Join us this Black History Month for the 7th iteration of “Life Within the Lens”, our short film program featuring some of the city’s most talented Black creators. Featuring exciting new work from Sanicole, Phil Lee, Eve Wright, Sarah Oberholtzer, Luchina Fisher, Jacob Sutton, and Shiloh Tumo Washington.

BLK IS TIME/WAKE UP (dir. Jacob Sutton)

WE CALL EACH OTHER (dir. Sarah Oberholtzer) 2025 - 14 min

WE CALL EACH OTHER is a heartfelt drama that features a community moving through drought and environmental racism. Amidst this larger crisis, main character Naullin faces an interpersonal dilemma as someone steals liquid fertilizer for his illegal at-home garden. Weaving nonfiction recorded audio into a scripted story, the short film features characters who lean on one another to build safety and repair without relying on prisons or police.

STREET MAGNATE (dir. Phil Lee)

STREET MAGNATE tells the story of a young Black investment broker whose success is immediately questioned when he steps into the company he’s just acquired—revealing how perception, power, and prejudice collide.

BAILEY'S BLUES (dir. Shiloh Tumo Washington)

TEAM DREAM (dir. Luchina Fisher)

In the short documentary film TEAM DREAM we meet close friends Ann Smith and Madeline Murphy Rabb in their final days of preparation for the 2022 National Senior Games. While they train, we learn about their lives growing up amid segregation and stigma before breaking boundaries in their adopted hometown Chicago. A decade after joining Team Dream, a Chicago-based organization training women of color in swimming, biking and triathlon, the two women continue to reach goals they never thought possible. When Misha, a former Division I swimmer, helps them with their starts and turns, the women help her find her way outside the pool. The film culminates with Ann and Madeline competing at the games in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. TEAM DREAM shows you’re never too old to dream.

THE BET (dir. Sanicole) 2024 - 20 min

A pessimistic spirit guide named KIT turns purposefully unproductive after failing to save a youngster named Blue from a terrible fate.  Blue, who is now a spirit guide, challenges Kit to a wager on whether humanity is worth saving.

THE SCOREKEEPER (dir. Eve Wright) - 11 min

On the eve of a first date, a young woman is stalked by a supernatural AV cart-hauling interloper intent on forcing her to reckon with a traumatic past.