The Chicago Underground Film Festival is always a special occasion, but the 17th edition of this venerable institution, which runs on June 24 – July 1, is a little bit extra special. This year, CUFF will be honoring the lifelong underground film champion Jonas Mekas with their Lifetime Achievement Award!

Mekas will be in attendance at the festival at will appear at several screenings in his honor. On the 25th, there will be a screening of the new documentary Visionaries: Jonas Mekas and the (Mostly) American Avant-Garde, at which director Chuck Workman, Mekas and underground film historian Fred Camper will participate in a Q&A. Then, on the 26th, several of Mekas’ own films will screen and he’ll be presented with his award.

As for the rest of the fest, CUFF usually has some sort of unifying theme, at least as far as the features go. It’s not typically a stated theme, but if you look over the lineup below there appears to be a running theme about the fringes of American culture. There’s the tourist attraction doc World’s Largest, the homage to American exploitation cinema Modus Operandi, the homegrown terrorist doc American Jihadist, the non-road-trip road trip Americatown, Kevin Jerome Everson‘s exploration of Erie, Matt McCormick‘s fringe character study Some Days Are Better Than Others and more.

As far as short films go, there’s Lisa Barcy‘s phenomenal undersea romp music video Anonanimal, Bill Plympton‘s latest animation The Cow Who Wanted to be a Hamburger, Guy Maddin‘s retro fake doc Night Mayor, George Kuchar‘s weather diary Vault of Vapors; plus experimental films by Deborah Stratman, Jim Finn, Kent Lambert, Steve Cossman, Thorsten Fleisch and more.

It’s a lot to pack into one festival, but CUFF is boldly going to do it. The full lineup is below, but for more info please visit the official Chicago Underground Film Festival website.

June 24

8:00 p.m.: The Wild Hunt, dir. Alexandre Franchi. A jilted boyfriend enters the strange world of medieval re-enactments in a desperate bid to win his girlfriend back.

June 25

6:00 p.m.: World’s Largest, dir. Amy Elliott and Elizabeth Donius. Visit some of the U.S.’s largest attractions, including statues devoted to strawberries, pheasants and killer bees; plus, witness the making the world’s largest lava lamp.
Screening with:
Guided Tour, dir. Judy Fiskin

8:15 p.m.: Visionaries: Jonas Mekas and the (Mostly) American Avant-Garde, dir. Chuck Workman. This documentary profiles the key players of the ’60s underground film scene, especially the man who did the most to organize it all into a vital and fondly remembered cinematic movement.

9:15 p.m.: “Shorts Program One: School of Velocity”
What If? Beyond a Carnal Love, dir. Torsten Zenas Burns and Darrin Martin
The Burning Blue, dir. Jesse McLean
Memyselfandi, dir. Roddy Bogawa
New works by James P Finnegan and James Thatcher, Thorsten Fleisch, Wago Kreiger, Jason Livingston, Ivan Lozano, and Alexander Stewart.

10:30 p.m.: Modus Operandi, dir. Frankie Latina. In this homage to classic ’70s exploitation cinema, an alcoholic secret agent is tasked to retrieve two missing briefcases vital to American security.

June 26

1:15 p.m.: “Shorts Program Two: F Is for Fate”
Seven Songs About Thunder, dir. Jennifer Reeder
Three Ravens, dir. Bobby Abate
54 Days This Winter 36 Days This Spring, dir. Dani Leventhal
Also: videos by Bryan Boyce, Jacqueline Castel, Eric Fleischauer, Kent Lambert, Chris Royalty, and Ann Steuernagel.

3:00 p.m.: American Jihadist, dir. Mark Claywell. This documentary examines how American citizen Clevin Raphael Holt could grow up to become Isa Abdullah Ali, a “known terrorist” as labeled by the U.S. Defense Department.
Screening with:
Lay Claim to an Island, dir. Chris Kennedy

4:45 p.m.: “Life Is Unpredictable: Films by Jonas Mekas”
Award Presentation to Andy Warhol
Street Songs
A Letter to Penny Arcade
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
as well as other titles to be announced.

6:00 p.m.: Wasteland Utopias, dir. David Sherman. Find out what strange connection exists between Del Webb, the visionary developer, and Wilhelm Reich, the radical psychiatrist/naturalist.

