SERIES
Second Wednesdays at the Trylon
Sound Unseen presents year-round programming at the Trylon on the second Wednesday of each month, as well as an annual festival in November. Tickets are $13. For more information, visit soundunseen.com.
(2016, USA, 92m) dir Shaun Michael Colón attending with a Q&A to follow. 10 Year Anniversary Edition **now with more D4.** Fat Wreck Chords, the influential label proud to say it's spent decades "ruining punk rock." A Fat Wreck tells the story of a sound and a punk rock family, how Fat Mike, of the…
Screenings: November 11 7:00
(1976, USA, 147m) dir Hal Ashby. The Dust Bowl overtakes his native Oklahoma in the early 1930s, and struggling young musician Woody Guthrie (David Carradine) leaves his wife, Mary (Melinda Dillon), to join the great westward migration to southern California. When he meets singer and union agitator Ozark Bule (Ronny Cox), Guthrie finds his populist…
Screenings: December 9 7:00
(2007, 96m) dir Jake Kasdan w/John C. Reilly, Jenna Fischer and Tim Meadows. Following a childhood tragedy, Dewey Cox (Reilly) follows a long and winding road to music stardom. Dewey perseveres through changing musical styles, an addiction to nearly every drug known and bouts of uncontrollable rage, until finally, he wins the heart, but not…
Screenings: January 13 7:00
(1972, US, 144m) dir Sidney J. Furie w/Diana Ross, Billy Dee Williams, Richard Pryor. 55th Anniversary. Based on the autobiography by jazz singer Billie Holiday, which was co-authored by William Dufty, pop star Diana Ross, in her acting debut, portrays legendary jazz singer Billie Holiday in this biographical drama. Beginning with Holiday's traumatic youth, the…
Screenings: February 10 7:00
(2022, USA, DCP, 92m) dir Vera Drew. This revolutionary DIY parody film and hilarious reimagining of the classic autobiographical coming-of-age story follows an unconfident, closeted trans girl as she moves to Gotham City to make it big as a comedian by joining the cast of UCB Live - a government-sanctioned late night sketch show in…
Screenings: May 9 7:00, 9:15, May 8 7:00, 9:15
(2023, USA, 80m) dir Harmony Korine w/ Joshua Tilley, Dustin Greer, Devon James, Jordi Molla, Travis Scott. In the seedy domain of Miami’s criminal underbelly, a seasoned hitman embarks on the relentless pursuit of his next target. Shot entirely through thermal lens, he navigates a twisted world where violence and madness reign supreme. Tensions unravel,…
Screenings: May 17 9:00, 7:00
(2023, United Kingdom, DCP, 101m) dir Janis Pugh. A film of love, loss and music set amongst the falling feathers of a chicken factory. Set in present day industrial North Wales, Helen spends her nights packing chickens and her days caring for a dying mother-figure Gwen. Helen’s world takes an unexpected turn with the return…
Screenings: June 12 7:00
(2024, Ireland/United Kingdom, English & Irish w/English subtitles, 105 m) dir Rich Peppiatt. There are 80,000 native Irish speakers in Ireland. 6,000 live in the North of Ireland. Three of them became a rap group called Kneecap. This anarchic Belfast trio become unlikely figureheads of a civil rights movement to save their mother tongue. Bursting…
Screenings: July 10 7:00
(2024, USA, 94 min, In English & Mandarin w/Eng subtitles) dir Sean Wang w/Isaac Wang, Joan Chen, Shirley Chen. In 2008, during the last month of summer before high school begins, an impressionable 13-year-old Taiwanese American boy learns what his family can’t teach him: how to skate, how to flirt, and how to love your…
Screenings: July 25 7:00
(2023, USA, 91m) dir Nathan Tape. Trey, an ex-con and Juggalo, embarks on a wild journey with his devoted best friend, Silas, to the Gathering of the Juggalos. Armed with drugs and dreams of horrorcore rap stardom, they are presented with a chance to perform at the event, and a shot at becoming Jugga-famous. Their…
Screenings: August 14 7:00
(2024, 89m, USA) dir John McDermott. The critically acclaimed, full-length documentary Electric Lady Studios: A Jimi Hendrix Vision, chronicles the creation of the studio, rising from the rubble of a bankrupt Manhattan nightclub to state-of-the-art recording facility inspired by Hendrix’s desire for a permanent studio. Produced by Janie Hendrix, George Scott and John McDermott and…
Screenings: September 11 7:00
(1984, 161m) dir Miloš Forman. Winner of countless awards, including eight Oscars, Amadeus is back in a stunning 4K restoration to thrill audiences anew. Starring Tom Hulce as the celebrated genius Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and F. Murray Abraham in a career-best performance as his less talented rival Salieri. This is one of the great crowd-pleasing…
