This is CIMMfest, the Chicago International Movies & Music Festival—a four-day showcase of outstanding films, energetic concerts, visually stunning VJ/DJ sets, lively Q&A’s, daring live score performances, industry panels and presentations…anything to show just what movies and music mean to each other.
Each Spring filmmakers, musicians, and their passionate fans alike, descend upon Wicker Park and Logan Square, two of Chicago’s most eclectic, vibrant neighborhoods. That’s where CIMMfest takes place—the films by day, the live music by night—at theaters, galleries, bars, concert spaces, and some of the city’s most storied venues.
The films come from all countries and cultures, and range from documentaries to fiction to concert films to shorts to music videos. They just have to be about music and/or use music in a creative, integral way. The live performances are inspired by film or feature visual accompaniment.
In 2013, CIMMfest expanded its music section to include more than fifty bands, twenty venues and a footprint along Milwaukee Avenue that stretches nearly two miles. CIMMcon also made it’s debut in 2013, bringing together nearly sixty innovators, tastemakers, industry leaders and more in a series of fifteen free panels exploring everything from State of the Recording Industry to how to Kickstart your Film.
CIMMfest was imagined and brought to life by musician Josh Chicoine (Cloudbirds, The M’s) and filmmaker Ilko Davidov (BulletProof Film). Neither knew what he was getting into at the start, but hundreds of films, thousands of attendees and countless incredible experiences later, CIMMfest is a publicized, respected Chicago fixture.
view more