Tom Palazzolo Movies

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

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

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

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...

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

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

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...

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...

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....

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

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...

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...

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

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

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

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

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,...

Set in a bizarro St. Louis and populated with characters from Palazzolo’s boyhood memories, Caligari’s Cure is an irreverent retelling of...