Siskel Film Center

06/02/2026

“A great film…one of the most visually inventive films I have ever seen.” – Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

PRINCESS MONONOKE plays Friday, June 12 + Saturday, June 13 in Bleak Week (Animated)! 🎟 siskelfilmcenter.org/princess-mononoke

Working at the height of his powers, director Miyazaki poured all the skills of his art into this magnificent epic of mythical history set at the dawn of mankind’s Iron Age, when humans and the spirits of nature battled it out for mastery of the earth.

06/02/2026

✔ Milagros Mumenthaler's THE CURRENTS is now a New York Times Critic's Pick! Opens exclusively at the Siskel Film Center Friday, June 5! 🎟🎟🎟 siskelfilmcenter.org/currents

"Arrestingly styled… an entry in cinema’s rich tradition of deconstructed feminine portraiture that skids ambitiously along a tonal and stylistic spectrum between Hitchcock’s MARNIE and Todd Haynes’s SAFE.” – Guy Lodge, Variety

“A complicated portrait of a woman on the edge of a breakdown—or is it a breakthrough?” – Monica Castillo, RogerEbert.com

While accepting an award in Switzerland, Argentine artist and designer Lina is seized by the urge to plunge into an icy lake. After surviving, she cannot readjust to her former life as something within her quietly shifts, unraveling a past she thought she had left behind.

06/01/2026

One of the most influential figures in Iranian cinema, playwright, filmmaker, and scholar Bahram Beyzaie has spent decades crafting films where myth, history, memory, and resistance intertwine. A central figure of the Iranian New Wave, Beyzaie is renowned for his poetic storytelling, powerful female protagonists, and deep engagement with Persian literature, folklore, and culture.

As part of the 37th Festival of Films from Iran (June 5–11), we're proud to present a limited retrospective of five of his landmark films:

🎬 THE BALLAD OF TARA
June 5 & 11
Opening Night screening followed by a Q&A with actress Mojdeh Shamsaie

🎬 KILLING MAD DOGS
June 6 & 11
Mojdeh Shamsaie in attendance

🎬 DOWNPOUR
June 6 & 8

🎬 BASHU, THE LITTLE STRANGER
June 7 & 10
Presented in a 4K restoration

🎬 DEATH OF YAZDGERD
June 7 & 9

Many of Beyzaie's films were censored or banned in Iran, yet his work remains among the most vital and enduring achievements of Iranian cinema.

Join us in celebrating a master filmmaker whose vision continues to resonate across generations.

🎟️ Tickets and full festival schedule: siskelfilmcenter.org/iran

06/01/2026

"John Waters meets Martin Scorsese... [a] transgressive cult film inspired by the legendary 1930s gangster João Francisco dos Santos." – Meagan Navarro, Bloody Disgusting

Black Harvest Film Festival presents the new 4K restoration of Antônio Carlos de Fontoura's 1974 q***r Brazilian gem, THE DEVIL QUEEN! Opens exclusively at the Siskel Film Center Friday, June 5!

Get Tickets 🎟🎟🎟 siskelfilmcenter.org/devil-queen

"The 'Gay GODFATHER'...a delicious film, loved every minute!" – Melissa Lyde

05/30/2026

🎉 Our 25 Years on State Street celebration begins this weekend—and so does our 25 for 25 series.

Take home a piece of Siskel history with one of our limited-edition anniversary posters.

Choose from 12 archival posters representing landmark Film Center series and retrospectives, or pick up our new commemorative poster celebrating 25 years on State Street.

Posters will be on display in our Gallery Café and available for purchase at the box office beginning May 29.

🖼️ $25 members | $35 general public

Every purchase helps support the future of the Gene Siskel Film Center while celebrating its past.

Bring your poster to Blick Art Materials (around the corner at 16 W. Randolph) for 60% off framing!

🎟️ Plus, don't miss Opening Weekend of our 25 for 25 series, featuring three beloved Chicago-set films: HIGH FIDELITY, COOLEY HIGH, and CALL NORTHSIDE 777.

🎟️ Tickets and details: siskelfilmcenter.org/statestreet

05/29/2026

25 For 25 begins this weekend! A screening series revisiting standout titles from our State Street history. The series begins this weekend with three beloved Chicago-set films from Starring Chicago, our inaugural State Street program! Catch HIGH FIDELITY, COOLEY HIGH, and CALL NORTHSIDE 777 this weekend!

