Celebrating Film Icon Milos Stehlik

July 8, 2019

Celebrating Film Icon Milos Stehlik

On July 6, 2019, FACETS’ founder, Milos Stehlik, passed away after a six-month battle with lung cancer. His legacy will forever impact film culture in Chicago and beyond.

Founder and director of FACETS, Milos Stehlk, legacy left far reaching changes on the world of independent and international film. FACETS carries on his vision of pushing audiences of all ages and backgrounds to use film as a way to engage and explore the world around them.

Milos Stehlik devoted his life to film. With his passing, we have truly lost a legend. The vast amount Milos accomplished and the intense passion he brought to everything he did is impossible to capture here.

As the founder and director of FACETS, Milos has helped revolutionize film education, exhibition, and distribution for independent, international, and arthouse film. As an educator, a journalist on WBEZ, and vocal champion of film, Milos has helped introduce generations to the awesome power of film.

But most importantly, what we want to celebrate right now is Milos’s uncompromising belief that film is the greatest art form and that it has the power to change lives, no matter age, race, gender, identity, or economic status.

This commitment to the importance of film was apparent to anyone who knew Milos, and it is now our duty to continue this legacy of inspiring audiences to actively engage with film, not simply as entertainment, but as a tool that can bridge cultural divides, promote media literacy skills, and expand perspectives through empathy-driven storytelling.

Milos’s Legacy

To celebrate Milos’s legacy, we would like to share some quotes about his immense impact.

“Milos has offered me and, for sure millions of others, a richness they would otherwise not have.”
–^{Studs Terkel (read more here)}

“Together through thick and thin… Stehlik and Facets have served as Chicago’s most valiant champions of international cinema for decades.”
–^{Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune}

“There’s some human beings that were named national treasures of the United States. They haven’t named Milos yet, but I do. I hope and wish there’s a great future for FACETS.”
–^{Werner Herzog at Facets’ Master Class with Werner Herzog}

“As Oscar Wilde once said, ‘poets and painters have taught people the loveliness of such effects, which did not exist till Art had invented them.’ Milos and his founding of FACETS is a clear example that art has the power to change society.”
–^C^{harles Coleman, Facets Film Program Director (quoted in Chicago Tribune)}

“At a time when film culture at a whole seems as if it is on the ropes, a trip to FACETS can feel like a cinema buff’s dream come true. Stehlik may be gone but his dream will continue to grow and thrive for years to come.”
–^Pe^{ter Sobczynski, Chicago Film Critics Association}

“As anyone with knowledge about the arthouse movie business can understand, it’s remarkably difficult to create a brand that means as much as FACETS does to Chicagoans, but Stehlik always persevered even as the theatrical scene shifted and funding became more difficult. He was an intense, devoted, brilliant man whose passion for film came through in everything he did. Chicago won’t be the same without him.”
–^{Brian Tallerico, rogerebert.com}

Milos Stehlik Legacy Fund

Facets has established The Milos Stehlik Legacy Fund to celebrate and continue Milos’s groundbreaking work. Tax-deductible contributions to the fund can be made online or by calling 773-281-9075 ext. 114.

Image credit: Werner Herzog, Chaz Ebert, and Milos Stehlik at Facets’ Werner Herzog Master Class reception at The Arts Club of Chicago. Photo by Jasmin Shah, © Facets and Comer Family Foundation.