Report # 1 on the 46th CHICAGO INT’L FILM FESTIVAL = OVERVIEW

Report # 1 on the 46^th CHICAGO INT’L FILM FESTIVAL =  OVERVIEW

            Yes, it’s “that” time again:  the 46^th annual edition of the CHICAGO INT’L FILM FESTIVAL is about to begin, to run October 7th thru the 21^st, with all films --  except the Thursday, October 7^th Opening Nite one of “STONE” starring Edward Norton & Robert De Niro, which will be at the HARRIS theater --  scheduled to be at the AMC River East 21 theaters at 322 E Illinois Street (like last year)…  Norton, director John Curran & others are expected to attend the Opening Nite (which is already getting close to being “sold out”)…

                        This year’s honoree at the Black Perspectives Tribute on Saturday October 9^th (at the Chase Auditorium at 10 S Dearborn) will be Forest Whitaker…

                          The “Centerpiece” film this year will be shown on October 13 and it is “127 HOURS”, which has gotten huge buzz from being shown in Toronto;  director Danny Boyle is expected to attend…

                        The Closing Nite film (on October 21^st) will be “THE DEBT” with Sam Worthington & Helen Mirren, about the hunt to bring a Nazi war criminal to trial… 

                        The Festival held a Press PREVIEW party on September 21^st at what will be the new Festival Lounge--  the Wine Bar at the Lucky Strike Lanes on the west side of the AMC21 entrance lobby.  That venue will be open to the General Public from 12 pm to 6 pm from October 8^th thru the 20^th, with the opportunity to talk to other Patrons…

                              …  That venue will also allow the public to listen to various industry PANELS (some with filmmakers) including: “Sex On Screen” at 3 pm on Sat. October 9^th;  “Songs of the Screen: Music In Black Film” at 3 PM on Tuesday October 12^th (at Columbia College, 1104 S. Wabash);  “New Directors: From Shorts to Features” at 4:30 PM on Wed., October 13^th (also at Columbia);  “Telling the Truth” (including Greg Jacobs & Jon Siskel, directors of  the documentary “Louder Than A Bomb”) at 2 pm on Friday, October 15th (at DePaul Univ., lower level at 247 S. State)…

                                        …  And, back at the Festival Lounge, there will be:  “Triple Threat” at 3 pm on Fri., October 15^th including writer / director / actor Edward Burns (whose “Nice Guy Johnny” will be shown during the Festival) and writer / producer / director Carmen Marron (whose “Go For It” will be at the Festival);  “Cinema Of the Americas” will be held at 1 pm on Sat., October 16^th;  and “Reel Women: Power Players” will be held (with panelists including Ruth Leitman, whose “Tony & Janina’s American Wedding” will be in the Festival) at 4 pm on Sun., October 17^th…

                                   …  The lounge will be utilized for private gatherings of visiting Filmmakers from 8 pm to 11 pm…

                                  

                    …  During the Press Preview, introductions were made by various of the Festival Programmers for major categories of films to be shown during the Fest.  To give you an idea of what a huge undertaking such programming requires, they viewed like 800 Feature films to choose the 100 or so that will be in the Fest, & viewed more than 1400 Shorts to pick the much smaller number of Shorts to be shown in 7 groupings (“Illinois[e]Makers”, “Animation Nations”, “Midnight Mayhem”, “Together Apart”, “Tales of the Unexpected”, “Best of the American Black Film Festival”, & “Lunafest”)…

                                          …  As Fest stalwart Mimi commented to the audience, she feels the Chicago Festival seeks out “films that take RISKS…  [that] take artistic chances, [that] explore things in a NEW way”…                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

                                    …  Besides bringing in various directors and main actors to his year’s Fest, they will also be bringing in a number of the vital “COGS” of certain films--  such as the young Chicago-area poets who performed in a Poetry Slam shown in “Louder Than A Bomb”, some of the young CIRCUS entertainers from “Circus Kids”, some of the participants who went to eastern Europe searching for a WIFE, one of the self-appointed Mexican border watchdog “vigilantes” from “The Minuteman”, and others…

                            …  Typical for the Chicago moviegoing extravaganza, there are numerous diverse CATEGORIES of films (from like 43 different countries), as shown on the back inside cover of the Festival’s now-available Complete Schedule:  After Dark, Art, Black Perspectives, Cinema Of the Americas (including a Fri., Oct. 15^th Tribute at 6:30 PM to Guillermo del Toro), Comedy, Coming-Of-Age, Crime, Documentary, Family Drama, Film On Film, & Friendship…

