Manual Cinema Shines A New Light On Puppetry

Multi-media performance collective Manual Cinema brings audiences into their world of puppetry, intricate soundscapes and immersive visuals. Founded in 2010 by Ben Kauffman, Julia Miller, Drew Dir, Sarah Fornace and Kyle Vegter, Manual Cinema’s works go beyond puppetry to become multimedia, multi-sensory works of art akin to live cinema. The Emmy-winning collective has worked on countless stunning projects since 2010, including a collaboration with the Chicago Poetry Foundation, and their shadow puppets were featured in 2021 film ‘Candyman.’ Manual Cinema co-artistic directors Ben Kauffman and Julia Miller say they hope to present well-told stories in a new way through all of their projects. This is what their Chicago sounds like.

This segment of “This Is What Chicago Sounds Like” was edited and produced by Ari Mejia. Learn more about Manual Cinema by visiting manualcinema.com.