Chicago Film Archives
@chicagofilmarchives.org
Regional film archive dedicated to collecting, preserving, and providing access to films that represent the Midwest. More at chicagofilmarchives.org
16mm scenes shot circa 1956 at the Silvestri Art Manufacturing Co. factory in Chicago, from our Frank Koza Collection. Watch the whole reel here! collections.chicagofilmarchives.org/Detail/objec...
December 23, 2025 at 7:40 PM
16mm scenes shot circa 1956 at the Silvestri Art Manufacturing Co. factory in Chicago, from our Frank Koza Collection. Watch the whole reel here! collections.chicagofilmarchives.org/Detail/objec...
“Blackhawks Xmas Party,” a roll of mag-striped 16mm from the Frank Koza Collection depicting the 1975-'76 Chicago Blackhawks playing hockey against a gaggle of Sesame Street Muppets, has been 'liked' by over 34k people via our social media accounts.
December 16, 2025 at 5:48 PM
“Blackhawks Xmas Party,” a roll of mag-striped 16mm from the Frank Koza Collection depicting the 1975-'76 Chicago Blackhawks playing hockey against a gaggle of Sesame Street Muppets, has been 'liked' by over 34k people via our social media accounts.
Stickers of the day. Found while making an inventory for films in the Maria Moraites Collection.
December 10, 2025 at 9:03 PM
Stickers of the day. Found while making an inventory for films in the Maria Moraites Collection.
Unedited 16mm footage of boxing matches set up in a ballroom at the Palmer House on Nov 30, 1977.
📽️ From the Frank Koza Collection.
📽️ From the Frank Koza Collection.
December 9, 2025 at 10:51 PM
Unedited 16mm footage of boxing matches set up in a ballroom at the Palmer House on Nov 30, 1977.
📽️ From the Frank Koza Collection.
📽️ From the Frank Koza Collection.
Our Peter A. Nikulin Collection contains elements from 1952 TV program "The Adventures of Uncle Mistletoe." The titular character, a charming, winged assistant to Santa, debuted in 1946 as part of a Christmas display at Marshall Field's.
This excerpt from Episode 4 features a friendly squirrel.
This excerpt from Episode 4 features a friendly squirrel.
November 25, 2025 at 11:04 PM
Our Peter A. Nikulin Collection contains elements from 1952 TV program "The Adventures of Uncle Mistletoe." The titular character, a charming, winged assistant to Santa, debuted in 1946 as part of a Christmas display at Marshall Field's.
This excerpt from Episode 4 features a friendly squirrel.
This excerpt from Episode 4 features a friendly squirrel.
CFA has got a lot to be thankful for this year! Thanks to a steadfast and consistently generous donor, we're fortunate to have recently acquired a ⚡️Lasergraphics ScanStation⚡️ as part of our film digitization suite.
November 24, 2025 at 9:14 PM
CFA has got a lot to be thankful for this year! Thanks to a steadfast and consistently generous donor, we're fortunate to have recently acquired a ⚡️Lasergraphics ScanStation⚡️ as part of our film digitization suite.
Chicago-based ballerina and choreographer Ruth Page's version of "The Nutcracker" premiered at McCormick Place's Arie Crown Theater in Dec 1965 and was presented there every holiday season through 1997.
This clip is from a 16mm roll filmed from the mezzanine of the Civic Opera House in 1967.
This clip is from a 16mm roll filmed from the mezzanine of the Civic Opera House in 1967.
November 18, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Chicago-based ballerina and choreographer Ruth Page's version of "The Nutcracker" premiered at McCormick Place's Arie Crown Theater in Dec 1965 and was presented there every holiday season through 1997.
This clip is from a 16mm roll filmed from the mezzanine of the Civic Opera House in 1967.
This clip is from a 16mm roll filmed from the mezzanine of the Civic Opera House in 1967.
Happy Halloween AND Happy Chicago Home Movie Day Eve!
See you tomorrow at the Chicago History Museum.
See you tomorrow at the Chicago History Museum.
October 31, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Happy Halloween AND Happy Chicago Home Movie Day Eve!
See you tomorrow at the Chicago History Museum.
See you tomorrow at the Chicago History Museum.
Spent the day looking through some messy cans of production elements from a new collection and found this guy looking back at us.... plus a hidden razor blade 👀 🍎
October 27, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Spent the day looking through some messy cans of production elements from a new collection and found this guy looking back at us.... plus a hidden razor blade 👀 🍎
Happy birthday to Illinois filmmaker John Nash Ott!
Ott shot his remarkable timelapse films in his Winnetka, IL greenhouse, where he installed environmental control and irrigation systems along with automatic photofloods and an army of Bell & Howell "Filmo Model 70" 16mm cameras mounted on dollies.
