The Chicago Underground Film Festival Presents:
Love and Sex (Mostly Sex)

Come celebrate “love” with CUFF a week before V-day at SALONATHON.  Why not start early?

FREE!

Monday February 6, 2012
screening starts at 9pm
Beauty Bar (1444 W Chicago Ave).
Hosted bar from 8pm to 9pm!!
(with RSVP to: chicagorsvp@thebeautybar.com)

Drink Specials:$3 Drafts, $4 Well Drinks, & per usual $10 Martini + Manicures!

Films include:

The Color of Love by Peggy Ahwesh 9 min.
Ahwesh subjects an apparently found pornographic film to coloring, optical printing and general fragmentation; the source material threatens to virtually collapse under the beautiful violence of her filmic treatment. What emerges is a portrait at once nostalgic and horrible: the degraded image, locked in symbiotic relation with an image of degradation. (from Electronic Arts Intermix)

Removed by Naomi Uman 7 min.
Using as her source material a segment of 1970s European softcore pornography, Naomi Uman created this derived piece by painstakingly removing the female from each frame using bleach and nail polish remover, thus presenting the viewer with a bizarre, ghostly effect of a figure; a blank void of a woman.

I’d Rather Be Dead Than Live In This World by Andrew Semans 17 min.
A young couple struggle to maintain a private utopia in a vicious, unforgiving world.

Blue Movie by Mark Street 6 min.
A smattering of repeated performances culled from old porno films and hand painted. A man bends over a body, but what we really notice is the texture of the wall behind him. A woman stares back at the viewer with annoyance. On the soundtrack Anais Nin declares: “but while I’m doing this I feel I’m not living.”

Pacifier by Oscar Perez 12 min.
Based on a letter written to PENTHOUSE FORUM by the writer/director, when he was 13 years old. Not finding an address to mail the letter to, he put it away only to discover it again 15 years later. This hilarious campy short captures the quintessential fantasizing mind of a boy entering puberty

The Operation by Marne Lucas and Jacob Pander 12 min.
In a cold tile operating room, a surgeon clad in a protective Ty-Vek suit, goggles and tight rubber gloves demonstrates her skill before a group of observers. They scrutinize the eerie coupling between the surgeon and patient, whose bodies merge like molten lava. Thermal coitus draws the viewer into an erotic experience that probes beneath the boundary of skin.

Call for Entries

The 19th Chicago Underground Film Festival

The Chicago Underground Film Festival prefers paperless entries submitted online through Withoutabox:

Read the entry guidelines here.

Entry deadlines and fees:

Early Deadline: November 21, 2011 – Entry Fee: Features $35 (Students $20); Shorts $30 (Students $15)
Regular Deadline: January 15, 2012 – Entry Fee: Features $45 (Students $20); Shorts $35 (Student $15)
Late Deadline: March 1, 2012 – Entry Fee: Features $55  (Students $25); Shorts $40 (Student $20)

Use Withoutabox to limit the amount of paper wasted AND for a discount on fees!

Download a Call for Entries Flyer and the Guidelines below. Hang it up in your school, coffee shop, workplace, forward it in an email…whatever! Spread the word!

2012_CUFF_Call for entries_general

2012 CUFF Entry Guidelines

FREE!

Monday January 9, 2012
screening starts at 9pm

Hosted bar from 8pm to 9pm!!
(with RSVP to: chicagorsvp@thebeautybar.com)

Drink Specials:$3 Drafts, $4 Well Drinks, & per usual $10 Martini + Manicures!

Films include:

This Is My Show (Honorable Mention CUFF 2010)
Lori Felker 15 min. Chicago

“Only the best in high definition gardening television” (LF)

L’Internationale (Best Experimental Film CUFF 2010)
Marianna Milhorat 9 min. Chicago

“In a foreign landscape , futuristic factories and boreholes harvesting geothermal steam interact with natural forces. Recognizable objects raise questions regarding an insinuated narrative. A solitary figure posing with a gun suggests an unstable political environment; emptiness suggests extinction” (MM)

Magic For Beginners
Jesse Mclean 20 min. Chicago

“Magic for Beginners examines the mythologies found in fan culture, from longing to obsession to psychic connections. The need for such connections (whether real or imaginary) as well as the need for an emotional release that only fantasy can deliver are explored.” (JM)

Sincerity: The Character of Ronald Reagan (Best Documentary Short CUFF 2010)
Chris Royalty 6 min. New York

“SINCERITY draws upon White House Military Office footage from 1984 and 1985 surrounding Ronald Reagan’s re-election to the presidency, and examines issues of authenticity, privacy, and performance in the maintenance of public identity.” (CR)

Launderman
Scott Cummings 9 min. New York

“”Let’s just say this is gonna hurt.” (SC)

FREE!

Monday December 12th, 2011
screening starts at 9pm

Hosted bar from 8pm to 9pm!!
(with RSVP to: chicagorsvp@thebeautybar.com)

Drink Specials:$3 Drafts, $4 Well Drinks, & per usual $10 Martini + Manicures!

