Celebrate Opening Night of the fourth annual AfterImage Film Festival at the Charlestowne Cinema! Tickets are on sale now!
We're giving audiences a sneak peek of the 2024 AfterImage Film Festival on Wednesday, April 3 at the Moonlight Theatre in St. Charles!
Join us on Thursday evening, March 14 at K. Hollis Jewelers, Boutique and Wine Bar in Batavia for our Sip and "See More" event
When one of her students is suspected of theft, teacher Carla Nowak decides to get to the bottom of the matter. Caught between her ideals and the school system, the consequences of her actions threaten to break her.
‘A Compassionate Spy’
Join us Thursday, April 13 at the Charlestowne 18 Cinema to kick-off the 3rd Annual AfterImage Film Festival! Starting at 6:00pm, guests will be treated to an open bar and a selection of small bites courtesy of our favorite local restaurants.
Following the reception, we'll present a screening of the award-winning documentary film 'A Compassionate Spy.' Following the screening, we’ll be joined by Oscar-winning filmmaker Steve James who will participate in a Q&A with audience members.
Event Details
What: AIFF 2023 Opening Night Party and Screening
When: Thursday, April 13, 2023
Where: Charlestowne 18 Cinema
Time: Doors Open at 6:00pm, Screening at 7:30pm
‘The Quiet Girl’ Trailer
The AfterImage Film Festival is very proud to present the Oscar-nominated film ‘The Quiet Girl’ on Saturday, March 11 at the Charlestowne 18 Cinema in St. Charles, IL.
“Everything in this heartfelt tale is made with the deepest sincerity, and gently packed with soulful portrayals and lovely imagery.” - The Los Angeles Times
Rural Ireland. 1981. Nine-year-old Cait is sent away from her overcrowded, dysfunctional family to live with foster parents for the summer. Quietly struggling at school and at home, she has learned to hide in plain sight from those around her. She blossoms in their care, but in this house where there are meant to be no secrets, she discovers one painful truth.
Event Details
What: ‘The Quiet Girl’ Screening
Where: Classic Cinemas’ Charlestowne 18 Cinema
When: Saturday, March 11
Screening Time: 7:30pm - 9:15pm
If you enjoy romantic comedies, delicious craft beer and trivia, then mark your calendars! We'll be testing your knowledge of all the classics: When Harry Met Sally, Groundhog Day, My Best Friend's Wedding and many more!
Play by yourself or play with a team... and drink delicious Art History beer while playing!
Trivia will start at 7:00pm and last about two hours. Prizes will be awarded to the top three teams.
Tickets must be purchased in advance. $10 for teams of 1-3 players, $15 for teams of 4-6.
Click the image to watch the film’s trailer.
"Spectacular. You have to see it in a theater to experience the enormity of it." - NPR
Katia and Maurice Krafft loved two things — each other and volcanoes. For two decades, the daring French volcanologist couple roamed the planet, chasing eruptions and documenting their discoveries. Ultimately, they lost their lives in a 1991 volcanic explosion, leaving a legacy that forever enriched our knowledge of the natural world. Director Sara Dosa and the filmmaking team fashion a lyrical celebration of the intrepid scientists’ spirit of adventure, drawing from the Kraffts’ spectacular archive. FIRE OF LOVE tells a story of primordial creation and destruction, following two bold explorers as they venture into the unknown, all for the sake of love.
Critic's Pick! "What might look like recklessness is part of a devotion that takes on a moral — even spiritual — dimension."
- The New York Times
"A wholly satisfying, overwhelming documentary, as disarming as it is explosive."
- The Wrap
"This is a film that pops on the big screen — no CGI needed here, folks... [Fire of Love] is one of the most moving and memorable films of 2022."
- San Francisco Chronicle
"The film is about wonder, not balance, and it turns us delirious in the white heat of this pair's chaotic unflinching passion."
- Time Out
"One of the year’s few awe-inspiring documentaries — a visually ravishing record, a bustling adventure, and an engrossing character study."
