Cinema/Chicago and the Chicago International Film Festival bring back Community Cinema, September–November 2025, with free screenings and conversations focused on access, inclusion, and community-building.
Presented by Wintrust, the program showcases films that reflect the stories, voices and experiences of local communities while upholding the artistic excellence of the Festival.
The September screenings are confirmed, and tickets are available now. Screenings for October and November, selected from the Festival’s official lineup, will be announced later this month.
This year, Community Cinema screenings will be hosted at the Kennedy-King College Theater (Englewood) and the National Museum of Mexican Art (Pilsen).
“Cooley High” (dir. Michael Schultz) will screen on Wednesday, September 24, at 6:30 p.m., Kennedy-King College Theater (740 W. 63rd St.)
Scheduled to attend: Tyra Martin, WGN TV Entertainment Producer, Pemon Rami and Anton Seals Jr.
In collaboration with Kennedy-King College, Englewood Arts Collective, Grow Greater Englewood, and the Center of Equity for Creative Arts, this screening of “Cooley High” marks the film’s 50th anniversary and includes a post-screening discussion.
Synopsis:
Set in early 1960s Chicago, “Cooley High” follows best friends Leroy “Preach” Jackson and Richard “Cochise” Morris, as they navigate their senior year at Cooley Vocational School near Cabrini-Green. Between everyday adventures, neighborhood tensions and dreams of the future, they imagine lives far beyond the confines of their community.
Directed by Michael Schultz and written by Eric Monte, this heartfelt coming-of-age classic weaves humor, energy, and poignancy in its portrait of friendship, ambition, and the challenges of growing up.
Trailer: https://youtu.be/YFbwmvg3M5c?si=FM28XcCqGfV8Bpy9.
“ASCO: Without Permission” (dir. Travis Gutiérrez Senger)
Chicago Premiere will screen on Thursday, September 25, at 6:30 p.m., National Museum of Mexican Art (1852 W. 19th St.)
Scheduled to attend: Director Travis Gutiérrez Senger and ASCO members Patssi Valdez and Harry Gamboa Jr.
In collaboration with the National Museum of Mexican Art, this special screening of “ASCO: Without Permission,” produced by Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna, highlights the legacy of the groundbreaking Chicano artist collective ASCO.
Synopsis:
“ASCO: Without Permission” is a genre-defying film that profiles the extraordinary, Los Angeles-based, Chicano art group of the 70s-80s, ASCO, who merged activism and art as they challenged representation in the art world, Hollywood, and the news media.
Unrecognized in their time, they are now being considered among the most important artists of the 20th century. Utilizing a wholly original approach to filmmaking, where nonfiction and fiction are interconnected through collaborative film works made with the next generation of Latinx artists, “Without Permission” reimagines what is possible today in cinema and art—while celebrating an iconoclastic group that was far ahead of its time.
Before You Go
• All screenings are free and open to the public. Registration is required.
• Doors open 30 minutes before showtime.
• Seating is general and on a first-come, first-served basis.
• Theater capacity is limited, and venues are overbooked to ensure a full house.
• Admission is not guaranteed; we recommend arriving early.
LAWRENCE HILTON JACOBS and Glynn Turman.
CAST MEMBERS FROM ‘Cooley High.’
KENNEDY-KING COLLEGE
ASCO COLLECTIVE MEMBERS
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF Mexican Art
(Photos courtesy Chicago International Film Festival).