Podtalk: Buddy Guy of ‘The Torch’ on Red Carpet at 55th Chicago International Film Festival

Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 30, 2019 - 12:15pm

CHICAGO – Closing Night of the 55th Chicago International Film Festival was a celebration of a great one, the legendary Blues Man Buddy Guy, who came to Chicago in 1957 and made his mark on music from then on and forever. Filmmaker Jim Farrell captures it all in “The Torch,” the Closing Night documentary. Appearing in the doc are the “torch bearers,” blues guitarists Quinn Sullivan and Carmen Vandenberg.

Buddy Guy of ‘The Torch’ on the Red Carpet at the 55th CIFF
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

At 83, Chicago legend Buddy Guy remains the standard bearer for the blues, an icon determined to see the art form live on long after he’s gone. Enter guitar phenom Quinn Sullivan, who has been mentored by Guy since he was a kid. This stirring documentary, amplified by electrifying musical performances, charts the guidance Guy himself received from the likes of Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf … while “the torch” of his music craft and wisdom is passed to a new generation (including Carmen Vandenberg).

Director Jim Farrell of ‘The Torch’
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

Buddy Guy needs no introduction in the City of Chicago. Through his nightclub Buddy Guy’s Legends, he keeps the torch burning bright for the African American tradition of the urban blues, as exemplified by John Lee Hooker, Junior Wells (his performing partner of many years) and his mentor Muddy Waters. In the documentary, a first time effort by Jim Farrell, Quinn Sullivan is the prodigy that Buddy takes under his wing, along with admirers like Carmen Vandenberg.

Quinn Sullivan and Carmen Vandenberg of ‘The Torch’
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

In Podtalks with Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com – on the Red Carpet for the film “The Torch” at the 55th Chicago International Film Festival – Buddy Guy, Quinn Sullivan, Carmen Vandenberg and director Jim Farrell bring the Chicago Blues to life.

The Chicago International Film Festival is facilitated by Cinema/Chicago, which sponsors film events throughout the year. Click here for more information and a wrap up of the 55th Fest.