By WILLIAM J. WRIGHT
Founded in Los Angeles in 2013, BEYOND FEST has, over the past twelve years, grown into a mecca for genre filmmakers and fans of horror, sci-fi and fantasy film. In 2025, the film festival drew 30,000 attendees and screened 95 features. Attracting such cinematic luminaries as James Cameron, Guillermo del Toro, S. S. Rajamouli, Julia Ducournau and Bong Joon Ho, BEYOND FEST has established itself as the highest-attended and most densely programmed genre film festival in the U.S. Now, this monster event is growing beyond its West Coast home, extending its slimy celluloid tentacles into Chicago.
BEYOND FEST will hold its first Midwest event in April 2026, thanks to a partnership with Chicago’s Music Box Theatre. Established in 1929, the historic movie palace has become a premier destination for cinephiles, hosting indie, foreign, classic and cult films. This exciting team-up is undoubtedly a win for all involved, but filmmakers and fans are set to reap the biggest rewards.
“Since inception, BEYOND FEST has existed in service of film fans and filmmakers that are obsessively passionate about film,” says festival founder Christian Parkes, “This passion isn’t something that resides exclusively in Los Angeles; for decades, Music Box Theatre has fostered and entertained some of the best audiences in the world. It’s going to be electric, having our worlds collide.”
“The Music Box has always been a home for bold, visionary cinema,” adds Music Box Theatre owner, Brody Sheldon. “Partnering with Beyond Fest means bringing that energy to a new generation of filmmakers and fans — the ones who make this city’s film scene the loudest, smartest, and most passionate in the country.”
Submissions for BEYOND FEST CHICAGO are now open through FilmFreeway. Genre filmmakers from around the world (and especially those from Chicago, the Midwest and the Great Lakes region) are invited to bring their “wildest, weirdest, and most uncompromising visions to screen with one of the nation’s most passionate film communities.”