                                     …  Also:  Historical, Horror, Illinois[e]Makers, LGBT, Music, Mystical / Magical, Obsession, Political / Social Commentary, Romance, Sexy, Sports, Thriller, and Tributes (including the Tues., October 12^th “Reelwomen” one at 6 pm to producer Paula Wagner of the “Mission Impossible” series, “The Last Samurai”, “War of The Worlds”, and others--  including “The Others”!)…

                        …  The Festival combines both highly independent filmmaking with movies having well-known stars such as Ben Affleck, Chris Cooper & Tommy Lee Jones (in “The Company Men”);  Hilary Swank & Sam Rockwell (in “Conviction” on Oct. 10, an impressive film I saw on an advance screening last week which is based on the true story of a woman who becomes a lawyer to try to free her unjustly-convicted brother);  Sean Penn & Naomi Watts (in “Fair Game” on Oct. 17);  Juliette Binoche (in “Certified Copy” on Oct. 9 & 11);  & others…

                                    …  As was the case previously, there are various “PACKAGES” for film admissions, such as the “Moviegoer” with 10 regular (non-“special”) admissions (@ $ 80 for Cinema / Chicago Members & $ 110 for non-members) and a 20-admission “Passport” (@ $ 155 to $ 210)…  These Passes can be purchased online at www.chicagofilmfestival.com ;  regular tickets can be purchased (including with e-mail delivery) at www.ticketmaster.com/chicagofilmfestival.  Opening, Closing & other “Special” presentation prices vary… 

                                                …  Tickets can also be purchased by PHONE:  the Hotline # 312.332.film (with a $ 4 handling fee), or Ticketmaster @ 800.982.2787...  You also can get them in-PERSON at the Festival office at 30 E Adams, Suite 800 (10 am to 6 pm Mon-Fri.);  or (starting October 7^th) at the AMC21 7 days a week from noon until 8 pm or until the start of the last Fest film of the day…   You must be in the theater 15 minutes before the published start time of the film…

                                              …  Besides the CTA service to the theater via numerous bus lines (such as the # 66 Chicago Avenue & 65 Grand & 29 State), new this year is “all-day” discounted PARKING at 219 E North Water Street ($ 10 when a Festival ticket stub is shown), 301 E North Water ($ 16 via valet parking at the Sheraton Hotel), & 511 E Grand ( $ 14 with a Validation ticket from the Festival box office)…

                      …  I’ll be providing more information and reviews as time goes on…                                                                    

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            …  After the main speeches at the Preview party (which included some clips from films that will be shown during the Fest), I spoke at some length to directors Jon Siskel and Greg Jacobs about their award-winning documentary “Louder Than A Bomb”, which will be shown on Mon., Oct. 11^th (with some of the fantastic Chicago high school kids from the Poetry Slam);  Sat., Oct. 16^th;  and Mon., Oct. 18^th…

             …  Jon reminded me of his uncle (iconic Chicago film critic Gene, who I'd spoken to years ago at past Fests) in the way he was so passionate about movies and filmmaking:  He loved the subject and participants in the film, which they first started working on in 2006.  It took a year to film the documentary and 2 years to edit it, and he and Greg spoke of their appreciation for the backing of various groups such as the Driehaus Foundation and the Woods Fund of Chicago...

                                    …  The film has already garnered praise at various other Festivals, & the plan is to showcase it to a wider public by screening it at future festivals such as the Hamptons in NY (Oct. 7-8), Los Angeles (Oct. 27), Boston (Nov. 4) and others.  In time, they hope to interest a group in screening it on national TV…

                                              …  Both directors have done previous work, such as on National Geographic documentaries.  They have various hopes and plans for FUTURE projects, but right now, their main interest is in spreading the news about this current film which they loved doing, & they’re eagerly anticipating the reaction of the audiences to the movie and to the wonderful kids in it…  (I shot some PHOTOS of them during our talk)…

                                                …  When I later went to their web-site (“LouderThanABombFilm.com”), I saw such glowing tributes as this one:

“ Louder Than a Bomb won the Best of the Fest Audience Award at the 19th Annual Woods Hole Film festival in early August, along with the Jury Prize for the Best Documentary. Here's what the documentary jury had to say about the film:

‘We are reminded of the power of words, the success of dedication, the importance of storytelling, and the force of camaraderie which are all encompassed in the extraordinary heart of this movie.’ "

                                                …  So, I look forward to seeing this & many other films, and reporting on them to you Folks…


...  My RATING:  8.00 of 10 stars.