Screenings: October 9 7:00, October 11 7:00, October 13 11:45
(2024, 95m, USA) The documentary This Search For Meaning about international recording artists Placebo charts the band’s ongoing impact and legacy through a visual meditation on contemporary themes such as surveillance culture & scrutiny, sexuality & gender identity, addiction & trauma as well as the climate crisis. These significant and weighty themes are explored in…
Screenings: December 11 7:00
(1988, 120m) dir Bruce Weber. Traveling with the elusive jazz vocalist and trumpeter Chet Baker , Bruce Weber weaves together the life story of a jazz great. The film uses excerpts from Italian B movies, rare performance footage, and candid interviews with Baker, musicians, friends, battling ex-wives, and his children in what turned out to…
Screenings: January 8 7:00
(1996, 104m) dir Julian Schnabel. No painter electrified the 1980s art scene like Jean-Michel Basquiat, a New York street kid whose visionary blending of expressionism, pop art, and the radical new aesthetics of hip-hop and graffiti propelled him to international fame before a tragic early demise. Julian Schnabel’s stunning debut charts Basquiat’s dizzying rise and…
Screenings: February 12 7:00
(2024, 104m) dir Bruce David Klein. SPECIAL PREVIEW SCREENING ON LIZA'S BIRTHDAY. This star studded tribute brings into focus the dazzling, complex period of Liza Minnelli’s life starting in the 1970s, just after the tragic death of her mother Judy Garland— as she confronts a range of personal and professional challenges on the way to…
Screenings: March 12 7:00
(2024, 82m) dir Scott Lucas. Featuring an intro by director / Local H front man Scott Lucas. Co-presented by Cloudland. The first movie from cult-rock heroes LOCAL H is finally here! Written, directed and edited by the band’s singer/guitarist Scott Lucas (and shot in real time during a blistering performance at venerable Chicago music venue…
Screenings: April 9 7:00
(2023, 96m) curators Joe Gross, Jeff Krulik, Joseph Pattisall. Created to commemorate the 20 years that have passed since DC-based post-hardcore band Fugazi's last live appearance (November 4, 2002, at The Forum in London), Sound Unseen presents a screening of crowd-sourced, fan-recorded live shows and rare archival footage to pay tribute to Fugazi's prowess as…
Screenings: May 14 7:00, 9:00
(2005, USA, 105m) dir Gregg Araki. 20th Anniversary! It is the 20th anniversary of Gregg Araki´s haunting cult classic film, Mysterious Skin, two young men—one a hustler, the other obsessed with alien abductions—unlock a devastating, life-altering truth. Teenager Brian (Brady Corbet) becomes friends with Avalyn Friesen (Mary Lynn Rajskub), a woman who claims to have been…
Screenings: June 11 7:00
Featuring a post 7pm screening Q&A, and a pre 9:30pm intro, with subject Harley Flanagan. (2025, USA, 96m) dir Rex Miller. Founder of the pioneering band Cro-Mags and a legend of the NYC Hardcore scene, Harley Flanagan is a punk rock icon who has defied the odds and come out the other side. But while…
Screenings: July 9 7:00, 9:30
(2012/2025, UK, 90m) dir Danny Garcia. The Rise and Fall of The Clash Redux is a newly edited and improved version of the only personal and up-close film about the juggernaut band The Clash, and their meteoric trajectory through rock n roll history. The Rise and Fall of The Clash Redux features previously unseen footage of the band…
Screenings: August 13 7:00, 9:00
(2000, USA, 123m) dir Cameron Crowe. Rolling Stone Magazine unwittingly hires a 15 year old aspiring journalist after reading an article he wrote for Cream Magazine. Almost Famous is the hilarious and touching story of this intelligent young man's journey into the world of Rock-and-Roll as he tours with "Stillwater", an up-and-coming band struggling with…
Screenings: September 10 7:00
Director David Ullman will be on hand for an intro and post screening Q & A. INERTIA: RE-MAKING THE CROW (2001, USA, 60m) dir David Ullman. A raw and self-reflective coming-of-age documentary, Inertia: Re-making The Crow follows two small-town teenagers over four years in the 90’s as they obsessively recreate James O’Barr’s graphic novel—only to…
Screenings: October 8 7:00
(2003, 105m) dir Emily Goldberg. A transgender pioneer and her wife negotiate the frontiers of love and gender in Emily Goldberg’s award-winning 2003 documentary. The film follows Venus de Mars, the iconic lead singer of Minneapolis glam rock band All the Pretty Horses, and Lynette Reini-Grandell, author of Wild Things: A Trans-Glam-Punk-Rock Love Story, on…
Screenings: November 12 7:00
