Doc10 Documentary Film Festival Chicago

Chicago’s Doc10 documentary festival opens Friday, April 24, with 10 days of screenings, filmmaker talks and a new civic-dialogue program. (doc10.org) The 11th edition runs through May 3 at the Davis Theater in Lincoln Square and the Gene Siskel Film Center in the Loop, with tickets listed at $20 for most official selections and $10 for most “Speak Truth” programs. (choosechicago.com) Doc10 says it is Chicago’s only all-documentary film festival, and its organizers say more than 20 of the 50-plus films it has premiered since 2015 were later shortlisted or nominated for Academy Awards. (doc10.org) This year’s lineup keeps the festival’s usual 10-feature structure and adds “Speak Truth,” a series of screenings and post-show discussions built around civic issues and audience engagement. (doc10.eventive.org) (chicagoreader.com) The new program arrived after federal arts cuts hit the Chicago Media Project, the nonprofit behind Doc10, when its National Endowment for the Arts funding was rescinded, WBEZ reported. Paula Froehle, the group’s co-founder and chief executive, said the idea took shape last fall after the funding loss and concern over programs tied to diversity, equity and inclusion. (wbez.org) The official slate pulls from the same awards-season pipeline that has defined the festival, with films selected from events including Sundance, Telluride, Venice and Berlin. Choose Chicago says the festival’s screenings are often Chicago audiences’ first, and sometimes only, chance to see those documentaries in a theater. (doc10.org) (choosechicago.com) Among the headline screenings, Variety reported that “Give Me The Ball!,” an ESPN documentary about Billie Jean King, is set as the opening-night film, and “Knife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie” is scheduled to close the festival on May 3. (variety.com) The schedule also includes issue-driven films such as “The Librarians,” which WTTW reported will screen April 25 at 7 p.m. at the Davis Theater, as debates over books, schools and public institutions keep moving into documentary filmmaking. (wttw.com) For Chicago moviegoers, the next step is simple: screenings begin April 24, and the full calendar, venues and ticketing are posted through the festival’s online schedule. (doc10.eventive.org)