WBEZ 91.5 Chicago

If you tuned into this radio station at noon over the last few months, chances are you heard Chicagoan Ahmed Rehab.

One of the documentaries considered for an Oscar on Sunday, Feb.  27 was Waste Land. The film documents a project to turn trash from a landfill on the outskirts of the Rio de Janeiro into art – and perhaps create social change as well.

A collection of work screening at the Gene Siskel Film Center on Thursday looks at conflict and closure in the Middle East through a variety of perspectives.

Sunday’s Best Director nominees at the Academy Awards would surely be able to name a pivotal cinematic moment in their lives; a film that catapulted a life-long dedication to the art of filmmaking. A new book looks to discover and dissect some of those moments.

Mija is a 66-year-old grandmother. She lives in a small town and takes care of her teenage grandson with a capacity to get into trouble. She earns cash by taking care of a stroke victim. Midway through the film, she starts showing the effects of the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.

Chicago's Peace on Earth Film Festival  was established to celebrate and encourage the work of independent filmmakers from around the globe whose work centers on peace, nonviolence, social justice and sustainability.

Eight Forty-Eight often talks about the big problems facing Chicago – the lack of jobs, the safety and quality of our public schools or the level of crime on our streets. Right or wrong, most of these issues are associated, in varying ways, with the city’s black youth.