The Chicago Underground Film Festival returns to Beauty Bar with a special all music video program featuring films by Jennifer Reeder, Jim Sikora, JX Williams, Craig Smith, Jodie Mack, Emily Keuhn, Kenny Reed, Ben Popp, Usama Alshaibi and others and music from Nirvana, The Stooges, Can, Lightning Bolt, Oval, Psychic TV, Sonic Youth, Bobby Conn, Urge Overkill, Christina Aguilera and many more!

including videos guest curated by Amir George and the Seen & Heard video showcase

Plus some other special surprises!

Happy Holidays!
CUFF

Currently a Chicagoan, Lyra is an incredibly talented comic artist, filmmaker, designer, actress, etc. etc. etc.  She’s a true weirdo (in the best way possible) and a lover of all things under-the-ground.  We’re more than pleased to have her as the poster artist for our 19th festival.

You’ll be seeing bits and pieces of her design in the upcoming months as we move towards debuting the official poster.

With or without anaglyphic glasses, you’ll have to step back and brace your yourself because the artwork this year could literally crystallize your mind.

Check out her website for more information on and output from LYRA HILL.

CUFF Presents @ Salonathon

The Ones That Got Away Part II

Monday November 14th!

Beauty Bar, 1444 W. Chicago Ave

Screening starts at 9pm.

FACEBOOK EVENT

As always, there will be a HOSTED BAR from 8 to 9pm.

RSVP at chicagorsvp@thebeautybar.com with SALONATHON in the subject line and your name in the body of the email. (Must RSVP to that address by 5pm Monday in order to access the hosted bar.)

Alee Peoples, "One New Message"

 

 

The Chicago Underground Film Festival returns to  Salonathon with more of the Ones That Got Away. Every year we receive thousand of film and video submissions from around the world. Many more works than be included in our weeklong event. This means that even some pieces that we really like don’t end up in the final program. This month we’re pleased to share with you a few of the quality films we liked but for whatever reason didn’t end up in our final festival schedule.

FEATURING:

Tommy Heffron, "I Will Clap"

Monday October 31st!

Beauty Bar, 1444 W. Chicago Ave

Screening starts at 9pm…but there’s more!!

FACEBOOK EVENT

As always, there will be a HOSTED BAR from 8 to 9pm. RSVP at chicagorsvp@thebeautybar.com with SALONATHON in the subject line and your name in the body of the email. (Must RSVP to that address by 5pm Monday in order to access the hosted bar.)

The Chicago Underground Film Festival returns to frighten us with a slew of scary short films at 9pm.

FEATURING:

The Psychotic Odyssey of Richard Chase by Carey Burtt 6min.

The Chilling, Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House #1:
The Very Long Fuse by Steve Hall and Cathee Wilkins 4 min.

The Icy Depths of Out There  by Tommy Heffron 4.5 min.

The Virgin Sacrifice by JX Williams 10 min.

The Chilling, Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House #2:
The Birds by Steve Hall and Cathee Wilkins 5 min.

Slaughtered Pigtails  by Usama and Kristie Alshaibi 2.5 min.

Ghosts and Gravel Roads by Mike Rollo 16 min.

The Beast Within (Work-in-progress trailer)  by Ross Meckfessel 3 min.

The Chilling, Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House #3:
Your Pet Cat by Steve Hall and Cathee Wilkins 4 min.

Alone Without A Friend In The World  by Julia Zinn & Jerzy Rose 11min.

Then, queer electro fuck band DAAN will blast us with a macabre and amazing set.

Stick around afterward to dance and eat candy! Salonathon House DJs Swaguerilla and Zesty Blanco spin an eclectic dance party!

The Ones That Got Away, Part 1

at the SALONATHON at Beauty Bar (1444 W Chicago Ave)

FREE! (Facebook Event invitation)
Monday, September 12th, screening starts at 9pm
Hosted bar from 8pm to 9pm!!  (with RSVP to:  chicagorsvp@thebeautybar.com)
Drink Specials:
$3 Drafts, $4 Well Drinks, & per usual $10 Martini + Manicures!
For More Info: Beauty Bar

Every year the Chicago Underground Film Festival receives thousand of film and video submissions from around the world. Many more works than be included in our weeklong event. This means that even some pieces that we really like don’t end up in the final program. This month we’re pleased to share with you a few of the quality films we liked but for whatever reason didn’t end up in our final festival schedule.

