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Yesterday we learned that the brilliant and world-renowned theoretical physicist  Stephen Hawking  passed away at the age of 76. In the early 1960s,  Hawking developed an early form of motor neurone disease, debilitating and paralyzing him throughout the decades. However, he did not let such a devastating physical disability stop him from becoming a truly iconic figure, thinker and leader in the sciences, and in specific, cosmology. Hawking's built a legacy of scientific works, breakthroughs and publications throughout his academic career but it was his best selling book "A Brief History of Time" that caught the eye of acclaimed documentary filmmaker Errol Morris (Oscar winner for  The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara ). Morris' doc A Brief History of Time  looks at the impressive life and work of Hawking, told in the signature way that only Morris can, all scored to a soundtrack composed by  Philip Gla...

Documentary filmmaker and writer Laura Checkoway 's already exciting life is about to get a whole lot more crazy, in a good way. After her documentary short Edith+Eddie premiered at last year's True/False Film Fest , it went on to a year of positive reception and exhibition that culminated with an Academy Award nomination in January 2018 for Best Documentary (Short Subject) . The documentary short, a Kartemquin Films production that's executive produced by Cher (yes, THAT Cher), follows the country's oldest interracial newlywed couple (Edith and Eddie) as they are faced with a family dilemma that'll forever change their lives. Checkoway caught up with Free Cinema Now while she was in Chicago, not too long after the Oscar nominations were announced. Free Cinema Now: How did the project of Edith+Eddie  come together? Laura Checkoway: A friend texted me a photo of the couple [Edith and Eddie] that was circulating online when they got married at age 95 and...

The "found footage" genre has been around for some time, in both fictional form (1999's  The Blair Witch Project ) and nonfiction form (1927's  The Fall of the Romanov Dynasty ). If one considers the overwhelming amount of available found footage content online, namely through social media videos that people Snap or Tweet or Facebook Live every few seconds, it becomes clear that we need to gauge this appropriated art catalog through a new cultural viewfinder. It also prompts us to ask this important question: What public imagery is worthy of being curated for studied viewing? Russian filmmaker  Dmitrii Kalashnikov 's The Road Movie  (distributed by Oscilloscope Laboratories ) is a good example of social videos being culled together to give us a surprising and thoughtful insight into how we behave and feel -- today. The Road Movie is a moving image montage that is comprised of dashboard camera footage from dozens of Russian drivers, from all walks of life. As ...

Film Editor, Producer and native Chicagoan Karen Lynn Weinberg 's directorial debut  Keep Talking is set to make its Chicago premiere at the Gene Siskel Film Center this Friday January 5, 2018 . It is a documentary feature produced by Ten Trees Productions, Vision Maker Media and Kartemquin Films . Keep Talking follows a handful of Alaska Natives (mainly women) who are behind a vital movement to save the endangered language Alutiiq. The remote island of Afognak is the setting for their language camp where they inform, educate and teach Alutiiq to the Alaskan youth. Weinberg's film, much in the spirit of Kartemquin's exceptional documentaries, is an observed, clear and enlightening look at a struggle that is unfortunately underexposed. Weinberg took the time to speak with Free Cinema Now in anticipation of her film's upcoming special engagement at the Siskel Film Center, as part of its "Stranger Than Fiction"  2018 film series. Free Cinema Now: What...

"In documentary we deal with the actual, and in one sense with the real. But the really real, if I may use that phrase, is something deeper than that. The only reality which counts in the end is the interpretation--which is profound." - John Grierson We live in such a strange time. It seems like there is social unrest at every corner of the world. And as filmmakers, we are storytellers. But what stories are we telling? It's hard to get through the day without checking on the latest #OccupyWallStreet update. We're all affected by such monumental civic events.  Facebook news feeds are riddled with individuals asking for cameras/collaborators to cover this nationwide event...or at least their perspective of it. In recent years, documentaries have been quite popular with mainstream audiences (look no further than the Palme d'Or-winning Fahrenheit 9/11 ). Stories on war, education, prostitution & even dolphins have found their core audience (and in so...