The south side isn’t exactly starved for art cinema—the University of Chicago is host to not only Doc Films but UC Film Studies Center’s weekly programs at Logan Center for the Arts, and Beverly Arts Center has weekly 35-millimeter screenings of independent features—but outside Hyde Park there’s a real shortage of alternative fare. Founded by the artist Theaster Gates and run by longtime Chicago programmer and critic Michael W. Phillips Jr., the Black Cinema House, situated on the border of Jackson Park and Greater Grand Crossing, is a welcome new option. It caters specifically to independent and experimental films that illuminate the African-American experience, with several rotating series; among them is The Black Cinema Is . . ., in which local film scholars and critics present notable black films.
Correction: We’ve amended this story to reflect that it was Theaster Gates, not Michael W. Phillips Jr., who founded Black Cinema House.