Beyond the Door

Beyond the Door is a dark, irreverent comedy about a clergyman’s battle to overcome his fear of doors and his sinful behavior. This surreal, slapstick film was directed and written by Dan Dinello and Paul Dinello. The film stars Stephen Colbert, who also co-wrote the script, along with Paul Dinello and Jodi Lennon. Shot on 16mm black-and-white film, cinematographer Ted Bokhof photographed the movie in Chicago with an all-Chicago crew. Chicago locations include St. John Cantius Church, Duk’s Red Hots, Grant Park, and the former Lincoln Park Arms Apartments at 2738 N Pine Grove Avenue.; Beyond the Door screened at numerous film festivals in United States, including the Chicago Underground Film Festival, the Chicago International Film Festival, the Humboldt International Film and Video Festival, the Freaky Film Festival (Urbana, IL) and Bumbershoot 96: the Seattle Arts Festival as well as several festivals in Europe, including the Berlin Underground Film Festival: Circles of Confusion, the 9 Stuttgarter Filmwinter, and the Hamburg International Kurzfilm Festival, 1995. The Festival Program for the Chicago Underground Film Fest (1995) notes that “Beyond the Door” was “banned by WTTW’s Image Union!!”; The short film won a certificate of merit at the 1996 Chicago International Film Festival.