Bill Stamets Collection > SERIES I: Films by Bill Stamets > Subseries I: Completed Works

The Chicago Filmmakers 10th Birthday Home Movie

Transcript (Download)

I'm nervous and I don't know what's going to happen.

I don't know.

I used to shoot documentaries and this is why you...

Don't panic.

It's going to be a good smile.

On camera! There's something I can do.

Dance? Well, there's Cardinal Cody's right over there.

And that's Mayor Daley's...

Is it art yet? One more, one more...there it is.

You see this painting here? Well, Paul Rosen and I used to live together on the south side of Chicago.

And Tom Palazzolo gave us this painting because it was the south side of Chicago.

This painting is the south side of Chicago.

And we had it hanging outside of our apartment on the entranceway, which was kind of disrespectful, but so was the painting.

And for a year and a half this painting was in the hallway to our apartment and sort of farted at everybody as they came in.

And we gave it back to Tom for the show, art being art.

But this says south side to me.

We're here at the Palazzolo opening.

I mean, it's a thrill.

Yeah, it's a thrill.

The man's a genius.

He's a bloody genius.

Come here, son.

Come here, son.

Richard Kaplan, who fools around mulling in Lynx Hall and is the founder of the Streetlight Society of America.

They meet the fifth Friday of the month at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Wacky Drive.

They should have had a listing of his works posted on each particular wall because by the time you look at one over there and run over to the number and dodge...

Oh, Dean! Oh, Dean! Oh, Dean! I'll do a wheelchair.

What's he been doing? Dean, Dean, Dean, Dean.

Dean.

This is Jerry.

This is Jerry.

This is Tom.

This is Jerry.

Jerry.

This is the camera.

Okay, okay.

Two hours before communion.

Impure thoughts, my son.

Yes.

And why you alone or with others, my boy? I would not couch you with a lady.

I told them.

I told them.

I haven't had a boy.

I told them something.

Bill, I'm a socialist.

I don't like this.

It's art.

It's bullshit.

I don't like the people here.

I'm against this.

I'm waiting to see it all crumble.

Keep up the good work.

I liked your film last year about, you know, about the war thing.

Ships like this that are no good, they can't get any action out of them.

That's what the Wall Street Journal said.

No action can they get out of them.

They thought they scrapped them.

Well, that doesn't mean that they're going to build warships.

See him? I traded him.

I went to Evanston to get this.

I'm the realist.

What about that old argument of realists? I'm sitting here with a realist.

Filmmaking's not a gamble because I think if you go into filmmaking that you know that you're just doing it for yourself.

So, let's see, what is a gamble? What's your definition of a gamble? I've offered to help Tom a lot on things.

He's always said that sometime he might use me in something or let me help him.

But right now I guess I have the distinction of being one of the only people in Chicago's film community that Tom has never asked for a favor or has never done anything for him or with him.

I'd like to.

I drop his name a lot.

I sometimes claim I've worked on Caligari's Cure, but really I didn't.

I carried some stuff.

Okay, camera's off now.

I don't believe you, Bill.

It's still blinking at me.

This is, uh, cinema verite.

Camera does not lie.

Camera operator does not lie.

Joe, you won't lie, will you? I never lie, Bill.

Don't you, Joe.

Can you tell us about it? I really think it's unethical for me to discuss what I've heard pumping panels and film festival panels say about Tom's work while I was projecting.

Maybe you're projecting something else's.

Yep.

Have you said bad things about Tom's work? Off camera, before? Have I ever said bad things about him? Yes, you.

You.

No, I've never said anything bad about Tom's work.

A little less flattering on a case.

He gave you a new chair and said, you suburban prick.

Really? I'll let you do that.

Yeah, I thought it was great.

Okay, why don't you tell us? Tom, now one of those kids, I believe he's a successful lawyer, he has a message for you.

Hey, you gotta be a notch.

Oh, you want the keys here, Carl? It's the brown one.

Get some of the people getting out.

We gotta get the sense of...

Don't climb any ladders.

You might kill ourselves.

You gotta be careful where you're going.

Get these good people.

Good legs.

Good legs.

Did it happen all that? It happened, that's all right.

We didn't miss much.

Then you focus.

Yeah.

Then you focus it.

Zoom out, focus.

Then you frame it the way you want it framed.

