Movies: Tom Palazzolo

Alienation in academia beneath the chandeliered opulence of a political correctional facility that caters to clashing cultures with chicken fajitas and carefully worded alphabet soup. Features George at the Flaherty Seminar and the Chicago Undergroun...

Chesterton, Indiana's annual WIZARD OF OZ parade (as well as their many Oz-themed festivities) provides the backdrop for I MARRIED A MUNCHKIN, Tom Palazzolo's study of the life and career of Mary Ellen St. Aubin. Self-described as "normal, but little...

Surreal film melding documentary footage of Chicago and its residents, featuring fast paced montage sequences set against a rollicking 1960s musical backdrop. The film aptly deconstructs the absurdities of contemporary American life, particularly the...

Lisa Gottlieb's Oscar-winning spoof of misogynist film noir....

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...

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...

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 ...

A music and costume filled portrayal of the 1976 Gay Pride Parade by filmmaker Tom Palazzolo. All is fun and games until a bystander hurls an egg at Palazzolo's camera lens. It resumes quickly though....

A profile of Chicago's greatest Presley impersonator, Jay Elvis...

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

A short film by filmmaker Tom Palazzolo with his students of an informal illegal gambling type of game on a sidewalk of the Maxwell Street Market. “Grown folks, now, not young folks. If you ain’t 18 or over I can’t give you a bet–show me three IDs. I...

"A virtuoso display of handheld camera recording the erotic impressions of a nice summer's day. A brief, happy film ideal for awakening an audience." - Center Cinema Co-Op Filmmakers' Distribution Catalog #2, 1972...

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...

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...

A documentary about a man who wins a million dollars in the Illinois lottery. Takes place at Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, IL....

Sound home movie depicting the Palazzolo family's 1977 Halloween outing....

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...

A portrait of the Chicago street market....

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...

Footage documenting a toy drive – “Toys for Tots” – held at a leather bar / motorcycle club in Chicago, called the Baton Lounge. The club was originally located at 436 N. Clark St., but moved to 4713 N. Broadway in 2019. The owner is Illinois native ...