(1975, 103m, UK) dir Ken Russell. Sex, Drugs and Rock 'n' Roll! Roger Daltrey, lead singer of The Who, stars as 19th century genius pianist Franz Liszt in this brash, loud and freewheeling rock 'n' roll fantasy about an imagined rivalry between Liszt and composer Richard Wagner. Beatle Ringo Starr appears as the Pope. Rick…
Screenings: December 10 7:00
(2025, USA, 79m) dir Kary O’Kane. In 2025, The Gits returns with a 20th Anniversary Edition, reigniting the powerful legacy of one of punk rock’s most urgent and underrecognized bands. This gripping documentary traces the meteoric rise of The Gits and their magnetic frontwoman, Mia Zapata — whose fearless voice and raw presence left an…
Screenings: January 14 7:00
(2024, UK, 92m, English with subtitles) dir Jane Mingay. Pauline Black, lead singer of 2-Tone hit band The Selecter, tells her extraordinary life story in the same frank manner that helped shape her as an iconic, era-defining female musician. Pauline had a difficult upbringing and joining the 2-Tone music movement in 1979 was the perfect…
Screenings: February 11 7:00
20th Anniversary (2006, USA, 76m) dir Kelly Reichardt. Two old friends reunite for a quietly revelatory overnight camping trip in this breakout feature from Kelly Reichardt, a microbudget study of character and masculinity that introduced many viewers to one of contemporary American cinema’s most independent artists. As expectant father Mark (Daniel London) and nomadic Kurt…
Screenings: March 11 7:00
(2000, Canada, 110m) dir Alan Zweig. Often discussed, but rarely understood, collectors are driven by an obsessiveness that mainstream society struggles to understand. Through conversations with dozens of devoted record collectors, Vinyl offers an unblinking and amusing look at this phenomenon, exploring the personal struggles that lead to collecting, the negative ways it impacts some, and the…
Screenings: April 8 7:00
(2026, 98m) dir Wes Orshoski. One of icons of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal scene of the late 1970s and early 1980s, London-born Paul Di’Anno helped launch Iron Maiden around the world, appearing on two of the most foundational metal albums ever released: Iron Maiden’s 1980 self-titled debut and the celebrated follow-up, “Killers,”…
Screenings: May 13 7:00
(2025, US, 82m) dir Mischa Richter. Special sneak preview. This dreamy love letter to Deadheads follows a group of young fans attending every show of Dead & Company’s 2023 goodbye tour. Director Mischa Richter (himself a Deadhead) captures events with intimate naturalism, lingering on parking-lot twirls, improvised economies, and the strange grace of communal life…
Screenings: June 10 7:00
(2026, USA, 90m) dir Gregg Araki w/Olivia Wilde, Cooper Hoffman, Charli XCX, Daveed Diggs, Mason Gooding, Chase Sui Wonders and Johnny Knoxville. I Want Your Sex is the new film from Gregg Araki (Mysterious Skin, The Doom Generation, and Smiley Face). The influential American independent filmmaker and key figure in the "New Queer Cinema" movement…
Screenings: July 8 7:00
(2025, USA, 106m) dir Tom Stern. A documentary feature about legendary psychedelic punk band, Butthole Surfers. The film traces how two accounting students from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, found solidarity in their shared strangeness, gathered a tribe of like-minded outsiders—queers, weirdos, and nonconformists, including the unforgettable naked performance artist/dancer Kathleen Lynch—and launched one…
Screenings: August 12 7:00, 9:15
(2025, 85m, Swedish with English subtitles) dir Tomas Haglund, Oskar Sjödin. The defining documentary about the legendary Swedish punk band Anti-Cimex. Jawbreaker depicts Anti Cimex – the band that shaped Scandinavian hardcore punk and became one of Sweden’s most influential musical exports. From raw recordings in a chicken coop on the plains of Västergötland to…
Screenings: August 27 7:00
(2026, 96m, UK) dir Danny Garcia. Five decades after the explosive birth of British Punk, which shook the foundations of music and culture, Vive Le Punk dives headfirst into the raw, undying spirit of the movement that changed music—and society—forever...or did it? Featuring four iconic bands still rocking the stage today—Sham 69, 999, Ruts DC,…
Screenings: September 9 7:00
(2016, 87m) dir Jorca Taccone and Akiva Schaffer. Childhood friends Conner (Andy Samberg), Owen (Jorma Taccone) and Lawrence (Akiva Schaffer) found fame and fortune after forming the hip-hop group the Style Boyz. Owen and Lawrence faded into the background when frontman Conner left the band to launch a successful solo career. After a two-year, sold-out,…
Screenings: October 14 7:00, 9:00