Tom Palazzolo

Vivian Maier Photographer (2012)

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

Down Clark Street (1995)

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 with a m ...

I Married a Munchkin (1994)

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," Mar ...

Chicago Nazis (1990)

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

Hey Girls (1990)

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 School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Set in downtown Chicago on S Columbus Dr & E Congress Pkwy, McAdam ...

Added Lessons (1990)

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 who's wh ...

Lily's World of Wax (1986)

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 before her museum is closed and her wax figures and exhibits are auctioned off. Old age and declining attendan ...

At Maxwell Street (1984)

A portrait of the Chicago street market. ...

Caligari's Cure (1983)

Set in a bizarro St. Louis and populated with characters from Palazzolo's boyhood memories, Caligari's Cure is an irreverent retelling of Palazzolo's youth that is both absurd and tender. ...

It's This Way at Deel Ford (1980)

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 person you'd buy anything from. As the commercial is being filmed, I also turn the camera on a salesman who is t ...

Labor Day: East Chicago (1979)

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

I Was a Contestant at Mother's Wet T-Shirt Contest (1978)

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

Marquette Park (Part I) (1976)

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 who we ...

Gay for a Day (1976)

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. ...

Costumes on Review (1976)

Jerry's (1974)

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 television cameramen, Tom Palazzolo's portrait of Jerry Meyer offsets sequences of the tyrannical deli owne ...

Enjoy Yourself (It's Later Than You Think) (1974)

Filmmakers Tom Palazzolo, Jeff Kreines, and Bernie Caputo attend the annual Chicago Senior Citizens Picnic hosted by the Democratic Party. Shot in the style of direct cinema, they spend the afternoon in a Chicago park following the seniors as they have a m ...

Love It, Leave It (1973)

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 people parading about for all the world to ogle at the annual Naked City beauty pageant in Roselawn, Indiana, ...

Another Millionaire (1973)

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

Hot Nasty (1972)

Hot Nasty is a humorous documentary short set entirely inside a Chicago massage parlor called Big Bertha's. The film features interviews with the women who work there, openly sharing funny stories about how they got into the business, dealing with differen ...

Ricky and Rocky (1972)

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 filmmakers. ...

Pets on Parade (1971)

"Primarily a pet parade for children. ...

Your Astronauts (1970)

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, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin, Jr.). Chicago Filmmaker Tom Palazzolo captures the Chicago Apollo 11 Parade w ...

Campaign (1968)

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 stain on ...

Tattooed Lady of Riverview (1967)

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 tattooed lady of Riverview's sideshow. ...

The Bride Stripped Bare (1967)

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 mouthed almost universally upon its unveiling, we get some of that social commentary here, as well as lots of s ...

O (1967)

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

The Tattooed Lady of Riverview (1967)

"The once teeming Riverview Park was shut down in 1967 (with Tom Palazzolo on hand to document the bitter end). The Tattooed Lady of Riverview is a portrait of its final occupant, Jean Furella, the titular tattooed lady of Riverview's sideshow. Furella fir ...

He (1966)

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 thick ...

Venus and Adonis (1966)

Venus and Adonis offers a playful retelling of the Classical myth. Filmed at Chicago's North Avenue Beach, filmmaker Tom Palazzolo plays the handsome young Adonis who is seduced by Venus, the goddess of love, depicted by Natalie Jarnstedt. ...

Vermin of the Vortex (1996)

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 Underground Film ...

I Married a Munchkin (1994)

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," Mar ...

Tom Chicago on Location (1990)

The nom d'art 'Tommy Chicago' reflects independent filmmaker Tom Palazzolo's unique status within the Chicago film community. Since 1967, Palazzolo has filtered all aspects of the Windy City through his audacious lens. This documentary captures the artist ...

Murder in a Mist (1980)

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

Venus and Adonis (1966)

Venus and Adonis offers a playful retelling of the Classical myth. Filmed at Chicago's North Avenue Beach, filmmaker Tom Palazzolo plays the handsome young Adonis who is seduced by Venus, the goddess of love, depicted by Natalie Jarnstedt. ...