Ott shot his remarkable timelapse films in his Winnetka, IL greenhouse, where he installed environmental control and irrigation systems along with automatic photofloods and an army of Bell & Howell "Filmo Model 70" 16mm cameras mounted on dollies.
October 23, 2025 at 10:28 PM
Happy birthday to Illinois filmmaker John Nash Ott!
Ott shot his remarkable timelapse films in his Winnetka, IL greenhouse, where he installed environmental control and irrigation systems along with automatic photofloods and an army of Bell & Howell "Filmo Model 70" 16mm cameras mounted on dollies.
Ott shot his remarkable timelapse films in his Winnetka, IL greenhouse, where he installed environmental control and irrigation systems along with automatic photofloods and an army of Bell & Howell "Filmo Model 70" 16mm cameras mounted on dollies.
6. "Chi-Nite Ithaca" (1975 –1979, 12 min, digital file from Super 8 original), an avant-garde home movie featuring Chicago monuments and activities at night and the lyrical rural beauty and architecture of Ithaca, New York.
October 15, 2025 at 6:40 PM
6. "Chi-Nite Ithaca" (1975 –1979, 12 min, digital file from Super 8 original), an avant-garde home movie featuring Chicago monuments and activities at night and the lyrical rural beauty and architecture of Ithaca, New York.
5. "Pope Visits Chicagoland" (1979, 23 min, digital file from Super 8 original), which depicts Pope John Paul II’s October 1979 visit to Chicago.
![An image from the film "Pope Visits Chicagoland" showing a marquee-style sign reading "WELCOME YOUR HOLINESS" with red neon lettering below reading "OPEN ALL NIG[HT]"](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ktlqaubjcqutjhyqbcmkhuz4/bafkreihtoekw5px2hq66w4hpt6uspfewh3bitbbzjkkkkcuns74cyz7z5i@jpeg)
October 15, 2025 at 6:40 PM
5. "Pope Visits Chicagoland" (1979, 23 min, digital file from Super 8 original), which depicts Pope John Paul II’s October 1979 visit to Chicago.
4. "Boy With a Microphone" (1985, 11 min, digital file from Super 8 original), in which a child in the Pacific Northwest narrates his world, interviewing people and animals with equal curiosity.
October 15, 2025 at 6:40 PM
4. "Boy With a Microphone" (1985, 11 min, digital file from Super 8 original), in which a child in the Pacific Northwest narrates his world, interviewing people and animals with equal curiosity.
3. "Harold is Gone" (1987, 15 min, 16mm print from Super 8 original), an examination of public mourning and political ritual shot in the days following the sudden death of Chicago’s Mayor Harold Washington on November 25, 1987.
October 15, 2025 at 5:34 PM
3. "Harold is Gone" (1987, 15 min, 16mm print from Super 8 original), an examination of public mourning and political ritual shot in the days following the sudden death of Chicago’s Mayor Harold Washington on November 25, 1987.
2. "Rock Sox Disco Sux" (1979, 12 min, 16mm print from Super 8 original), an ethnography of Chicago’s notorious “Disco Demolition Night,” a promotional stunt-turned-riot held at a White Sox game on July 12, 1979.
October 15, 2025 at 5:34 PM
2. "Rock Sox Disco Sux" (1979, 12 min, 16mm print from Super 8 original), an ethnography of Chicago’s notorious “Disco Demolition Night,” a promotional stunt-turned-riot held at a White Sox game on July 12, 1979.
On the program:
1. "Novo Dextro: Purity & Danger" (1982, 35 min, 16mm print from Super 8 original), an experimental documentary depicting an American Nazi Party rally held in Lincoln Park during Chicago’s 1982 Gay and Lesbian Pride Parade.
1. "Novo Dextro: Purity & Danger" (1982, 35 min, 16mm print from Super 8 original), an experimental documentary depicting an American Nazi Party rally held in Lincoln Park during Chicago’s 1982 Gay and Lesbian Pride Parade.
October 15, 2025 at 5:34 PM
On the program:
1. "Novo Dextro: Purity & Danger" (1982, 35 min, 16mm print from Super 8 original), an experimental documentary depicting an American Nazi Party rally held in Lincoln Park during Chicago’s 1982 Gay and Lesbian Pride Parade.
1. "Novo Dextro: Purity & Danger" (1982, 35 min, 16mm print from Super 8 original), an experimental documentary depicting an American Nazi Party rally held in Lincoln Park during Chicago’s 1982 Gay and Lesbian Pride Parade.
