A great advocate of independent and foreign films in Chicago has died. Facets Multimedia founder Milos Stehlik’s death was confirmed Sunday by a board member at the organization. In addition to screening a wide-range of films, Facets in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood also includes a large library of films and hosts the annual Chicago International Children’s Film Festival. According to its website, the nonprofit “connect[s] 30,000 people annually to independent ideas through film.” 

“Milos wanted artistic excellence for everybody to have,” Worldview host Jerome McDonnell said. He added that Stehlik wanted a “grassroots artistic excellence world.”

“I have known Milos for 20-plus years,” Worldview senior producer Steve Bynum said. “In that time, he became one of my greatest teachers, for Milos taught me that beauty, rather than something we create, is always-existent, waiting to be discovered. Self-discovery and community-building through film was Milos’ prescription to heal our human brokenness.”

Read more about Milos Stehlik’s legacy here.