nationally televised debates in 1968 between two great public intellectuals, the liberal Gore Vidal and the conservative William F. Buckley Jr. Intended as commentary on the issues of their day, these vitriolic and explosive encounters came to define the modern era of public discourse in the media, marking the big bang moment of our contemporary media landscape when spectacle trumped content and argument replaced substance. Best of Enemies delves into the entangled biographies of these two great thinkers, and luxuriates in the language and the theater of their debates, begging the question, "What has television done to the way we discuss politics in our democracy today?"

Public Housing

Public Housing is Wiseman’s unflinching portrayal of life at the Ida B. Wells housing project in Chicago, a raw exposition of the daily conflicts between residents and the bureaucratic machinery to which they are continually subjected. With intimate detail and an abiding dedication to his subject, Wiseman unearths the hidden facets of institutions to find humanity and sites of unexpected beauty.

The Lumineers - Live from Wrigley Field

In September of 2022, with over 41,000 fans in attendance, The Lumineers took fans on an anthemic, foot-stomping journey with the BRIGHTSIDE World Tour, ending their largest worldwide tour to date at Chicago's historic Wrigley Field.

Dear Ike: Lost Letters to a Teen Idol

In this animated documentary, Los Angeles filmmaker Dion Labriola recounts his all-consuming childhood quest to contact his teen idol, Ike Eisenmann - and the magical turn of events that led him toward his goal (some 40 years later).

Inside The Mob's Bloody Valentine

The St. Valentine's Day massacre is the stuff of American legend, and the tale is familiar to nearly everyone. But the story of that bloody day in Chicago has never been told, or seen, like this before. Cutting-edge graphics and frenetic recreations accompany Johnny Fratto, son of onetime Al Capone-associate Louis "Lew" Fratto, back to Chicago, where he uncovers massacre myths and learns more about the life his father and uncles led when they roamed those lawless streets in the 1920s. Johnny gets guidance and opinions from a team of renowned Chicago gangster experts, and bridges the gap between the stories he heard as a little boy and the reality he lived growing up in a mob family. Johnny's take about what happened on Feb. 14, 1929 will surprise you.

Long Gone Summer

An examination of the 1998 MLB season and the home run race between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. The two sluggers' race to hit the most home runs, later overshadowed by the steroid scandal, left a permanent mark on baseball history.

United in Grief

Suffering debilitating grief from the passing of his best friend who introduced him to the world of dance, Derrick must confront a monster that seeks to separate him from everything he loves.

Conversations Between Shifts

A portrait of Chicagoland ICU nurse Jeanette Alvarez-Basem captured through the perspective of her son Ben Basem. Between her night shifts and Illinois Nurses Association union meetings, Jeanette navigates what it means to be a nurse and a human during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chicago, Grande Roue

A view of the Ferris wheel from the Chicago Exposition of 1893, turning slowly.

Remembering Chicago Again

Memories and home movies of numerous Chicagoans bring the 1940s and '50s alive, from early Chicago television to the patriotic spirit of the war years when everyone pulled together.

Old St. Patrick's Church: Chicago Renaissance Story

Mike Leonard tells the inside story of how the west Loop’s St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church, known to residents as Old St. Pat's, transformed itself from an empty church in a declining neighborhood into a Chicago hub of worship, culture, social life, education, and service -- revitalizing a then-struggling West Loop.