In a sense, you're pulling back.

The focus is on the second side, right? Pulling back, no.

Maybe slightly, but the theory is...

Caligari's Cure had its world premiere at the Film Center at the School of the Art Institute, but I'm very pleased to say that things have gone way up since then.

What do you think the history of cinema will say about Mr.

Palazzolo in a century or two or...

for now? I've got a feeling the history of cinema is going to keep its mouth shut.

From the Lost Archives of Chicago Filmmakers History.

Bill.

Bill is a member and a volunteer.

Bill eats donuts here frequently.

But think of all the cows that we butcher.

But you have to save the cows.

Save the Revolutionary Cow Party.

Power to the cows, you know? After three years of writing about movies for the Chicago Journal, what I noticed was that there are a lot more long takes and a lot more people looking right at the camera lens.

Let me think about it.

Get me when you're...

when you stop by our office.

And the bottle.

That's it.

Hi.

And over here I'm holding a set of adapters.

We're documenting the fact that Bill is borrowing these.

So if he still has these in a month, he's supposed to be bringing them back by then.

We have five adapters.

From the River, the City, Valleytown, the Photographer, and other films.

Van Dyck made a mark on the history of American documentary cinema, creating cinematic masterpieces of profound social relevance.

His film Valleytown will also be shown.

Valleytown is a tragic view of an American industrial city in depression and the human consequences of automation.

Oh, that's a good song.

Diana Ross and Lionel Richie.

Mr.

Hoffman, are these the famous books you've been speaking about for five years? Sid! Sid! Sid! ...the veteran reliever Kent Tukovey who had to face Jody Davis.

Blinging! Line drive single! Center failed! Joe? Joe? Joe? Joe? Where are you? I went across the street because the Cubs won and I had a dollar bet on the game.

And he didn't have the dollar.

So, what can I do? Where's Mike Wallace? Okay, we need a cutaway.

Is there film in this camera? I just want you to know this is rare footage of me working on the books.

So, if anyone says I really never do it...

Get the microphone in the image.

Is this Cinema So So? What is this called? Is the microphone in the image? Yeah, but the cameraman isn't.

You've got to get the cameraman in the image to be really tacky.

There we go.

It's one of those things that rarely happens except in really trash.

Really trash.

Are these the famous books? Will you show us the famous books? No, I work strictly in my private...

This is too weird.

Is there really film in this thing? Poor Joe, you jerk.

And I'm suing.

God, how come this thing hasn't run out yet? I have magical powers.

It'll end in four seconds.

One, two, three, four.

That's eight seconds.

Five, six, seven, eight.

That's eight seconds.

That's eight seconds.

That's eight seconds.

That's eight seconds.

That's eight seconds.

That's eight seconds.

That's eight seconds.

That's eight seconds.

That's eight seconds.

That's eight seconds.

That's eight seconds.

That's eight seconds.

That's eight seconds.

That's eight seconds.

That's eight seconds.

That's eight seconds.

That's eight seconds.

That's eight seconds.

That's eight seconds.

That's eight seconds.

That's eight seconds.

That's eight seconds.

That's eight seconds.

That's eight seconds.

That's eight seconds.

That's eight seconds.

That's eight seconds.

That's eight seconds.

That's eight seconds.

That's eight seconds.

That's eight seconds.

That's eight seconds.

That's eight seconds.

That's eight seconds.

That's eight seconds.

That's eight seconds.

That's eight seconds.

That's eight seconds.

That's eight seconds.

That's eight seconds.

That's eighth seconds.

That's eight seconds.

That's eight seconds.

Even after you my love Even after you my love I'm very tired.

However, if we need ships, don't wait.

And if they're no good, if they can't get any action out of the ships, they may as well scrap them.

What good are they? Sometimes you can watch them going along there.

This is a very good example of how we can get them out of the ships.

I saw that article in the Wall Street Journal.

Things are going pretty good so far.

The quality is debatable, but everybody's real up.

And we've got a good crowd here later, more later.

We've been looking at this for three days now, and we haven't heard anything funny.

The situation's getting pretty desperate, and I'm contemplating suicide.

We won't even know by 7 o 'clock in the morning.

It's great to be here in Chicago.

I love Chicagoans.

I love Chicago.

And here's one else.

Wait, here's another one.

