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Chicago – What happens when one of the more prominent filmmakers in Chicago of the last five years meets a up-and-coming female director? They get together to make a statement in a short film. “An Atramentous Mind” will have its Midwest Premiere at the Black Harvest Film Festival on August 27th, 2017, as part of their “Chicago Shorts” series. The 23rd edition of this vital Chicago festival runs through August 31st at the downtown Gene Siskel Film Center.

“An Atramentous Mind” is a ten minute in-the-moment short film that illustrates a situation that has dominated the headlines in the last couple of years. The issue of law enforcement treatment of African Americans has been an ongoing discussion before and since the incident in Ferguson, Missouri, and continues to define the relationships of the police and black communities in America. Williams and Edwards created a confrontation between a white cop and a black woman,...

Chicago – Tonight is the 89th Academy Awards, and Hollywood will honor their own in the annual lavish ceremony. In Chicago, there will be a similar celebration, as the Gene Siskel Film Center is throwing a “Hollywood on State” party, and honoring four local filmmakers at the event. Joining honorees Lori Felker, Jennifer Reeder and Michael Smith is filmmaker Lonnie Edwards, whose voice has made an impact ever since his awarding-winning debut in 2014, the short film “Parietal Guidance.”

After growing up in Chicago, Edwards was an installation artist before turning to filmmaking at the age of 32. After “Parietal Guidance” won numerous film festival awards, he turned his unique eye and filmmaking sensibilities toward the Michael Brown incident and Ferguson, Missouri, in “A Ferguson Story,” a film that began as a full length quasi-documentary that garnered interest from outside studios. Dissatisfied with that experience, Edwards recut the film to a shorter length,...

Chicago – Full Spectrum Features is one of new production outlets in town, but they are quickly making a mark. Their goal is to get the quality filmmaking that takes place in Chicago to a wider audience, and they are about to launch “Chicagoland Shorts Vol. 2,” continuing from their Vol. 1 success. Vol. 2 will premiere on Saturday, May 14th, 2016, at the Facets Cinémathéque on the city’s north side, and have a run there through May 19th. Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com will moderate a Q&A after the premiere screening.

One of the producers of the shorts program – with Eugene Sun Park – is Dane Haiken of Full Spectrum Features. He had an education background before moving to Chicago in 2012, and sought to merge his former background working with underprivileged kids and social justice with his love of film. He joined Full Spectrum in 2015, around the time they secured their non-profit status,...

Chicago – The 21st edition of the Black Harvest Film Festival will open on August 8th, 2015, at the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago. Through film and video, the festival explores the stories, images, heritage and history of the black experience in the United States and around the world. Two passionate short film examples of the festival mission are found in a couple of Chicago filmmakers, Lonnie Edwards (“A Ferguson Story”) and Robert Carnilius (“How to Catch a Criminal”).

Both films, in different ways, take on the current issue of law enforcement interaction towards African Americans. Lonnie Edwards’ “A Ferguson Story” is a lyrical and emotional overview of the clash between black U.S. citizens and authorities in the wake of the Michael Brown killing in Ferguson, Missouri. “How to Catch a Criminal,” by Robert Carnilius, is a sharp-sticked satire on 1950s era “how-to” short films, capturing with pungent humor the...

Chicago – The opportunity to sample new filmmakers is one of the true pleasures of the 50th Chicago International Film Festival, and this year’s crop of City & State short films, made in either Chicago or Illinois, was no exception. Directors Lonnie Edwards, Joel Benjamin, Meghann Artes and Robert Carnilius represented the area.

Lonnie Edwards, Director of “Parietal Guidance”

Parietal Guidance

Photo credit: Chicago International Film Festival

“Parietal Guidance” was a shot across the bow of the difficulties facing certain neighborhoods in Chicago told through the filter of a young girl just trying to walk home without harassment.

HollywoodChicago.com: What was the incident, or series of incidences, that inspired your film?

Lonnie Edwards: I’m a single father, and take my kids to school every morning. I just started to observe interactions between them and other kids. And while my kids and I are close, there are some things...