🎟: siskelfilmcenter.org/25For25

25 For 25 Series: Each selection connects to a past Siskel Film Center screening, spotlighting films that have lit up our screens since 2001 and highlighting the diverse and innovative programming that has shaped the Siskel over the past quarter century. Full lineup announcement coming this June.

05/29/2026

🎬 Opening Night of the 37th Festival of Films from Iran | Friday, June 5

Join us for a special Opening Nght featuring two extraordinary works of Iranian cinema—a landmark classic and a recent Sundance selection.

🌊 THE BALLAD OF TARA | 6:00 p.m.
Bahram Beyzaie’s breathtaking, once-banned tale of an impossible love between a strong-willed woman and the ghost of a fallen warrior. Opening Night screening followed by a Q&A with actress Mojdeh Shamsaie and reception.

🏙️ THE FRIEND'S HOUSE IS HERE | 9:00 p.m.
Taking its title from Abbas Kiarostami's WHERE IS THE FRIEND'S HOUSE?, this acclaimed Sundance-premiering drama follows two artists forging community and creative freedom within Tehran's underground art scene. Smuggled out of Iran to premiere internationally, it's a moving portrait of friendship, resilience, and resistance.

🎟️ Get tickets: siskelfilmcenter.org/iran

05/27/2026

🪶 Chicago Film Society Presents: FLY AWAY HOME
35mm Screening
Sunday, May 31, 6:00 p.m.

Best known for THE BLACK STALLION, director Carroll Ballard brings extraordinary visual grace and emotional depth to this unforgettable family drama inspired by a true story. Starring Anna Paquin and Jeff Daniels, FLY AWAY HOME follows a father and daughter who bond while guiding a flock of orphaned geese on their migration journey from Ontario to North Carolina—using an ultralight aircraft.

Featuring sixty trained geese and breathtaking aerial photography, this deeply moving film remains one of the great overlooked family movies of the 1990s. As critic Jonathan Rosenbaum wrote: “At a time when so few American movies believe in anything, it’s cheering and satisfying to see one that believes in geese.”

Preceded by BIRDS OF CHICAGO (1939, 10 min, 16mm) from the Chicago Film Society collection.

🎟️ Tickets: siskelfilmcenter.org/fly-away-home

05/27/2026

“An engaging, bittersweet and indeed bouncy tale.” — Rotten Tomatoes
“The heartwarming pick-me-up you didn’t know you needed.” — The Conversation

🦘 KANGAROO
Saturday, May 30, 2:00 p.m.

Inspired by the true story of Kangaroo Sanctuary founder Chris “Brolga” Barns, KANGAROO is a heartwarming family comedy set in the Australian Outback. When a stranded former TV personality teams up with a 12-year-old Indigenous girl to rescue orphaned joeys, the unlikely pair discover friendship, purpose, and transformation in the process.

Join us after the screening for a reception in the lobby, generously sponsored by the Australian Consulate-General.

Get tickets >siskelfilmcenter.org/kangaroo

05/26/2026

⭐ Join John Cusack on May 29 for a HIGH FIDELITY Q&A and Celebrate 25 Years on State Street! ⭐

As part of our ongoing 25 Years on State Street celebration, the Siskel Film Center is thrilled to welcome actor and Evanston native John Cusack, who will participate in a live Q&A following a special screening of HIGH FIDELITY on Friday, May 29.

The event is part of 25 For 25, our new screening series revisiting standout films from the Siskel Film Center’s State Street history. The series begins May 29 with three beloved Chicago-set films from Starring Chicago, the Siskel Film Center’s inaugural State Street program.

John Cusack Participates in a Post-Screening Q&A for HIGH FIDELITY
Friday, May 29, 5:45 p.m. | $25 members | $40 general public
TICKETS ON SALE NOW!! ➡️ siskelfilmcenter.org/high-fidelity

MAY/JUNE 25 FOR 25 TITLES:
⭐ HIGH FIDELITY (2000)
⭐ CALL NORTHSIDE 777 (1948)
⭐ COOLEY HIGH (1975)
⭐ RUSSIAN ARK (2002)
⭐ AMORES PERROS (2000) 4K
⭐ BARKING DOGS NEVER BITE (1999) 🎞on 35mm🎞
⭐ BICYCLE THIEVES (1948)

GET TICKETS→ siskelfilmcenter.org/25For25

Full lineup to be announced in June.

25 FOR 25 When the Siskel Film Center opened its State Street home in 2001, it was renamed in honor of beloved Chicago film critic Gene Siskel, marking a new chapter in its mission to bring the best of world cinema to Chicago.