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  Don’t Miss Our Documentary: WE ARE COLUMBINE

  April 8, 2019 at 10:08 am / Blog

  Laura Farber’s powerful film, WE ARE COLUMBINE is finally available for pre-order on iTunes. Her (and my) work on it began 17 years ago when she was a student of mine in a Columbia College documentary class. She was a freshman at Columbine High School in 1999 when the shootings happened. The film focuses on four of her classmates who reenact and reflect on that insane day 20 years ago, then reveal the drama and stories of their lives since. They are fascinating … Continue reading →

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  Jane Byrne and Harold Washington: Two ‘Firsts’ for Chicago

  April 3, 2019 at 9:37 am / Blog

  Lori Lightfoot’s election as Chicago’s mayor marks the first time that a black woman, and openly gay person, has held the position in Chicago’s history. In honor of this historic event, look back at two of the city’s mayoral firsts: Jane Byrne, Chicago’s first female mayor, and Harold Washington, Chicago’s first black mayor. Jane Byrne Not only was Byrne the first female mayor of Chicago, but she was also the first female mayor of a major city. Before becoming mayor, she served as … Continue reading →

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  We Have Runoff Elections Because of the 1983 Mayoral Race

  March 28, 2019 at 1:32 pm / Blog

  Lori Lightfoot and Toni Preckwinkle are posed to make Chicago history as one of them will become Chicago’s second elected African American mayor, second woman mayor, and first African American woman mayor. The two candidates will face off in a runoff election on April 2. If Lightfoot wins, she will also be Chicago’s first openly gay mayor. In 1983, reluctant outsider candidate Harold Washington achieved the impossible when he defeated incumbent mayor Jane Byrne in the Democratic primary, a victory … Continue reading →

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  Announcing the filmmakers selected for Media Burn’s Russia-US project

  March 18, 2019 at 7:47 pm / Blog

  In December, we announced our project, Countering Fake News in Russia and the US, funded by your contributions and a grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. This project will bring together a group of four Russian and American filmmakers, each creating an approximately 15 minute-long found-footage film which will then be assembled into an anthology film. The film will be screened in Chicago and St. Petersburg this summer. The project is a statement about the power of archives to safeguard truth in an era … Continue reading →

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  St. Patrick’s Day in Chicago

  March 15, 2019 at 1:20 pm / Blog

  St. Patrick’s Day is a holiday of tradition, especially in Chicago. From the bigger St. Patrick’s Day Parade downtown to the South Side Irish Parade in Beverly, it is a day to celebrate Irish heritage and culture with a beer or two. It is also a reminder of the prevalence of the Irish in Chicago history and politics.  Check out the clips below about the process of dyeing the river green and how the parade can get political. This Is … Continue reading →

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  “Radicalized By A Video Archive” By Andrew Seeder

  March 6, 2019 at 11:49 am / Blog

  I was radicalized by watching hundreds of hours of camera original video tape at the Media Burn Independent Video Archive. Like any true convert, I believe that watching Media Burn’s tapes changed my life and think that watching their tapes can change your life, too. When I first came to Media Burn, I thought that being well-informed meant reading as many high quality news outlets as I could. Yet as I watched more unedited documentary video, I realized that, informative … Continue reading →

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  Screening: Historic Social Justice Videos

  February 18, 2019 at 3:02 pm / Blog

  Premiere screenings with Q&ASaturday Feb 23 and Sun Feb 24 NANCY BUCHANAN, whose breakthrough videos on art and politics are recognized worldwide, will be screening two Chicago premieres on February 23 at 7pm at Uri-Eichen Gallery and Feb 24 at 2pm at the National Public Housing Museum. The videos are from the Message to the Grassroots TV series, produced by Michael Zinzun (1949-2006), a former Black Panther, tireless community organizer, and architect of the 1992 Watts gang truce. Nancy Buchanan, a Los Angeles artist who uses … Continue reading →

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  The Weird and Wild World of Sex in the ’90s

  February 14, 2019 at 11:01 am / Blog

  Celebrate Valentine’s Day by exploring the weird world of love in the ’90s. Watch videos of a man who sells condom dispensers, a couple who met in an online sex chatroom, and the wild world of horse breeding. Get to Know Mr. Condom Ever wonder who stocks the condom dispensers in bathrooms and bars? Meet Nolan Panisak, aka Mr. Condom, from Trevor, Wisconsin. In this clip from “The ’90s,”  Joe Cummings interviews Nolan to learn about his business and what flavor lube goes best with … Continue reading →