VELVET PRISONS        Russell Jacoby on        American Academia

Cold Chicago Productions, in association with the Near Northwest Arts Council of Chicago, produces shoestring budget guerrilla documentaries, videos, improvisation, theater and on occasion unholy blends of all the above. American Road won five Best Documentary awards. The Milagro Man has screened at many festivals. Ongoing projects include Weeding them Out, a feature length look at the sinister sway of eugenic ideas in American life. Also in the works is a short feature based on an Ambrose Bierce civil war story as well as documentary portraits of legendary actor Ed Asner and of noted radical writer Clancy Sigal.