Tom Palazzolo

The nom d'art 'Tommy Chicago' reflects independent filmmaker Tom Palazzolo's unique status within the Chicago film community. Since 1967, Palazzolo...

Venus and Adonis offers a playful retelling of the Classical myth. Filmed at Chicago's North Avenue Beach, filmmaker Tom Palazzolo plays the handsome...

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...

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

Alienation in academia beneath the chandeliered opulence of a political correctional facility that caters to clashing cultures with chicken fajitas...

Surreal film melding documentary footage of Chicago and its residents, featuring fast paced montage sequences set against a rollicking 1960s musical...

"Fears and thrills... Part structure (the centerpoint): part improvisation."

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...

Tom Palazzolo's rapid-fire, seemingly spontaneous documentary style captures Chicago with pizazz. For more than ten years, Palazzolo has been...

A short documentary on wet t-shirt contests at a Chicago bar.

We traveled to Indiana back roads to see and shoot the annual Miss Nude Universe Contest held at a “notorious” nudist camp. They wanted...

JERRY'S DELI is a testament to a bygone era when shrieking lunatics could run successful (even popular) businesses. Shot on film-stock leftover from...

Lillie Santangelo had for most of the 20th century owned and operated a wax museum at New York's Coney Island. She leads us on a final tour, just...

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...

Hot Nasty is a humorous documentary short set entirely inside a Chicago massage parlor called Big Bertha’s. The film features interviews with...

A 14-minute almanac of Midwestern America and its funky Americana at the end of the Love Generation, Love It / Leave It begins with proudly naked...

Based on a comic Heather McAdams created for the Chicago Reader, the short comedic film was made by Tom Palazzolo's 1990 film production class at the...

Venus and Adonis offers a playful retelling of the Classical myth. Filmed at Chicago's North Avenue Beach, filmmaker Tom Palazzolo plays the handsome...

This film follows a film crew as they make a TV spot for a Ford new/used car dealer who (even though he is dressed in white) is not the kind of...

ADDED LESSONS is an absurdist fever dream that follows young Francis (Liam Hayes) as he's bounced between maternal demands, burgeoning sexual...

Chicago filmmaker Tom Palazzolo turns his lens to film a very different portrait of Vivian Maier, the mysterious Chicago photographer whose work was...

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...

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...

Rita, a young high school student, recounts and reflects on her life in a monologue played over footage of her wandering through various beautiful...

“Primarily a pet parade for children.”

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...

The once teeming Riverview Park was shut down in 1967. The Tattooed Lady of Riverview is a portrait of its final occupant, Jean Furella, the titular...

“(T)he difficulty with which an adult represents his own childhood--let alone another's--is the running gag of Tom Palazzolo's Caligari's Cure....

Rita, a young high school student, recounts and reflects on her life in a monologue played over footage of her wandering through various beautiful...

Rita, a young high school student, recounts and reflects on her life in a monologue played over footage of her wandering through various beautiful...

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

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...

A portrait of the Chicago street market.

VHS compilation of two Tom Palazzolo documentaries - Marquette Park (1976) and Marquette Park II (1978) - about the American Nazi party and its...

Palazzolo's cameras are there as Mayor Richard Daley reveals the Picasso gifted to the city from the famed artist. Nicknamed "the Bride" and bad...

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...

On August 13, 1969 thousands of Chicagolandians flocked to downtown Chicago to get a glimpse of the first humans on the Moon (Neil A. Armstrong,...

Tom Palazzolo films the goings-on at Labor Day festival in East Chicago.

Filmmakers Tom Palazzolo, Jeff Kreines, and Bernie Caputo attend the annual Chicago Senior Citizens Picnic hosted by the Democratic Party. Shot in...

Documentary about the first annual Miss Illinois Bikini Contest, held by the Amateur Athletic Union at a theater on Chicago's south side. The event...

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...

An experimental silent film by Tom Palazzolo documenting the comings and goings of Chicago's "El" rapid transit system in the 1970s. Exact year...

I've always been interested in recording Chicago's history, particularly its offbeat and unofficial aspects. In a way, I consider myself a renegade...

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....

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...

The story of Tom Palazzolo's efforts to get his photographs included in the City 2000 exhibition, a show featuring images of Chicago from throughout...

An impressionistic view of the 1968 Democratic National Convention featuring appearances by Abbie Hoffman, Alan Ginsburg, Mayor Richard J. Daley,...

An awkward wedding rehearsal at which the in-laws meet

"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."...

Pigeon Lady is an observational documentary centered around the everyday comings and goings of an elderly woman in Chicago, Clara Miller. Palazzolo...

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

Chicago, 1966. Artists assemble at Domenico Di Meo's loft to prepare banners and artwork for an anti-Vietnam War demonstration led by Dr. Martin...

Tom Palazzolo's 1978 film "Sharie's Prom" is a documentary that captures the experiences of Sharie Holeb and her friends during their prom night in...

Silent home movie capturing the marriage of Tom Palazzolo and Marcia Daehn on December 22, 1968.

Home movie documenting birthday celebrations for Palazzolo's daughter, Amy Louise, who was born in 1974. The footage captured here is most likely of...

Silent footage of an amateur circus performance in a backyard in the Chicago neighborhood of Pilsen in the 1980s.

Home movie capturing the 6th birthday party thrown for Palazzolo's daughter, Sarah Marie, who was born in 1972. Features scenes of children eating...

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

Footage documenting a toy drive – “Toys for Tots” – held at a leather bar / motorcycle club in Chicago, called the Baton...

A portrait of the spectators and press covering the dedication of Claes Oldenburg's "Batcolumn" sculpture on April 14, 1977, outside of the...