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.” 

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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. 

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.”

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. 

The 93rd Academy Awards will begin at 8 p.m. EDT on ABC. There will be no host, no audience, nor face masks for nominees attending the ceremony at Los Angeles’ Union Station — this year’s hub for a show usually broadcast from the Dolby Theatre. 

The starry cast of Aaron Sorkin’s 1960s courtroom drama took the top prize Sunday at a virtual Screen Actors Guild Awards where actors of color, for the first time, swept the individual film awards. 

As coronavirus numbers begin to decrease and entertainment venues start to reopen, the debate continues over consumer safety versus the safety of home. Local cinema owners tell us what they're doing to make sure everyone can safely resume a popular pastime.

Ma Rainey made history as the “mother of blues.” Her music and her story are highlighted in the film “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” which depicts a recording session in 1920s Chicago. Not too far from Chicago, Academy Awards history is being made by a native of Gary, Indiana.

A new film airing this weekend on WTTW draws parallels between the fight against apartheid in South Africa and injustice in Chicago.