The School of Cinematic Arts will host its 20th annual Premiere Film Showcase this Friday, June 5 from 6:30pm to 9:30pm.

The annual evemt features work from students covering all facets of filmmaking, from screenwriting to post-production. Faculty producers and student assistants receive hundreds of submissions of student narrative films, animations, documentaries, music videos, and more, choosing a small selection for screening or award nominations. The chosen films are screened at the Music Box Theatre, Chicago's historic theater and art-house cinema located in the Lakeview neighborhood.

This year, fifteen films will be screened during the two-hour program. The program will be followed by an awards ceremony in which dozens of nominated films will compete for awards in roughly twenty categories, including Best Directing, Best Cast, and Best Cinematography, as well as an Audience Choice Award and a Jury Award judged by five professional film festival programmers, critics, and curators. The 2026 program, nominees, and jury can be found on the Premiere website.

Premiere is free and open to the public. Doors open at 6pm.