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  • 4/19/24-4/21/24: Guerrilla Television: The Revolutions of Early Independent Video

    4/19/24-4/21/24: Guerrilla Television: The Revolutions of Early Independent Video

    A symposium presented by Media Burn, the University of Chicago’s Cinema and Media Studies Department, and Video Data Bank.  April 19-21 at the University of Chicago’s Cobb Hall 307 (5811 S. Ellis Ave) When video cameras first became widely available in the late 1960s, a global network of artists, activists, and documentarians quickly had the same realization: video is not merely a new format; video will change EVERYTHING about moving image media. Over the next decade-plus, idealistic videomakers fought to […]

  • CTVN’s “Cabrini Dreams”

    CTVN’s “Cabrini Dreams”

    A look at the student documentary that provides a touching, honest portrait of life in Chicago’s Cabrini Green.

  • Looking back at Lanesville TV

    Looking back at Lanesville TV

    Dubbed “probably America’s smallest TV station”, we’re taking a look at Lanesville TV. When the Videofreex formed, independent video was still in its infancy and it would still be a couple of years before the term “Guerrilla Television” would be coined. The desire was, however, to overthrow the mainstream media by creating a grassroots, bottom-up form of TV that was about, for, and by the people – a participatory form of television that reflected the cultures and cultures of local […]

  • All Eyes on New Hampshire

    All Eyes on New Hampshire

    Tuesday, January 23 is New Hampshire’s presidential primary. Because of its historical influence on the trajectory of candidates, it’s seen as one of the most important primaries. We’re comparing this year’s primary with those of the past in an effort to make connections in historical patterns. In 1992, Ralph Nader was a write-in for both the Democrat and Republican primaries in New Hampshire. This was not the first time Nader flirted with running for president — in 1972, he had […]

  • Still climbing towards the mountaintop: the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.

    Still climbing towards the mountaintop: the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.

    In 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his famous “I’ve been to the mountaintop” speech in Memphis, TN. 56 years later, his words continue to inspire. For more than a half century, the enduring vision of Martin Luther King, Jr. has been a galvanizing force for people striving to achieve racial justice. Shot by Bill Stamets in 1994 at the Harold Washington Library’s exhibit “Let Us March On! Selected Civil Rights Photographs of Ernest C. Withers,” this video records […]

  • The Story of Rod Blagojevich’s Rise and Fall

    The Story of Rod Blagojevich’s Rise and Fall

    In anticipation of our January 24th Media Burn mini-fundraiser featuring a screening of “Lincoln is Crying” with some of Chicago’s top political experts, we’re sharing some of our favorite videos about corruption in Illinois politics. In this video, journalist Elizabeth Brackett tells the story of  former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich’s quick rise to power and fall to disgrace. In 2009, venerable PBS Newshour and WTTW-Chicago journalist Elizabeth Brackett (1941-2018) published Pay to Play: How Rod Blagojevich Turned Political Corruption Into a National […]

  • We want to hear from you!

    We want to hear from you!

    We promise this is the last time we’ll ask you this year… please, if you can, donate. And thank you. There are thousands of videos in Media Burn’s collection. Which ones have made an impact on you? This is Adam Hart, Media Burn’s curator. Our collection is idiosyncratic and unique, and it’s huge – thousands of videos from throughout the history of the medium. They tell the stories of people and communities ignored by mainstream film and television, and preserve […]

  • Remembering Sculptor Richard Hunt, 1935-2023

    Remembering Sculptor Richard Hunt, 1935-2023

    On December 16, 2023, renowned sculptor Richard Hunt passed away. Hailing from Chicago’s Woodlawn neighborhood, Hunt’s career spanned decades. According to the Smithsonian Institute of Art, Hunt became “the foremost African-American abstract sculptor and artist of public sculpture.” Hunt had over 150 solo exhibitions, and even former president Barack Obama stated “Hunt [was] one of the greatest artists Chicago had produced. Hunt showed an interest in art from an early age, and took up sculpture as a teenager, even turning […]

 
 
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