CFWC’s Voices of the South Side Kicks-Off Black Harvest Film Festival

Chicago, particularly the South Side, is rich with stories that inspire, challenge and entertain in amazing ways. For the third consecutive year, the Community Film Workshop of Chicago (CFWC) presents Voices of the South Side: A Short Film Showcase. 

Voices of the South Side: A Short Film Showcase is a collective with CFWC, Black Harvest Film Festival of the Gene Siskel Film Center of the School of the Art Institute and the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts. “The collaboration with the Gene Siskel Film Center and the Black Harvest Film Festival has boosted the filmmakers’ confidence and offered them an opportunity to participate in a nationally recognized Black Film Festival,” shares Margaret Caples, CFWC executive director.

The showcase is a series of 12 films by the 2025 Cohort of the Production Institute of the Digital Storytelling Initiative, a joint project of the Jonathan Logan Media Center and the Logan Center Community Artsat the University of Chicago. This year’s featured films include:

·       Gemini (Alphonso Echols, Jr.)

·       Too Full (Amber Johnson)

·       I’m Sorry (Hakeem Kamau)

·       Be Grateful (Jay Deep)

·       Ad Free Listening (Jonathan Ize-Iyamu)

·       Unwritten (Kathyrn Robinson)

·       Sine Amour (Paul Haymon)

·       Beyond Words (R. Corolyn Peet)

·       The Baby Girl (Sandria Washington)

·       Day One (Terryannah Caldwell)

·       Eve’s Denial (Tiara B. Cosby)

·       Black & Blue (Valerie Goodloe)

“Where there is no vision, the people perish.  We need visionaries now more than ever to guide our community.  Voices of the South Side is one way to equip and support the storytellers,” states filmmaker Amandilo Cuzan, CFWC’s lead instructor. “The impact that this opportunity provides has been echoed with enthusiasm amongst the filmmakers in this Festival,” adds filmmaker Cornell Braggs, CFWC co-instructor.

Tickets can be purchased at: https://web.saic.edu/blackharvestfest/community-film-workshop-showcase-south-side-shorts-2/. General admission is $13; $6.50 for Siskel Film Center members; and $8 for seniors and students with a valid school ID. 

For additional information on the Community Film Workshop of Chicago: www.cfwchicago.org. For more information of the Production Institute: https://www.logancenter.uchicago.edu/filmcinema/dsi.

For more information on the Black Harvest Film Festival: https://web.saic.edu/blackharvestfest/.