Naperville resident Scott Potter was a filmmaker who dedicated his craft to highlighting underrepresented stories. (Courtesy of Sarah Potter)
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After the sudden, unexpected death of her husband, Scott, Naperville resident Sarah Potter has made it her mission to complete his documentary about a rare but serious neurologic condition that can cause paralysis while also exploring her own loss and a future she never imagined.

The new Netflix movie “Passing” centers around two Black women who can both “pass” as white but take different paths, one choosing to live as white, the other Black. (Courtesy Netflix)

The new Netflix movie “Passing” centers around two Black women who can both “pass” as white but take different paths, one choosing to live as white, the other Black. The film is an adaptation of the 1929 novel by Chicago author Nella Larsen.

(StockSnap / Pixabay)

Cinespace Studios, which helped spark a boom in movie and television production in Chicago, has been sold to a private equity firm that tapped a former Netflix executive to lead the operation on Chicago’s West Side.

The Chicagoan’s unwavering journey to his orchestral debut at the age of 79 is the subject of the film  “For the Left Hand” airing Friday, November 5 at 9:00 pm and Sunday, November 7 at 4:00 pm on WTTW. (Courtesy Kartemquin Films)

Norman Malone never abandoned his dream of becoming a concert pianist – despite a violent attack by his father that left his right side paralyzed at the age of 10. A new documentary chronicles the Chicagoan’s path from child prodigy to high school music teacher to his orchestral debut at age 79.

Movie industry worker Hailey Josselyn, wearing a t-shirt of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSA), holds a candle during a vigil to honor cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in Albuquerque, N.M., Saturday, Oct. 23, 2021. Hutchins was killed when actor Alec Baldwin fired a weapon on a film set that a crew member told him was safe. The tragedy has led to calls for fundamental change in Hollywood: the banning of real guns on sets. (AP Photo / Andres Leighton, file)

A shocked and saddened industry was reminded this week, many productions still use guns — real guns — when filming. And despite rules and regulations, people can get killed, as happened last week when Alec Baldwin fatally shot cinematographer Halyna Hutchins after he was handed a weapon and told it was safe.

Harry Shum Jr. plays AV tech whiz James in “Broadcast Signal Intrusion” (Courtesy Dark Sky Films)

Longtime WTTW fans may remember that back in 1987, our airwaves were hijacked by an unknown TV “pirate.” Now nearly 34 years later, it’s inspired a new film playing Thursday at the Chicago International Film Festival.

Jacqueline Stewart is a film scholar, archivist and curator who has been honored by the MacArthur Foundation for “ensuring that the contributions of overlooked Black filmmakers and communities of spectators have a place in the public imagination.” 

Gotham Tribute Honors recipient, filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles attends the 18th Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards at Cipriani Wall Street on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2008, in New York. (AP Photo / Evan Agostini, File)

Melvin Van Peebles, the groundbreaking filmmaker, playwright and musician whose work ushered in the “blaxploitation” wave of the 1970s and influenced filmmakers long after, has died. He was 89. 

This image released by National Geographic shows Dr. Anthony Fauci at the NIH in Bethesda, Md., during the filming of the documentary “Fauci.” (Visko Hatfield / National Geographic via AP)
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The documentary is an intimate portrait of a longtime public servant whose notoriety has risen dramatically — and with that, brought heaps of far-right scorn on the veteran of seven White House administrations.

The Cabrini-Green rowhouses stand in front of a residential tower in Chicago in 2018. (Daniel Acker / Bloomberg / Getty Images)

Nearly 30 years after “Candyman” was released, people are still daring one another to say the title character’s name in the mirror to summon this hook-wielding ghost. Some urban legends don’t die, they’re just reborn.

Outdoor movie screenings in Millennium Park, 2021. (Courtesy of the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events)

The 1975 cult classic has just been added to Millennium Park’s outdoor film series. And while it wouldn’t be a proper “Rocky Horror” screening without audience participation, the city has some dos and don’ts when it comes to your DIY props.

Chance the Rapper performs on stage at the Pre-Grammy Gala And Salute To Industry Icons on Jan. 25, 2020, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Willy Sanjuan / Invision / AP, File)

The concert was filmed in Chicago during his Magnificent Coloring World Tour in 2017, shortly after winning three Grammys through his 2016 independent project “Coloring Book,” which won best rap album. 

Reyna Ortiz works with Taskforce Prevention and is one of four LGBTQ+-identifying Latinx Chicagoans featured in the documentary. (Courtesy of Soapbox Productions)
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A new documentary explores inequities through the experiences of four Latino Chicagoans who identify as LGBTQ-plus as they navigate the COVID-19 pandemic in their personal and professional lives.

Monty and Rose's plover chicks, 2020. (Courtesy of Bob Dolgan)
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The full-length documentary captures the story of Monty and Rose from their hatching in 2017 to their status as standard bearers for piping plover conservation efforts. 

With the help of the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival, Jerrell L. Henderson created a one-man, one-puppet show about the consequences of “walking while Black.” (credit Elias Carmona)

When a member of Chicago’s theater community was racially profiled, he turned the experience into a short film with the help of the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival. Here’s a look at a one-man, one-puppet show about the consequences of “walking while Black.”

Fred Hampton Jr. and Akua Njeri speak with Brandis Friedman for “Black Voices.” (WTTW News)

It’s a story many Chicagoans know, but since the Oscar-nominated film “Judas and the Black Messiah” was released, more people are learning about the life and death of Fred Hampton. We talk with his widow and his son.