7:00 p.m.: Some Days Are Better Than Others, dir. Matt McCormick. The lives of several characters living on the fringes of American society intersect. (Watch online)
Screening with:
Anonanimal, dir. Lisa Barcy

9:15 p.m.: Americatown, dir. Kenneth Price. The best of the U.S. is squeezed into the ultimate small town community, a wonderful place to live until a mysterious visitor shows up.
Screening with:
Tennessee Waltz, dir. Clayton Brown

9:30 p.m.: “Shorts Program Three: Television Personalities”
This Is My Show, dir. Lori Felker
Paul and the Badger Episode 6, dir. Paul Tarrago
Vault of Vapors, dir. George Kuchar
The Cow Who Wanted to be a Hamburger, dir. Bill Plympton
Work by Rodney Ascher, Gregory Gutenko, Pippa Possible and Christian Rosenkranz, Steve Reinke, Kelly Sears and Craig Webster.

June 27

1:00 p.m.: Erie, dir. Kevin Jerome Everson. This is a collection of single take shots filmed in the communities around Lake Erie that all relate to the experience of Black migration in America.
Screening with:
Home Movie, dir. Braden King

1:15 p.m.: “Shorts Program Four: East Meets West”
Yanqui Walker and the Optical Revolution, dir. Kathryn Ramey
Giri Chit, dir. Simon Tarr
5 Lessons and 9 Questions About Chinatown, dir. Shelly Silver
Great Man and Cinema, dir. Jim Finn
Also: films and videos by Marianna Milhorat, Peter Miller and Alexander Stewart, Deborah Stratman, and Richard Wiebe.

3:00 p.m.: “Shorts Program Five: Night Watching”
Songs From the Shed, dir. Melika Bass
Lighthouse, dir. Chi Jang Yin
Vineland, dir. Laura Kraning
Also: films and videos by Tony Balko, Bill Brown, Melissa Friedling, Kathleen Rugh, and Angie Waller.

4:45 p.m.: Scrappers, dir. Ben Kolak, Brian Ashby, and Courtney Prokopas. Become intimate with two metal scavengers who scour the streets of Chicago looking to turn other people’s scraps into money.

6:00 p.m.: “Shorts Program Six: The Unconscious Uncorked”
Night Mayor, dir. Guy Maddin
Golden Hour, dir. Robert Todd
If There Be Thorns, dir. Michael Robinson
Films and videos by Steve Cossman, Jack Cronin, Patrick Jolley, Matt Marsden, Michael Mills, and Jose Vonk complete the program.

7:00 p.m.: Putty Hill, dir. Matt Porterfield. When a young man dies from a heroin overdose, a distant cousin of the deceased travels from the West Coast to attend the funeral in Baltimore.

June 28

6:00 p.m.: The Earth Is Young, dir. Michael Gitlin. This documentary visits with the Young Earth Creationists, who believe the world was literally created in six days and is only 6,000 years old.
Screening with:
Into the Zone, dir. Raphael Bondy

8:00 p.m.: Stay the Same Never Change, dir. Laurel Nakadate. The problems faced by young women growing up in the U.S. are explored in several vignettes.

June 29

6:00 p.m.: American Jihadist, dir. Mark Claywell. This documentary examines how American citizen Clevin Raphael Holt could grow up to become Isa Abdullah Ali, a “known terrorist” as labelled by the U.S. Defense Department.
Screening with:
Lay Claim to an Island, dir. Chris Kennedy

8:00 p.m.: World’s Largest, dir. Amy Elliott and Elizabeth Donius. Visit some of the U.S.’s largest attractions, including statues devoted to strawberries, pheasants and killer bees; plus, witness the making the world’s largest lava lamp.
Screening with:
Guided Tour, dir. Judy Fiskin

June 30

6:00 p.m.: Americatown, dir. Kenneth Price. The best of the U.S. is squeezed into the ultimate small town community, a wonderful place to live until a mysterious visitor shows up.
Screening with:
Tennessee Waltz, dir. Clayton Brown

8:00 p.m.: Modus Operandi, dir. Frankie Latina. In this homage to classic ’70s exploitation cinema, an alcoholic secret agent is tasked to retrieve two missing briefcases vital to American security.

July 1st

6:00 p.m.: Visionaries: Jonas Mekas and the (Mostly) American Avant-Garde, dir. Chuck Workman. This documentary profiles the key players of the ’60s underground film scene, especially the man who did the most to organize it all into a vital and fondly remembered cinematic movement.

8:00 p.m.: Scrappers, dir. Ben Kolak, Brian Ashby, and Courtney Prokopas. Become intimate with two metal scavengers who scour the streets of Chicago looking to turn other people’s scraps into money.