Oh yeah? How do you know I'm from Chicago? Well, I just took a look at your face.

I'm trying to get together video equipment and audio equipment to send to Nicaragua with a group that I taught super -rate filmmaking to, but they're now doing video production.

And they're working with the Sandinista Labor Union, the Centro Sandinista de Trabajadores.

So far, I have gotten people to give me liberated 3 quarter inch videotape, much more of which I could use, and Betamax tape of any sort, any kind of audio jacks or 3 quarter inch video jacks, coaxial cable, staples, magic marker, carbon paper, scotch tape, batteries, especially rechargeable batteries, anything of that sort which is possible to get, especially of course if anybody knows how to get a used character generator, then they could subtitle their own tapes into English and send them here to the United States for solidarity work.

So this is a plea asking for supplies, and I'll get the stuff down to Nicaragua as soon as possible.

Who are you? I'm Julia Lasage.

Eight o 'clock, is it? Eight.

Joke, okay.

Well, once upon a time, which became the haven for independent media artists, or I should rephrase that, filmmakers, videographers occasionally, performance photographers, those who were or could not find a place through more conventional showcases as it were.

And I think this is a good thing.

I'm not being very...

Hi there.

Today is November, well, it's November 1983, and we're standing in front of Chicago filmmakers.

My name is Mark Grant, and I am a Chicagoan.

I was born here, and I've made films here for a couple of years.

Actually, I don't live here anymore, but I've been asked to say, for the sake of history, a few things about Chicago filmmakers.

The important thing about it is that it gives a place to work for people who don't have that much money to work, and it encourages a film community in Chicago.

And that, you can't underrate enough, and this is really awful.

Can we do it again? I can't think of a fucking thing to say.

All right, we'll try it again.

Yeah.

Look, the really important thing about Chicago filmmakers is that it gives filmmakers a place to work.

The important thing about working is that filmmakers in Chicago should stay here.

They should find something here.

You don't need all that fucking stuff about Los Angeles and New York.

They aren't the film centers of the world.

And if you just take the time to...

Not take the time.

If you can find the time and the money to keep working to make more movies, Chicago would be a great place.

I don't know.

Oh, that's really stupid, too.

John? It's awful.

I'm just blanked out.

Well, congratulations on 10 years.

It's been an important 10 years.

The next 10 will be even more important.

Like, as an independent filmmaker, it's really essential that there be something like filmmakers in the city, and that's how come I let Joanne Shanghai be on the board several years ago, whenever that was.

And I don't know.

I think the things that are happening now are real good and exciting, and that it's important to sort of re...

People need to get rededicated and re -involved, and we need more people to start coming around and working to make the place grow.

And send money.

I don't know.

Okay, so that's it.

I've got to get back to finishing this independent documentary, the new Taylor Chain film.

You can look forward at filmmakers sometime next year.

Put it in there now.

We don't have to, but at least it's in stock.

And we'll start with one aisle at a time.

One aisle.

What are you getting us on? I honestly don't care if I ever see a film again.

You've reached the Office of Women in the Director's Chair.

No one will be in the office for the next year as we are recovering from 15 hours of non -stop.

The shark on Broadway, if I hadn't met you, if I hadn't met you.

Where are the garbage bags? What do you do with them? Where are...

Okay, that's enough.

Stop it.

Okay, well we're here at the Film Center.

And we're going to have a little discussion about Chicago filmmakers in honor of the 10th anniversary.

And our guests on the panel tonight are, here's Marlon Brando, who dressed specially for the occasion and is torn undershirt.

We have noted German cinematographer Robbie Mueller.

Noted Cuban cinematographer, Robert M.

Moller.

And we have also noted the cinematographer Nestor Almendras.

And Dennis Hopper, the special guest star.

Now Dennis, do you remember that night at Chicago Filmmakers when Joe and Brenda and I were working on this promotional film for Chicago Filmmakers and we were spreading green glitter on hot dogs that were on this turntable that Joe rigged up? Dennis says yes, he remembers clearly.

And then there was this other time that there was a Chicago Filmmakers party and somebody told this story about Alan Ross falling in a tub of ice, but I don't think it actually happened that night, although there was a tub of ice there.

I think Marlon remembers that occasion pretty well.

He's nodding his head yes.

And Marlon, you remember? Yeah, yeah, he says yeah.

