Upcoming film series to highlight Chicago architecture’s role on the big screen

The city of Chicago has a rich history of bringing a unique visual aesthetic—one not found in places like New York and LA—to some of Hollywood’s most well known and acclaimed films. To better explore the Windy City’s built environment and its history of cinematic storytelling, Chicago Architecture Foundation and ArcLight Cinema will team up in early 2017 on a four-film series.

Dubbed “ArcLight Presents . . . Architecture Afternoons with CAF,” the event will kick off on January 22nd with the classic Art Deco and Beaux-Arts period piece The Untouchables (1987). The series will then return on February 19th with Stranger than Fiction (2006) followed by Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (1927) on March 12th, and Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight (2008) on April 23rd.

Following each monthly screening, a panel discussion and Q&A session featuring CAF-selected experts will delve into how Chicago’s architecture and design inspires on-screen action, furthers the story, and sets important thematic motifs.

A detailed description of the four movies plus the option to reserve seats can found at ArcLight’s Architecture Afternoons with CAF website. For additional insight into the film selection process and what attendees can expect from the event, be sure to check out this interview with Chicago Architecture Foundation’s Nakea Barksdale by The Chicago Reader.

Image via ArcLight Cinemas

• A new film series focuses on the impact of Chicago architecture [Chicago Reader]
• Architecture Afternoons with CAF [ArcLight Cinema]