BEYOND FEST Expands to Chicago

Beyond Fest, the largest genre film festival in the United States, is proud to announce its first geographical expansion. Built in partnership with Chicago’s iconic Music Box Theatre, this new evolution of Beyond Fest will take place April 2–5, 2026, bringing four days of all-killer-no-filler, cinematic excess and celebration. 

Submissions for Beyond Chicago are now open through FilmFreeway, inviting filmmakers from around the globe — especially those from Chicago, the Midwest, and the Great Lakes region — to bring their wildest, weirdest, and most uncompromising visions to screen with one of the nation’s most passionate film communities. 

A Portrait of the Cartoonist as a Young Virgin Living in Suburbia

From Harvey and Eisner-nominated cartoonist and editor Glenn Head and acclaimed publisher Fantagraphics Books comes CHICAGO, a harrowing graphic novel about sex, art and the search for authenticity. Starkly confessional, Head’s memoir chronicles his transformation from a 19-year-old virgin who hates his family and lives at home to a successful Brooklyn-based cartoonist who’s raising his daughter as a single dad. The journey along the way? It’s complicated and messy, uncomfortable and unforgettable.