Film events: Chicago's best movies and fests

Doc10, Chicago's only all-documentary film festival, returns to the Davis Theater and Gene Siskel Film Center for its big 10th anniversary. From Friday, April 24 through Sunday, May 3, the festival will screen 10 current documentaries culled from other top festivals around the globe (Sundance, Tribeca).

Pack your own popcorn, bring a blanket and enjoy another season of free outdoor movie screenings during the Millennium Park Summer Film Series. You can grab a seat in the Jay Pritzker Pavilion or spread out on the Great Lawn as you watch flicks on a 40-foot LED screen. This year's lineup is to-be-announced. For the full schedule, check the official site.

The Chicago Latino Film Fest returns for its 42nd year from Thursday, April 16, through Tuesday, April 27, showing films from Latin America, Spain, Portugal, the United States and more via screenings at the Davis Theatre and Cervantes Institute. For a complete schedule of screenings, check out the Chicago Latino Film Festival website.

Beyond Fest, the largest genre film festival in the United States, is expanding from Los Angeles for the first time ever with some help from Lakeview's Music Box Theatre. With programming from filmmakers across the globe—from high-energy premieres and repertory screenings to locally sourced talent—Beyond Fest promises four days of all-killer-no-filler, cinematic excess and celebration.

Access Contemporary Music returns to the Music Box Theatre for its 21st annual Sound of Silent Film Festival, which screens a series of new short silent films set to original scores by Chicago-based composers. This year's lineup was sourced from an international call, with ten films selected out of more than a hundred submissions.