Block Cinema is dedicated to encounter, exchange, and learning through the art of the moving image.
Learn More about the Block Cinema program.
Always free and open to all
Upcoming Screenings
Apr37 PM
THE WAITING ROOM (1973) with guest Karen Sperling (OFFSITE)
Unseen for 50 years, Karen Sperling’s mesmerizing second feature THE WAITING ROOM (1973) returns in a new transfer commissioned by Block Cinema from the best surviving elements. This historic screening, held off-site at Northwestern's Abbott Hall in downtown Chicago, features Sperling in conversation with Prof. Peter Alilunas and CINEMA HER WAY author Marya E. Gates.
Apr46:30 PM
THE DAWN IS TOO FAR (2024) with filmmaker Persis Karim
Presented with the Colloquium for Global Iran Studies and the Middle East and North African Studies Program, this film delves into the powerful narratives of individuals from the Bay Area Iranian diaspora community. Filmmaker in person.
Apr612:00 PM
DIRECT ACTION (2024) w/ filmmaker Ben Russell in person
Block Cinema partners with Onion City Experimental Film Festival to present the Chicago premiere of Ben Russell and Guillaume Cailleau’s award-winning experimental documentary observing a militant environmentalist community in France.
Apr107 PM
Suspension Bridges: Films by Alee Peoples
LA-based experimental filmmaker Alee Peoples appears for a program of 16mm films that playfully bridge incongruous sounds and images, revealing pockets of deep strangeness within the banality of everyday life.
Apr177 PM
IO CAPITANO (2023) with panel discussion
The Italian Cultural Institute of Chicago, Northwestern's Department of French and Italian, and the Block Museum present a screening of IO CAPITANO followed by a panel discussion.
Apr187 PM
BARAKA (1992) with composer Michael Stearns in person
A landmark in documentary renowned for Ron Fricke's breathtaking panoramic imagery and the sonic environments of composer Michael Stearns, appearing in person for Q&A with Sound Arts and Industries co-founder Jacob Smith.
Apr247 PM
11 x 14 (1977) in 35mm with filmmaker James Benning in person
In James Benning’s feature film 11 x 14 (1977), Midwestern landscapes glimpsed through car windows and elevated trains harbor whispers of narrative. Following a 35mm screening of this landmark film (restored by the Austrian Film Museum and the Arsenal – Institute for Film and Video Art), Benning will appear for discussion.
Apr257 PM
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (2022) with filmmaker James Benning in person
Filmmaker James Benning purports to represent each of the country’s 52 states (plus Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic), from A to W, by way of one static 2-minute shot, captured in the course of his many road trips. Following the screening, Benning will appear for discussion.
May27 PM
SEARCHING FOR MR. RUGOFF (2019) with director Ira Deutchman
Ira Deutchman started his celebrated career in independent film working for Don S. Rugoff, an ornery and unkempt film distributor whose company, Cinema 5, transformed the culture of film in the 1960s and 70s. Deutchman's film interviews colleagues and contemporaries to create a warts-and-all portrait of Rugoff and a celebration of the cinematic legacy he left behind.
May312:20 PM
ALL I WANNA DO (aka STRIKE!) (1998) in 35mm with Ira Deutchman
A riotous teen comedy about sex, solidarity, and female empowerment with an endlessly-quotable script and a phenomenal cast of early-career stars, ALL I WANNA DO is a hidden gem of 90s cinema, presented on producer Ira Deutchman's personal 35mm print.
May157 PM
THE WITCH’S MIRROR (EL ESPEJO DE LA BRUJA, 1962)
A Gothic tale of spectral revenge from the Golden Age of Mexican horror film followed by a discussion with Chicago-based programmer Raul Benitez & Northwestern PhD candidate Emily Masincup.
"We’re very conscious of the valuable role that university cinemas like ours can play in the ecosystem of non-theatrical film. We look for opportunities to support and showcase the work of distributors who are expanding access to adventurous cinema, archives that are preserving endangered cinematic legacies and scholars and filmmakers who are promoting a more inclusive film culture.
We try to act as a conduit between that international community of passionate cinema workers, and diverse local communities at Northwestern and beyond, who see cinema as a way to encounter the world and exchange ideas."
– Michael Metzger, Pick-Laudati Curator of Media Arts, Block Museum
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