The Columbia Chronicle

Alum film crew turns chance encounter into on-screen romance

August 24, 2020

On a cold and rainy Chicago night, Cyril Bassil was riding a northbound Red Line train that got into an accident, forcing everyone to evacuate. While standing on the platform and contemplating how ...

Review: ‘Da 5 Bloods,’ a challenging exploration of fact and fiction

June 19, 2020

It’s been approximately 32 hours since I sat down in front of a small screen to watch Spike Lee’s newest film, “Da 5 Bloods,” which was both strikingly familiar and entirely unexpected. ...

Students Lucas Miroslaw (right) and Giana Carli (center) work on the film set of a

Student filmmakers ‘heartbroken’ after suspension of practicum projects

April 2, 2020

Isaac Lowry and Earl Davis have been looking forward to their practicum projects since their freshman year at Columbia. Just a week before they were supposed to start filming, classes were suspended due to t...

Orlando Pinder (left), director for the 2019 practicum production of “Pegasus,” reviews footage on-set alongside student collaborators for the project. Practicum productions allow Cinema and Television Arts Department students to experience film sets similar to the industry before graduation, from production meetings to location scouting and set design.

Practicum film projects mimic showbiz, so don’t ‘expect a cakewalk’

January 31, 2020

The set of a practicum film at the college is fairly standard—under hot lights mounted six feet off the ground, production assistants zip through a jungle of cables, as production designers, occasio...

Jazmin Bryant, a cinema art and science major, produced the Hollywood-bound film “A Wolf Comes at Night” in a Columbia practicum course.

‘A Wolf Comes at Night’ goes to Hollywood

September 29, 2019

One night, on a small ranch in 1980s Illinois, two children and their grandfather are forced to defend their livelihood as a wolf wreaks havoc on the family farm. Directed by 2018 cinema art and science a...

Asian film festival pop-up crosses cultures and local neighborhoods

August 30, 2019

Chicagoans will be able to watch an “unconventional” film festival this fall as Asian films pop-up in different neighborhoods across the city, from the Alliance Française de Chicago to the Illinois Institute of Technolog...

Professors in Columbia's film department were not surprised the department was listed among the top 25 in the nation.

Columbia cinema program listed in the top 25 in the nation by Hollywood Reporter

August 22, 2019

Citing the school's Semester in LA program, the expansive Media Production Center and kudos from alums praising Columbia's ability to "navigate between art and commerce," The Hollywood Reporter has ...

Jennifer Fox, director and writer for The Tale, Common and Len Amato at the HBO premier.

Assault survivor shares her “Tale”

May 7, 2018

The auditorium lights dim as a “viewer discretion advised” warning and the toll-free number to the Sexual Assault Hotline in bold white lettering appears onscreen. “The Tale,” a film memoir written a...

‘Blockers’ trades in emotional storytelling for butt chugging

May 3, 2018

When Roger Ebert reviewed 1967's “The Graduate,” he wrote, “[The Graduate] is funny, not because of sight gags and punch lines and other tired rubbish, but because it has a point of view. That is...

Haunted rumors don’t spook business from Congress Hotel

Some believe the historic hotel is haunted, but Congress Plaza Hotel management does not support the rumors. But the hotel also hosts the annual Haunted Halloween Ball.

By Savannah Eadens

October 23, 2017

Just about every self-respecting hotel ends up with a ghost story sooner or later, said Adam Selzer, a Chicago historian, author and leader of “Mysterious Chicago” tours throughout the city. The Cong...

“Grovedale High” is a teen drama web series created and produced by Columbia students. The show is set in 2005 and follows the life and love tribulations of emo, underdog high school students.

Web series takes students to emo days

October 9, 2017

Senior cinema and television arts major Amanda Chambers said she would not have imagined letting people read her scripts a year ago, but now, the first web series she wrote and produced, “Grovedale High,” will premiere Oct. 15 for everyone to see. The teen drama, set in 2005,...

DIY art space facilitates a 12-hour filmmaking adventure

By Alexa Rixon

September 20, 2017

The Dojo, an underground DIY gallery in Pilsen, is scheduled to premiere the fruits of its 12-hour done-in-a-day filmmaking adventure Dojo96 on Sept. 23 with a wrap and screening party held the same day...