Last year CFA preserved six films by JoAnn Elam. Tomorrow night, two of the new 16mm preservation prints created through this project will debut in Program 1 of @chicagofilmsociety.org's Celluloid Now! Be there, and check out the program at celluloidnow.org
![A frame from JoAnn Elam's film "[Garden & Joe]" depicting the filmmaker's husband Joe in silhouette against a window, double-exposed with garden plants and flowers.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ktlqaubjcqutjhyqbcmkhuz4/bafkreiaheckp5ahgxrh3iarmovudwgpbex6kkdymtjxoj6qfkwumywenfa@jpeg)
October 8, 2025 at 10:20 PM
Last year CFA preserved six films by JoAnn Elam. Tomorrow night, two of the new 16mm preservation prints created through this project will debut in Program 1 of @chicagofilmsociety.org's Celluloid Now! Be there, and check out the program at celluloidnow.org
On this day in 1991, Chicago's Harold Washington Library Center opened to the public!
This clip was shot about a week later as 16mm B-roll for "Skyline: Chicago," a series on the city's history and urban design that aired on @wttw.bsky.social It's part of CFA's Judith Paine McBrien Collection.
This clip was shot about a week later as 16mm B-roll for "Skyline: Chicago," a series on the city's history and urban design that aired on @wttw.bsky.social It's part of CFA's Judith Paine McBrien Collection.
October 7, 2025 at 9:48 PM
On this day in 1991, Chicago's Harold Washington Library Center opened to the public!
This clip was shot about a week later as 16mm B-roll for "Skyline: Chicago," a series on the city's history and urban design that aired on @wttw.bsky.social It's part of CFA's Judith Paine McBrien Collection.
This clip was shot about a week later as 16mm B-roll for "Skyline: Chicago," a series on the city's history and urban design that aired on @wttw.bsky.social It's part of CFA's Judith Paine McBrien Collection.
🎂 Happy birthday, Tom Palazzolo! Our tribute: this supercut of his varied and wonderful title cards.
September 30, 2025 at 11:05 PM
🎂 Happy birthday, Tom Palazzolo! Our tribute: this supercut of his varied and wonderful title cards.
From "Joe & Apples" (JoAnn Elam, 8mm, circa 1980)
September 23, 2025 at 9:38 PM
From "Joe & Apples" (JoAnn Elam, 8mm, circa 1980)
Jim Edgar, who served as governor of Illinois from 1991 to 1999, died this past weekend.
This clip from a Super 8 reel in the Bill Stamets Collection shows Gov. Edgar holding a soccer ball and speaking to the press at Soldier Field ahead of the 1994 FIFA World Cup.
This clip from a Super 8 reel in the Bill Stamets Collection shows Gov. Edgar holding a soccer ball and speaking to the press at Soldier Field ahead of the 1994 FIFA World Cup.
September 17, 2025 at 9:01 PM
Jim Edgar, who served as governor of Illinois from 1991 to 1999, died this past weekend.
This clip from a Super 8 reel in the Bill Stamets Collection shows Gov. Edgar holding a soccer ball and speaking to the press at Soldier Field ahead of the 1994 FIFA World Cup.
This clip from a Super 8 reel in the Bill Stamets Collection shows Gov. Edgar holding a soccer ball and speaking to the press at Soldier Field ahead of the 1994 FIFA World Cup.
Happy birthday to artist-reporter Franklin McMahon, born this day in 1921! His detailed documentary drawings and audio recordings are a rich record of politics and society in the 1960s, '70s and '80s.
September 9, 2025 at 10:39 PM
Happy birthday to artist-reporter Franklin McMahon, born this day in 1921! His detailed documentary drawings and audio recordings are a rich record of politics and society in the 1960s, '70s and '80s.
People dancing in Grant Park at the sixth annual Taste of Chicago in July 1985 🕺🏽
From a reel of Super 8 film in the Bill Stamets Collection.
From a reel of Super 8 film in the Bill Stamets Collection.
September 5, 2025 at 9:49 PM
People dancing in Grant Park at the sixth annual Taste of Chicago in July 1985 🕺🏽
From a reel of Super 8 film in the Bill Stamets Collection.
From a reel of Super 8 film in the Bill Stamets Collection.
"Sneeze," a sample pitch made by Goldsholl Associates for the Kimberly-Clark Corporation's Kleenex product. From CFA's Mort and Millie Goldsholl Collection.
September 3, 2025 at 9:37 PM
"Sneeze," a sample pitch made by Goldsholl Associates for the Kimberly-Clark Corporation's Kleenex product. From CFA's Mort and Millie Goldsholl Collection.
A clown and a dog named Jess on a float at the Calumet City Labor Day Parade, 1980.
August 29, 2025 at 4:54 PM
A clown and a dog named Jess on a float at the Calumet City Labor Day Parade, 1980.