And then there were like some other times when people put the film on in the wrong order and reel three came on first instead of reel two.

I think the cinematographers on our jury remember that.

You remember that Robbie? Yeah, Robbie says yeah.

You remember that Nestor? Yeah.

Yeah, boy, those old memories at Chicago Filmmakers.

All the celebrities in the world gather there.

And I remember the time Marlon Brando punched out Richard Burton and Kenneth Anger was there too that night I think.

And there are a few other celebrities on the premises.

That's the way it is at Chicago Filmmakers.

I think Chicago Filmmakers should survive because it's great to take a lunch break over here.

So here's to the future, you know, and great lunch.

Real problem.

Harold won't march.

I'm really upset.

I want my vote back now.

To me that I could get everything cheap except processing.

Now I can get processing free.

The whole issue of film is the lab.

That we have to take over the labs, you know.

We have to have control.

Producer control of the lab is processing.

That's the capitalist place that we haven't hit yet.

Let's get smart, Filmmakers.

Let's go get them now.

People yell at me from cars and stuff.

My film? Secondation? Or fecondation? Or fuckundation? Or fuckundation? Is that what you want to know about, secondation? Hello? In 1978, Jay Paul, Stanislavski and I were working down in the loop overnight making microfilm.

And we would, on weekends.

And we would come to Chicago Filmmakers before going into work.

And during the summer, on a hot summer night, Immune System played here.

It's one of their first concerts.

And they cleared off the front by the screens.

And they had the band in there.

And there were about 500 people here that night.

More people than I've ever seen in Filmmakers.

And everyone was trying to dance.

And this was before Immune System had really figured out that they were a dance band.

And they were playing songs that were about 15 minutes long.

And everyone was getting really tired of dancing for 15 minutes at a stretch.

And there was also about 300 people in the auditorium.

Where it probably seats about 60, 70, maybe 90.

And I remember I was dancing.

And there was a cute little girl sitting across on the edge of the stage.

And she kept staring at me all night.

And finally about halfway through the night, she motioned at me to come over and listen to her.

So I wanted to know what she said.

And I leaned over, put my ear to her mouth.

And she said, please don't step on my feet.

Thank you.

Identifier
F.2005-08-0233
Date Of Production
1982 – 1983
Abstract
A compilation reel featuring candid footage and interviews with various prominent members of the early-'80s Chicago independent film scene, many of whom discuss the 10th anniversary of the founding of Chicago Filmmakers. Includes footage of filmmaker Tom Palazzolo, Brenda Webb (who was co-director of Chicago Filmmakers at the time and continues as Executive Director as of 2023), Joh Hoffman (then also a co-director of Chicago Filmmakers), Julia Lesage (co-founder of left-feminist film journal Jump Cut), Gordon Quinn (co-founder of Kartemquin Films), and Barbara Scharres (long-time programming director of the Film Center of the School of the Art Institute), among others.
Description
The film begins with behind-the-scenes footage of Tom Palazzolo filming performance artists Andy Somma and Ellen Fisher for his 1982 film Caligari's Cure. Actress Carmela Rago tells the camera it is the first day of shooting, and Palazzolo admits to being nervous, as he is used to making documentaries, not scripted films.

The next scene is of Palazzolo prior to the opening of a show featuring his paintings at Karen Lennox Gallery in Chicago. He dances briefly for the camera, and then takes Stamets on a guided tour of the show, pointing out details within his artwork and making last-minute changes to a painting. At the opening of the show, filmmaker Darrell Moore talks to the camera about how Palazzolo gave him one of the paintings on display, Richard Kaplan makes an announcement into a microphone, and Somma goofs off and makes funny noises as Caligari's Cure plays on a monitor in the gallery.

After some brief shots of Palazzolo filming around Chicago, the camera now turns to Brenda Webb, who muses on whether or not filmmaking is a gamble. Then, Joh Hoffman laments being "one of the only people in Chicago's film community that Tom [Palazzolo] has never asked for a favor," and plays coy when asked by Stamets about what granting institutions have said about Palazzolo's work.

At a filmmaking workshop, Palazzolo trains students on focusing a 16mm lens. Next, Richard Peña (then the Director of the Film Center at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago) is asked what he thinks the history of cinema will say about Palazzolo's work. Henry Sheehan (then-film critic at the Chicago Journal) is interviewed at Promontory Point, followed by a brief shot of Henry Hanson, arts columnist and culture editor at Chicago Magazine.