The Natural
Ted Kennedy 4 minutes, ANN ARBOR
“Mans struggle with disasters of his own making, manifested in a burning minivan. “ (TK)

Red Rider’s Lament
Jeremy Bessoff 18 minutes, CHICAGO
“A tragicomic Western animation employing plastic cowboys and construction paper sets to explore the enactment of masculinity in the Old West.” (JB)

Sedimenting
Emilie Crewe 12 min, CHICAGO…VANCOUVER
“[] carries the home around as an extension of the body, creating a temporal habitat that serves a specific function. Collecting grapefruit skins and tiny pebbles, [] systematically arranges objects in the fashion that a bowerbird prepares a nest. Each object is important.” (EC)

River, Come Back
Nina Barnett 6 min, CHICAGO
“Inspired by the Chicago River’s famous current reversal in 1887 and the state of rivers in cities throughout the world, this animation serves as a psycho-geographical text, and an earnest request to a river to change it’s course. There is a pervading sense of longing and urgency in the narrative, and an admission of process in moments when the drawn meets the real, when image becomes live action.” (NB)

I Give You Life
Latham Owen Zearfoss 12 minutes, CHICAGO
“A short experimental video that tries to re-insert the missing words from Dennis Shepard’s courtroom speech back into the re-enactment of that same speech from the HBO film, ‘The Laramie Project.’ ‘” (LZ)

Good Housekeeping
Emily Oscarson 18 minutes, CHICAGO
“In her apartment, a woman obsessively cleans in an effort to live up to the standards of the housekeeping magazines she admires. An homage to Chantal Akerman, Good Housekeeping employs long takes as a strategy to observe how her admiration becomes a fetish.” (EO)

at the SALONATHON at Beauty Bar (1444 W Chicago Ave)

FREE! (Facebook Event invitation)
Monday, August 8, screening starts at 9pm
Hosted bar from 8pm to 9pm!!  (with RSVP to:  chicagorsvp@thebeautybar.c​om)

Come watch Fantastical, Funny, Friendly, Freakish Films from the 2011 Festival!
Local Filmmakers! the rock and the roll, animation, humor, drama and a chromographic 3D movie!

Drink Specials:
$3 Drafts, $4 Well Drinks, & per usual $10 Martini + Manicures!

For More Info:
http://thebeautybar.com/ch​icago/calendar/calendar.ph​p?mode=view&id=976

Come celebrate another great year with the Chicago Underground!

The 70 minute program:

(not necessarily showing in this order)

Peripetei’em
Andrew Mauset-Mooney
3 min., 16mm on Video, 2009, CHICAGO
A sudden reversal of circumstances. (AMM)

Lázslo Lassú
Ben Popp, 3 min., Animation, 2010, PORTLAND
This music film for the band A Hawk and A Hacksaw recites the story about a couple torn apart by the recesses of space. Music however can transcend all obstacles and through it the two lovers are re-united in their hearts. (BP)

Uncontrollable Joy for Life
Kari Corbett and Crispin Rosenkranz,
7 min., Video, 2010, CHICAGO
Slices of identity, authenticity, complicity, manipulation, documentary and truth make one weird video pie. “…If you gave an alien, a camera and a text book on how to make a video, this is what you’d get. We couldn’t decide if it was genius or madness.” – the director of the Glasgow Film Festival. (KC & CUFF)

Unicornhole
Lucas Dimick and Dax Norman
5 min., Animation , 2011, AUSTIN
What started out as an homage to 1970’s b-movies turns into a Public Service Announcement, when a car race takes a turn toward the unexpected. (LD)

Spaceboy
Mike Olenick
7 min.,Video, 2009, COLUMBUS
While traveling through the cosmos, Spaceboy encounters the mysteriousand sexy Velana, who only has one thing on her mind. Will Spaceboy survive Velana’s tempting gaze or will he die of love in a cruel embrace? Featuring a cybernetic score by Jeremy Boyle. (MO)

Mercurial Madness
Kerry Lataila
7 min.,Chromographic 3D Video, 2010, SAN FRANCISCO
Light/Color Taffy bends and pulls in a vortex of sinuous delight; forms in space mutate and spin their way into the retinas of the viewers. (KL)  We’ll provide special glasses!

The Blockbuster Tapes
Daniel Martinico
6 min.,Video, 2009, LOS ANGELES
THE BLOCKBUSTER TAPES documents a three-year endeavor in which VHS tapes were rented, subtly modified, and returned to the store. (DM)

The Forest
Steven Summers
16 min., Video, 2010, CHICAGO
A mystical exploration on the tension within the male psyche involving lust, fear, temptation, and shame. The story follows two parallel characters, a young boy discovering the world around him and a deer hunter secluded alone in the forest. Each struggles with the recognition of who they truly are and how to face this reality. (SS)

Beads
Andrew Rosinski
8 min., 35mm on Video, 2010, CHICAGO
Look to Nature
Find Divine Beads
String and set in motion
The Earth plants seeds (AR)

Moby Dick
Tony Balko
8 min., Video, 2010, MILWAUKEE
Revisiting the footage of John Bonham’s classic performance and twisting a solo into a duet, Moby Dick brings together sincere fandom with a futile attempt to collaborate. (TB)

Come out Monday nights for our latest showcase as artists of all types descend upon Beauty Bar to bring to life works that defy traditional genres. SALONATHON strives to support the creation of new, emerging and underground art in Chicago and beyond.

Thanks to Ivan Lozano and Marianna Milhorat for spicing up the 2011 fest with their short form movie magic.

THE 2011 TRAILERS