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Fantastic Fungi Mushroom Documentary Film

Photo Courtesy of Hydro Studios

The Gene Siskel Film Center of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago will present the Chicago premiere of Fantastic Fungi from October 18 through 24. This revealing and mind-boggling documentary explores the hidden kingdom of mushrooms and mycelium, the fungal network that lives beneath our feet. Director Louie Schwartzberg is scheduled to appear at the event for an audience discussion on October 18 (8 p.m. screening) and October 19 (5 p.m. screening).

In the film, experts such as mycologist Paul Stamets and authors Michael Pollan, Eugenia Bone and Andrew Weil reveal the ways in which mushrooms harbor a vast and barely explored potential for healing, renewing the environment, providing sustenance and altering consciousness. Time-lapse macro cinematography by director Schwartzberg (Wings of Life) brings mushrooms and their underworld networks to astonishing vibrant life.

Admission is $12/general admission, $7/students, $6/Film Center members, and $5/Art Institute of Chicago staff and School of the Art Institute of Chicago faculty, staff and students. Location: 164 N. State St., Chicago. Buy tickets online at SiskelFilmCenter.org/fantastic-fungi.