Divided into 11 chapters during the course of almost one hour of film, “The Illinois Parables” is a synopsis of the history of this North American state from prehistoric times to the present day. Each chapter is linked to a place or city in the state of Illinois which in a sense represents all the diversity of the United States of America. This documentary-essay by Deborah Stratman shows how people unite around narratives connected with specific places. The film explains how different communities have a place in the history of Illinois but at the same time have all experienced difficulties with the power of North American government institutions. The complexity of “The Illinois Parables” is accentuated, as in other films by Stratman, by a varied and richly imaginative soundscape. Deborah Stratman returns to Curtas Vila do Conde after previous screenings of her films “Second Sighted” (2015), “Hacked Circuit” (Grand Experimental Prize, 2014), “Kings Of The Sky” (2005), “Energy Country (2004) and “In Order Not To Be Here” (2003). (SG)