- The Wall Street Journal
Screening Details
Film: FIRE OF LOVE
Screening Date: Friday, August 5
Screening Time: 7:30PM
Rating: PG
Language: English
Running Time: 97 min
DIRECTED BY RYÛSUKE HAMAGUCHI
Shortlisted for the 2022 Academy Award® for International Feature Film
WINNER – BEST FILM
National Society of Film Critics
New York Film Critics Circle
Los Angeles Film Critics Association
WINNER – GOLDEN GLOBE – BEST NON-ENGLISH FILM
SYNOPSIS
A film about language, sexuality, trust, and infidelity “adapted by auteur Ryûsuke Hamaguchi from a short story by Haruki Murakami. DRIVE MY CAR is a head-on collision between an emerging filmmaker fascinated by the interior lives of women, and a famous author who…is not. But these two wildly disparate storytellers aren’t the only people vying for control of the wheel in this beguiling gem, as a third major player is soon introduced — legendary playwright Anton Chekhov. A low-key but lingeringly resonant tale. An intimate stage whisper of a film in which every scene feels like a secret.” – IndieWire
REVIEWS
“…superb… Art and life blur beautifully in DRIVE MY CAR… A meditation on love, desire, work and grief…three unhurried, wholly immersive hours…”
– Manohla Dargis, The New York Times
“A passionate deployment of art as resistance to mortality.”
– Richard Brody, The New Yorker
5 out of 5 stars. “An engrossing and exalting experience.”
– Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
“Exceptionally well-written, with sharp insights on love, loss, marriage, grief, truths on stage and off, and what we may – or may not – know about those closest to us.”
– Pete Hammond, Deadline
“The story of grief, betrayal and the mystery of other people unfolds delicately. A cool minimalist film with a delicate third act in which emotions rise to the surface. (The filmmaker’s) ability to make the rehearsals for the play so intriguing is an art in itself.”
– Isabel Stevens, Sight + Sound
Join us on Thursday, October 21 at the Charlestowne 18 Cinema to kick-off the 2nd Annual AfterImage Film Festival! Starting at 6:00pm, guests will be treated to an open bar and a selection of small bites courtesy of our favorite local restaurants.
Following the reception, we'll present a screening of the award-winning documentary film 'Man in the Field: The Life and Art of Jim Denevan.' Liz Henry of J. Henry & Sons Farm and Distllery will be in attendance to discuss her experience hosting one of these unique dining experiences. Watch the film's trailer below!
Event Details
Where: Charlestowne 18 Cinema
Address: 3740 E Main St, St. Charles, IL 60174
When: Thursday, October 21
Time: 6:00-9:00PM
Ticket Price: $50.00 per person
More Info: afterimagefilmfestival.com
Join the AfterImage Film Festival at Water Street Studios in Batavia, anytime from 2:00-4:00PM this Sunday (Oct. 10) for a sneak peek at the 2021 festival lineup. Highlights from this year's festival include: 'Bergman Island,' 'Becoming Cousteau,' 'Petite Maman' and 'The Velvet Queen.' During this free event, you’ll be able to watch movie trailers, have a glass of wine (or two!), learn about the festival and purchase tickets from our volunteers!
Join the AfterImage Film Festival for its third and final trivia night, this time at Pollyanna Brewing in St. Charles! As always trivia starts promptly at 7:30pm and is free to play. Prizes will be awarded to winning teams!
Join the AfterImage Film Festival for its second of three movie trivia nights, this time at Art History Brewing in Geneva! Trivia begins at 7:00pm and is free to play. Prizes will be awarded to the winning teams!
Join the AfterImage Film Festival and Obscurity Brewing for a night movie-themed trivia at Obscurity’s taphouse in Elburn! This kicks off our series of summer trivia nights at local Fox Valley breweries.
Trivia begins promptly at 7:00pm and is free to play. Prizes will be awarded to winning teams!
Join the AfterImage Film Festival on Friday, May 21 for the rescheduled 20th (and a half) Anniversary screening of the hit comedy 'Best in Show!' We'll gather outside — in a socially responsible way, of course! — at 6:30pm on South Water Street between Wilson and 1st Street.
The screening will begin at sunset (approximately 7:50pm). There are picnic tables and benches available on the street: first come first served, however you may bring your own comfortable chair and a blanket if the weather will be cool.
The screening will be preceded by a live performance by Geneva’s School of Rock!
Tickets are available here!
CatVideoFest is back and it's bigger, bolder and cuter than ever! The AfterImage Film Festival is very proud to present the 2020 edition of this audience favorite. CatVideoFest is a compilation reel of the latest and best cat videos from around the world. CatVideoFest is a joyous communal experience, only available in theaters, and raises money for cats in need.
Purchase your CatVideoFest Tickets Here!!
Join the AfterImage Film Festival (AIFF) for a special screening of the Oscar-Nominated documentary Honeyland on Sunday, February 9 at 1:00pm at the Charlestowne 18 Cinema in St. Charles.