Next is a sequence of Joh Hoffman around the Chicago Filmmakers office. He teases Stamets for not returning borrowed equipment, and is then himself teased for his bookkeeping practices. Black-and-white footage of the Chicago Filmmakers team is intercut with color footage Webb shot at the Indianapolis 500, which includes a shot of a man pulling his penis out of his pants.

Outside Chicago Water Tower, Paul Chen talks to the camera while helping film a segment called "Tell a Joke on T.V." Three days later, while inside the Billy Goat Tavern, he admits that the "situation's gotten pretty desperate" because they "haven't heard anything funny" yet. Next, Julia Lesage makes an earnest pitch for donations of video equipment to support the Sandinista Labor Union in Nicaragua.

Chicago Filmmakers volunteer Bob Levy is filmed upside down in front of the neon Chicago Filmmakers sign. Filmmaker Mark Rance (who made Marquette Park II with Palazzolo) fondly describes Chicago Filmmakers while standing in front of the building, praising the institution for giving local Chicago filmmakers a place to work so they don’t have to go to Los Angeles or New York to make films.

Gordon Quinn congratulates Chicago Filmmakers on ten years as he works on his latest project, Taylor Chain II: A Story of Collective Bargaining, on a Steenbeck. The next shot is in the offices of Women in the Director’s Chair, where we can see Gaylon Emerzian, Jamie Cesaer, and Doug Chamberlin, among others. This is followed by a scene of an enthusiastic Emerzian (co-founder of the organization) jumping up and down and chanting "Where are the garbage bags? What did you do with them?" into the microphone, getting ready for the premiere of her film Father's Day.

After brief shots of a cocker spaniel and filmmaker Adele Friedman, there is a long scene of Barbara Scharres making goofy puppets out of publicity stills of Marlon Brando, Robby Müller, Néstor Almendros, and Dennis Hopper as she recalls fond memories at Chicago Filmmakers.

Filmmaker Claire Whitaker toasts to the future of Chicago Filmmakers, and laments how expensive film processing can be. Playwright and filmmaker David Hauptschein is interviewed from the backseat of a car, talking about his 1981 film Fecundation. The film ends with Darrell Moore reminiscing about a crowded Immune System concert at Chicago Filmmakers in 1978.

Interspersed throughout the film are fragmentary flashes of the key institutions of the moment, including the classic emblem of the Chicago International Film Festival and a young girl holding up a shirt for the Blacklight Film Festival (founded by Floyd Webb around the time this film was shot).
Run Time
0:30:57
Format
Super 8
Extent
400 feet
Color
color and B&W
Sound
Mag Stripe
Reel/Tape Number
1/1
Has Been Digitized?
Yes
Language Of Materials
English
Element
Reversal Positives
Subject
Alternative spaces (Arts facilities)
Art
Chicago (Ill.)
Film festivals
Independent films
Independent filmmakers
Motion picture film
Motion picture production & direction
Non-profit organizations
Related Collections
Subseries I: Completed Works

Related Places
North America ➜ United States ➜ Illinois ➜ Chicago
North America ➜ United States ➜ Indiana ➜ Indianapolis

Main Credits
Stamets, Bill (is filmmaker)

Participants And Performers
Palazzolo, Tom (is participant)
Somma, Andy (is participant)
Fisher, Ellen (is participant)
Rago, Carmela (is participant)
Moore, Darrell (is participant)
Kaplan, Richard (is participant)
Webb, Brenda (is participant)
Hoffman, Joh (is participant)
Sheehan, Henry (is participant)
Chen, Paul (is participant)
Hanson, Henry (is participant)
Levy, Bob (is participant)
Lesage, Julia (is participant)
Kleinhans, Chuck (is participant)
Friedman, Adele (is participant)
Quinn, Gordon (is participant)
Trais, Neil (is participant)
Scharres, Barbara (is participant)
Rance, Mark (is participant)
Emerzian, Gaylon (is participant)
Stamets, Bill (is interviewer)
Palazzolo, Marcia (is participant)
Hauptshein, David (is participant)
Peña, Richard (is participant)
Whitaker, Claire (is participant)

 
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