8:00pm.

An Evening with Jim Trainor 

Harrowing. Death-obsessed. Uproarious. The short films of Chicago-based artist and filmmaker Jim Trainor rank among the bleakest and funniest work to be found in American underground animation. The men and beasts of Trainor's cinema are invariably mired in psychosexual dysfunction: too blind, stupid, or otherwise 

incapable to find sense or meaning in an often senseless, meaningless universe. Instantly recognizable by their characteristically stark linework and lucid, beautifully written voiceover, Trainor's animations frequently take the perspective of nonhuman life, giving voice to profound existential enquiries through characters like a rotten-vegetation-loving Moschops, or a cave-dwelling bat simply enjoying the pleasures of a clean anus. This program brings together a selection of Trainor's work from across the early years of his career, a collection of roughly textured, poetically blunt explorations of natural order and bestial philosophy presented in original 16mm prints. Included in this program is Trainor's series "The Animals and Their Limitations," featuring The Bats (1998), The Moschops (2000), The Magic Kingdom (2002), and Harmony (2004), as well as his mid-length film The Fetishist (1997), a biography of Chicago-based serial killer William Heirens. (CW) 16mm prints courtesy of Jim Trainor. 

Total program length: Approx 80 min, plus an intermission 

Jim Trainor in person!

ABOUT CFS

Founded by projectionists in 2011, the Chicago Film Society promotes the exhibition and preservation of film in context. CFS screenings provide access to the restoration efforts of archives, studios, and private collectors, the work of artists exploring the film medium today, and the experience of seeing film projected live in a theater, with an audience. As physical artifacts, the film prints we show hold the stories told by films — but also the stories of the industries that produced them, the labs that printed them, the places where they were exhibited, and the people who watched them. Through screenings, writing, film preservation projects, and workshops, CFS works to make all of this context visible and accessible to the public. 

For more information visit www.chicagofilmsociety.org