Honeyland tells the story of a woman who utilizes ancient beekeeping traditions to cultivate honey in the mountains of Macedonia. When a neighbouring family tries to do the same, it becomes a source of tension as they disregard her wisdom and advice.
Honeyland scored a phenomenal 99% on Rotten Tomatoes, with the New York Times saying: “The opening minutes are as astonishing — as sublime and strange and full of human and natural beauty — as anything I’ve ever seen in a movie.”
The AfterImage Film Festival (AIFF) is hosting a special “Best of Fest” event on Friday, December 6 at Water Street Studios in Batavia. Audiences will have another opportunity to catch the very best short films presented during the inaugural film festival in September.
“Best of Fest” will feature four of the highest scoring short films as voted on by attendees of the festival. Those films include “Homesick,” which won the Hollis Family Audience Award, local productions “Runner” and “SEARED: The Journey of a Chef;” and "Guns Found Here" which premiered at the SXSW Film Festival. Filmmakers from one of the short films will be in attendance and participate in a post-screening Q&A session!
Tickets available here!
'Homesick' - Winner of the Hollis Family Audience Award!
Two years after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Murai braves danger and wanders through the no-go zone in order to spend time with Jun, his eight-year-old son.
'Guns Found Here' - SXSW 2019 Premiere!
When there’s a gun crime in America, there’s only one place to go to trace the gun back to its owner: Martinsburg, West Virginia. That’s where the ATF’s National Tracing Center handles roughly 8,000 active traces per day — all while inside a government-mandated technology time-capsule that makes searching a database of gun owners impossible
‘Runner’ - Award Winning Local Film!
A woman goes for a jog and witnesses something she can't run away from.
'SEARED: The Journey of a Chef' - Filmmakers in Attendance!
Beaten by a life of injustice and crime, a young man's plan to end it all turns into a life of renewed hope and a passionate career as a chef
Celebrate Opening Night of the very first AfterImage Film Festival at the Charlestowne 18 Cinema! Starting at 5:30pm, guests will be treated to an open bar and a selection of small bites courtesy of Batavia’s Verita Restaurant. A screening of the Opening Night film, "Maiden” will be presented following the party.
Special guest Dawn Riley will be in attendance for a post-screening Q&A! One of the world’s top yacht racing pros, Dawn was the *only* American aboard the Maiden for the Whitbread Round the World Race.
All tickets are $30. Tickets available for purchase here.
In the late 1980s, amateur British sailor Tracy Edwards decided she’d had enough of being dismissed and belittled as the only woman on the seafaring crews she’d participated in. Setting her sights on the upcoming Whitbread Round the World Race—a staggering 40,000-nautical-mile circumnavigation of the earth that few boats dared tackle—Tracy assembled the world’s first international all-female sailing crew and entered the competition. As they weathered not only life-threatening high seas but also a storm of sexism in the media, this inspiring group of women had to rely on their own pure resilience—and each other—to prove the naysayers and skeptics wrong. What they hadn’t quite expected, however, was how their expedition would come to signify so much more than just a race to the finish line.
“See More” is the tagline for the AfterImage Film Festival and that’s exactly what we want you to do! Join us Saturday, September 14 at K. Hollis Jewelers in Batavia for another sneak peek at the 2019 AfterImage Film Festival line-up. You’ll be able to sip delicious wines, “see more” trailers and purchase festival tickets from our volunteers. Event begins at 5:00pm.
The June edition of Water Street Studios’ Live Art Series will feature an evening of films and film-related programming, courtesy of the new AfterImage Film Festival. It will begin at 6 p.m. Friday, June 28, at the gallery, 160 S. Water St. in Batavia.
After the cocktail hour, the program will commence with the unveiling of the official lineup for the 2019 AfterImage Film Festival. The lineup will include a diverse range of programming including films that premiered at major festivals such as Sundance, SXSW and the Toronto Film Festival, as well as films made by Chicago-area directors. Attendees will then be treated to a sneak preview of one of the short films that will be presented during the festival in September.
After a brief intermission, the evening will continue with a screening of “Contaminated Memories,” produced by Chicago-based Kartemquin Films (“Hoop Dreams,” “Minding the Gap”).
At our first annual meet-up for new AfterImage Film Festival volunteers, learn about the various volunteer opportunities during the Festival and meet some of the AIFF staff. Learn how to sign up for shifts and some key dates to be ready for.
