Movies: Tom Palazzolo

A documentary on a Neo-Nazi rally in Marquette Park, Chicago, on July 9, 1978 features footage from inside the Neo-Nazi headquarters in Chicago (led by Frank Collin) and protesters in Marquette Park. In the headquarters they discuss logistics, chit-c...

Documentary about the first annual Miss Illinois Bikini Contest, held by the Amateur Athletic Union at a theater on Chicago's south side. The event was staged as a means of drawing more eyes to the Junior Mr. Illinois bodybuilding contest held the sa...

ADDED LESSONS is an absurdist fever dream that follows young Francis (Liam Hayes) as he's bounced between maternal demands, burgeoning sexual desires, the church, and pretensions of the art world. Filled with painted sets, symbolic gestures, and a wh...

A behind-the-scenes look at a local car commercial....

16mm short film at the Riverview Circus....

Based on a comic Heather McAdams created for the Chicago Reader, the short comedic film was made by Tom Palazzolo's 1990 film production class at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Set in downtown Chicago on S Columbus Dr & E Congress Pkwy, ...

Media Burn Presents: The nom d'art 'Tommy Chicago' reflects independent filmmaker Tom Palazzolo's unique status within the Chicago film community. Since 1967, Palazzolo has filtered all aspects of the Windy City through his audacious lens. This docum...

“Primarily a pet parade for children.”...

Tom Palazzolo takes us on a tour of the Chicago neighborhood where he lived in the 1960s, stretching down Clark Street from Chicago Avenue to the Chicago River. Palazzolo combines his own vintage photographs and film footage from the '60s and '70s wi...

Venus and Adonis offers a playful retelling of the Classical myth. Filmed at Chicago's North Avenue Beach, filmmaker Tom Palazzolo plays the handsome young Adonis who is seduced by Venus, the goddess of love, depicted by Natalie Jarnstedt....

A fascinating and touching portrait of isolation in big cities, Roger the Dodger features an extended interview with a man who was arrested by the police for loitering near a train station. The man shares his discontent with the local government, and...

"Fears and thrills... Part structure (the centerpoint): part improvisation."...

Hot Nasty is a humorous documentary short set entirely inside a Chicago massage parlor called Big Bertha’s. The film features interviews with the women who work there, openly sharing funny stories about how they got into the business, dealing with di...

A film by Tom Palazzolo and Mark Rance documenting neo-Nazi activity in the Marquette Park neighborhood of Chicago on August 21, 1976. The day marked one of many conflicts between black civil rights marchers and white supremacist neighborhood groups ...

Filmmakers Tom Palazzolo, Jeff Kreines, and Bernie Caputo attend the annual Chicago Senior Citizens Picnic hosted by the Democratic Party. Shot in the style of direct cinema, they spend the afternoon in a Chicago park following the seniors as they ha...

Tom Palazzolo films the goings-on at Labor Day festival in East Chicago....

Chicago was the host for the 1968 Democratic Convention, and the surrounding hype and horror that resulted. Mayor Daley called out the cops on the various protestors and hippies attempting to influence the proceedings, and resulting riot remains a st...

VHS compilation of two Tom Palazzolo documentaries - Marquette Park (1976) and Marquette Park II (1978) - about the American Nazi party and its leader Frank Collin....

A portrait of the Chicago street market....

The two filmmakers use the style of direct cinema to film the Italian/Polish backyard wedding shower of a young couple, Ricky and Rocky. The pair show off their wedding gifts and guests and relatives express their approval of the shower to the filmma...