Pentimenti Productions

A 3D documentary film that chronicles the story of a marine veteran who navigated the profound traumas of war by making art, becoming a hero to generations of artists, including his friends Ed Ruscha and Frank Gehry, among others interviewed in this immersive film.

Profiles the formation and development of The Hairy Who, aka the Chicago Imagists, a ragtag group of young artists nurtured by the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, whose irreverent lowbrow style gained media attention from the late sixties through the mid-eighties. The Hairy Who and subsequent group exhibitors included artists Karl Wirsum, Gladys Nilsson, Jim Nutt, Suellen Rocca, Ed Paschke, Roger Brown, and their mentor Ray Yoshida.

An excavator of American history, painter and sculptor Bernard Williams draws inspiration from seminal, but under-appreciated figures such as Black cowboys, farmers, and a unique female aviator. Taking us on a journey from Chicago to Indiana to Alabama, the film follows Williams as he debuts a public art installation and visits a 90-year-old family friend who informs his work. Part of "4x4: Contemporary Art in Chicago" - Season 1

An observer of quotidian strangeness, Deb Sokolow creates semi-fictitious drawings and books commenting on architecture, politics, and pop culture. Shot on 16mm and adopting the style of 70s paranoid thrillers, the film traces the evolution of Sokolow’s speculative ethos, detailing a shadowy encounter at McDonald’s and her fixation with Rocky Balboa. Part of "4x4: Contemporary Art in Chicago" - Season 1

Digitally restored by Pentimenti in 2016, this long lost documentary short profiles painter Mark di Suvero, an abstract expressionist sculptor. Part of "4 Films by Suzanne Simpson," a whimsical quartet of archival films that captures artists flourishing amidst the 1970s Bay Area art scene, when Funk art was thriving.

An intimate portrait of artist Jenn Freeman | Po’Chop, whose practice merges the worlds of dance, storytelling, drag, and striptease, as they perform at queer burlesque clubs, stage THICK: a crumbling freak show, and maintain House of the Lorde, a Black feminist studio & gathering space. Part of "4x4: Contemporary Art in Chicago" - Season 1

Pentimenti Productions is thrilled to release "Congregating Creativity," a short documenting an artist residency program at the First Presbyterian Church in Woodlawn featuring the incredible work of Max Li, Messejah Washington, Ameera Pernebsati Lys, and Dozzy Ibekwe. The film surveys the history of the church and residency program, and explores how this unique environment of the church impacts the artists and their work. Filmmakers: Alexandra Antoine, Jazz Echevarría, Courtney Niquia Larry, Violet Law, Sawyer Muir, Érika Ordosgoitti, Cedric A. Thurman, Vee Villareal

Pentimenti is excited to announce the streaming premiere of The Next Act Is Freedom, a film created by our “Making the Short Doc” class at the Hyde Park Art Center. The film debuted as part of HPAC’s MLK Day 2026: Chaos or Community programming, and was followed by a discussion featuring the filmmakers and participants. The Next Act Is Freedom is a document of the Resilience Arts Festival in October 2025 — a first-of-its-kind convening of artists impacted by the criminal legal system, presented by Mud Theatre Project and the Chicago Torture Justice Center. Exploring themes of healing and re-entry, the film presents four days of performance and poetry, as well as conversations with police torture survivors, currently incarcerated writers, and abolitionist advocates. Filmmakers: Mariam Aejaz, Mary Huber, Sumiah Salloum, Toni Smalls, Drew Smalls-Verneau

Digitally restored by Pentimenti Productions in 2016, this long lost documentary short profiles painter Hassel Smith in his studio. Part of "4 Films by Suzanne Simpson," a whimsical quartet of archival films that captures artists flourishing amidst the 1970s Bay Area art scene, when Funk art was thriving.

Pentimenti Productions is thrilled to release It Was Here Before, And It's Here After: The Murals of Hyde Park, a short documentary made by our 2018 Advanced Documentary Video students from the Hyde Park Art Center. The film explores the history of murals in Hyde Park and features interviews with muralists Carol Yasko and Carolyn Elaine, arts journalist Jeff Huebner, and the people of Hyde Park. Filmmakers include: Brittany Croone, Susan Carlotta Ellis, André Darey, Vanessa Harris, Karen Hirsch, and Shabaka Verna. In celebration of its release, we’re also happy to share extended interview footage with Yasko, Elaine, and Huebner that provides additional background information on Yasko’s "Under City Stone" mural, Elaine’s "The Song of 47th Street" mural, and Huebner’s career as a mural scholar.

Digitally restored by Pentimenti Productions, Suzanne Simpson's "Karl Wirsum" is a little-known 1973 film that peeks into the sun-dappled California studio of a young artist as he embarks on an extraordinary career. Wirsum's psychedelic marionette sculptures still dazzle today, while his narration and a mind-bending soundtrack draw viewers into his process and personality. Part of "4 Films by Suzanne Simpson," a whimsical quartet of archival films that captures artists flourishing amidst the 1970s Bay Area art scene, when Funk art was thriving.

Digitally restored by Pentimenti Productions in 2016, this long lost documentary short profiles painter Roy De Forest, who commonly painted quirky and comical fantasy lands filled with bright colors and creatures, most commonly dogs. Part of "4 Films by Suzanne Simpson," a whimsical quartet of archival films that captures artists flourishing amidst the 1970s Bay Area art scene, when Funk art was thriving.

Despite producing hundreds of paintings over the span of seventy-plus years, Chicago Imagist Errol Ortiz has received too little attention from the wider art world. This observational documentary surveys Ortiz as he works on a new painting from start to finish, while musing on his art school days, the influence of the cityscape, and the challenges of working as an aging artist. Part of "4x4: Contemporary Art in Chicago" - Season 1