DCASE Presents 2018 Millennium Park Summer Film Series — Preview

This is a FREE annual event in Chicago. Below is a preview of the Summer 2018 event.  Look for this same event next year. 

The Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) announced the lineup for Millennium Park Summer Film Series happening through August 21, at 6:30pm. New this year, each screening in the series will be programmed in collaboration with a local independent film festival providing a season-long sampling of the themes, ethnicities and genres seen in the more than 50 film festivals presented annually in Chicago.

Guests may take a seat at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion or lounge on the Great Lawn as movies are presented on the state-of- the-art, 40-foot LED screen.

Films will be screened with English subtitles or captioning unless otherwise noted.

Each film presentation will begin with a screening of a “Chicago made Short” – a locally-produced short film. A program of the Independent Filmmaker Initiative, the Chicago made Shorts Series is a celebration of the robust local independent film community and a showcase of entertaining work produced by Chicago-based artists.

Monday, July 9, 11am

opening program at 10:30am

Iron Giant

Programmed in collaboration with the Facet's Chicago International Children's Film Festival

(1999, rated PG for fantasy action violence, language, some thematic material and smoking, 90 minutes)

Nine-year-old Hogarth Hughes (Eli Marienthal) makes friends with an innocent alien giant robot and protects him from a paranoid U.S. Government agent (Christopher McDonald) by keeping him at a junkyard owned by Dean McCoppin (Harry Connick Jr.). The family film is also being show in conjunction with the Millennium Park Family Fun Festival and the Year of Creative Youth.

ChicagoMade Short: The Amazing Neckbeardby Aaron Legg

Tuesday, July 10, 6:30pm

Man on Wire

Programmed in collaboration with the Chicago Media Project DOC10 Film Festival

(2008, rated PG-13 for some sexuality and nudity, and drug references, 90 minutes)

Using actual footage from the event seamlessly mingled with re-enactments, filmmaker James Marsh masterfully recreates high-wire daredevil Philippe Petit's 1974 daring but illegal high-wire performance between the World Trade Center’s twin towers. The film won an Oscar for Best Documentary, Features.

ChicagoMade Short: National School Walkout & March for Our Lives by Caroline Olsen

Tuesday, July 17, 6:30pm

International Media Mixer

Programmed in collaboration with the Chicago Film Archives

(2018, rated PG, 65 minutes)

US premiere of a live sonic and cinematic experience. A cross-cultural exchange of artists and archival footage from Chicago and Italy featuring four new films by Giuseppe Boccassini (Italy) and Alex Inglizian (U.S.); Lori Felker (U.S.) and Patrizia Oliva (Italy); Federico Francioni, Yan Cheng (Italy) and Tomeka Reid (U.S.); Domietta Torlasco (U.S.) and Stefano Urkuma De Santis (Italy). The evening will be hosted by Alison Cuddy of the Chicago Humanities Festival.

Tuesday, July 24, 6:30pm

Get Out

Programmed in collaboration with the Black Harvest Film Festival

(2017, rated R for violence, bloody images, and language including sexual references, 104 minutes)

Young African American Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) visits the white family of his girlfriend Rose (Allison Williams) for the weekend. At first, Chris reads the family's overly accommodating behavior as nervous attempts to deal with their daughter's interracial relationship, but as the weekend progresses, a series of increasingly disturbing discoveries lead him to a truth that he never could have imagined. The Oscar-winning film for Best Original Screenplay was written and directed by Jordan Peele.

ChicagoMade Short: Portraits by Philip G Anderson

Tuesday, July 31, 6:30pm

Double Feature!

WALL-E

Programmed in collaboration with the One Earth Film Festival

(2008, rated G, 98 minutes)

In a distant, but not so unrealistic, future, mankind has abandoned the trash-covered earth, and WALL-E, a garbage collecting robot, has been left to clean up the mess. Mesmerized with trinkets of Earth's history and show tunes, WALL-E inadvertently embarks on a space journey with his sprightly pet cockroach that will ultimately decide the fate of mankind.

(15-minute intermission)

Crash

Programmed in collaboration with the Peace on Earth Film Festival

(2004, rated R for language, sexual content and some violence, 112 minutes)

Over a thirty-six hour period in Los Angeles, a handful of disparate people's lives intertwine as they deal with the tense race relations that belie life in the city. Directed by Paul Haggis, the film won three Oscars, including one for Best Picture, and stars Don Cheadle, Sandra Bullock, Matt Dillon, Jennifer Esposito, Brendan Fraser among many others in this ensemble cast.

ChicagoMade Short: 2.0 by Shane Dioneda

Tuesday, August 7, 6:30pm

School of Rock

Programmed in collaboration with the Chicago International Movies and Music Festival

(2003, rated PG-13 for some rude humor and drug references, 108 minutes)

Fired from his band, down and out rock star Dewey Finn (Jack Black), takes a gig as a 4th grade substitute teacher at an uptight private school. His attitude and hijinks teach the students some unconventional lessons, as he secretly leads his talented young musicians to the "battle of the bands" competition.

ChicagoMade Short: BT Lives in the Stitch by Katie Prentiss Onsager

Tuesday, August 14, 6:30pm

Coco

Programmed in collaboration with the Chicago Latino Film Festival

(2017, rated PG for thematic elements, 105 minutes)

Aspiring musician Miguel (voiced by Anthony Gonzalez), confronted by his family's baffling generations-old ban on music, takes an accidental trip to the stunning and colorful Land of the Dead where, along with the charming trickster skeleton Hector (voiced by Gael García Bernal), he unlocks the real story behind his family history. Coco won two Oscars, including Best Animated Feature Film.

ChicagoMade Short: Sparrow Duet by Steve Socki

Tuesday, August 21, 6:30pm

Slumdog Millionaire

Programmed in collaboration with the Chicago International Film Festival

(2008, rated R for some violence, disturbing images and language, 121 minutes)

Finding himself just one question away from winning 20 million rupees on India's Kaun Banega Crorepati? (Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?), eighteen year-old Jamal (Dev Patel) is accused of cheating and reflects on how his life in the slums of Mumbai gave him all the answers.

ChicagoMade Short: The Wayward Wind by Monica Thomas