Podcast

CHICAGO – A film that goes deep into lives thrown together by circumstance highlights DAY THREE of the 55th Chicago International Film Festival. The Polish/Italian “Sole” is part of the new directors competition, a debut by Carlo Sironi on October 18th, 2019 (8pm) at the AMC River East 21 in Chicago.

CHICAGO – One of the more popular series at the 55th Chicago International Film Festival is their “After Dark” screenings, with the most notorious of 2019 horror unspooling throughout the late night hours. One of the best is “Girl on the Third Floor, which is directed by Travis Stevens, and features Phil Brooks (also known as C.M.

CHICAGO – Every year the Chicago International Film Festival has a Spotlight series of films under a single heading, and this year’s theme is Architecture X Design.

LOS ANGELES – The unforgettable actor Robert Forster had one of the most celebrated of “second acts” in show biz history, but he would humbly characterize himself as a “working actor,” performing in film and TV for over 50 years. Forster passed away on October 11th, 2019, in Los Angeles. He was 78 years old.

CHICAGO – Since Chicago is one of the great Irish immigrant cities in the U.S., it stands to reason that a film festival would be dedicated to Irish American films, and Mike Houlihan – a local writer/radio host/playwright/actor/filmmaker – founded this festival in in the Windy City in 2015.

CHICAGO – Molly Hewitt is an artist from England who has created a whole world of “Glamhag,” the catch-all term for an inclusive celebration of gender fluidity and performance. Hewitt has a Chicago Premiere as a director (and title character) in the film “Holy Trinity” on September 27th, 2019, at the Music Box Theatre.

CHICAGO – It comes down to this. After the weeks of preparation, filming and post production judging, the local edition of the international 48 Hour Film Project (48HFP) competition culminates with their “Best of Chicago” and Awards Ceremony. The 2019 films – created in 48 hours, then whittled down to the finalists – will be screened before the awards ceremonies beginning at 7:00pm, Wednesday, September 25th, at the historic Music Box theater. Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com was a judge for this year’s competition, and will present an award at the ceremony. For film line-ups and ticket information, click here.

CHICAGO – Moving from writing plays for the stage to writing for film may seem like a natural transition. But at the roots in each of these separate storytelling forms there are different ways of formulating the connection between dialogue and visuals. Alice Austen made this transition when she wrote – with director Kirill Mikhanovsky – the story and screenplay for “Give Me Liberty.”

CHICAGO – A film that made its world premiere in Chicago – at the 2018 Cinepocalypse Film Festival – is making its way into the national consciousness. “Empathy, Inc.,” directed by Yedidya “Jed” Gorsetman, has a theatrical run in the first half of September, (including Chicago) before the release with Video-On-Demand on 9/24.

CHICAGO – When the world broke open during the historic #MeToo entertainment industry scandal, the incidents were simply the tip of the gigantic iceberg. “This Changes Everything” goes deeper behind the subject of women in film, to expose a system in show business that has consistently lacked in opportunities for female filmmakers and production workers. The historic Wilmette (Illinois) Theatre will screen the documentary as part of a Women Filmmaker Celebration on September 13th, 2019 (7pm), with a panel discussion moderated by Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com. For more details and tickets, click here.