Dated: 25 Aug 2007
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Hey, I know what you’re thinking, It’s been almost a week, when are they going to post the winners from the 2007 Chicago Underground Film Festival? Sorry for the delay but we’ve been catching up on sleep and
generally recovering. Here they are…
Best Animated Film: Phantom Canyon directed by Stacy Steers
Best Music Video: Vile House (Lightning Bolt) directed by Harvey Benschoter
Best Experimental Film: Black And White Trypps Number 3 directed by Ben Russell
Best Documentary Short: Invisible City directed by Jack Cronin
Best Documentary Feature: Milk In The Land directed by Ariana Gerstein
and Monteith McCollum
Best Short Film: I’m Keith Hernandez By Rob Perri
Best Narrative Feature: Blood Car directed by Alex Orr
Made In Chicago Award: Alla Te Alcanzo (I’ll See You There) directed
by Luis Sanchez Ramirez
Big Thanks to this year’s festival jury: Amy Beste, Andy Uhrich and Josh Mabe
And very special thanks to: the Chopin Theater and Elegant Mr. Gallery for hosting this year’s festival, our sponsors: Odd Obsession Video, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Time Out Chicago, The Onion, WLUW and IFP Chicago. All of the volunteers who worked so hard to make the festival happen
and finally to all of the filmmakers who were part of the festival.
See you in 2008!!
Dated: 20 Aug 2007
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For our final film of the festival Jim Finns faux documentary LA TRINCHERA LUMINOSA DEL PRESIDENTE GONZALO was screened. We like to thank Jim for attending the screening and answering filmgoers questions on his wonderful film.
Dated: 20 Aug 2007
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We had a great turn out for our second to last set of feature films for the festival Blood Car and Disarm. Both Jack Hammond of Disarm and Alex Orr of Blood Car where on hand for the screening and answered audience questions. Both movies were very appreciated by the audience and we hope to see both directors again in future festivals.
See the rest of the pictures here.
Dated: 18 Aug 2007
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Chicago underground icon and poet Thax Douglas documentary screened last night at the ChopinTheater for the festival. Thax was in attendance and was kind enough to answer questions from the festival audience. Later on that night the festival moved to the afterparty at the Hideout Lounge were festival attendees were treated to the sounds of the Midwest Hackers.
View the rest of the pictures here.
The festival continues until sunday night.
Dated: 16 Aug 2007
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Timeout chicago has an article up about this years festival.
Buried treasures
The Underground Film Fest brings its eclectic lineup to Wicker Park.For Hollywood movies, August lives up to the nickname “dog days of summer.” Luckily, it’s also the month for the film festival that celebrates the charming stray mutts. The Chicago Underground Film Festival, in its 14th year, opened August 15 and continues through Sunday 19. This year, the fest is transplanting itself from the art-house confines of the Music Box to the Chopin Theater and the Elegant Mr. Gallery in Wicker Park, giving the quickly gentrifying neighborhood a shot of boho credibility.
Festival director and cofounder Bryan Wendorf says it’s a move that makes sense, especially since it’s already “a destination neighborhood for our core audience.” It also allows for some necessary downsizing: The 750-seat Music Box is hard for any festival to fill, let alone one that champions filmmaking at the margins. A shift to smaller venues, in closer proximity to the party locations, and a reduction in the number of programs also allow for a more manageable fest for Wendorf and the all-volunteer staff.
Read the rest of it at Timeout Chicago.
Dated: 16 Aug 2007
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Thanks to everybody for making it a successful opening night for the 2007 Film Festival. We had a sold out crowd for the first screening and a pretty decent audience for the second one. Orchard Vale was a great opening movie this year and so thanks also go to Tim Kinsella for his wonderful film.
See the rest of the pictures here and more to come.
Dated: 15 Aug 2007
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The Chicagoist blog has a nice little story about this years festival.
August 13, 2007
Chicago Underground Film Festival: 14 Years of Being DifferentWould Hollywood make a movie about a swingin’ 70’s housewife, complete with musical numbers? Or a documentary about New York City’s Union Square in the days immediately following 9/11? Would Hollywood make a movie about Thax?
These are rhetorical questions; we’re not saying that Hollywood is all bad, we’re just saying that there are all kinds of movies out there. And dozens of the kind that you’d never see coming from Tinseltown will be on display at this year’s Chicago Underground Film Festival, which runs Wednesday through Sunday at the Chopin Theatre and Elegant Mr. Gallery in Wicker Park.
Read the rest at the Chicagoist.
Dated: 12 Aug 2007
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Tim Kinsella director of our opening movie “Orchard Vale” was recently interviewed on the Movie City Indie website.
August 11, 2007
Engineering this fiasco: the making of Orchard ValeTIM KINSELLA AND I MET IN 1997 AND HAVE BEEN EXCHANGING PREOCCUPATIONS EVER SINCE.
Ever prolific, Kinsella, who began his public life as a musician at the age of 16 in the band Cap’n Jazz, has recorded dozens of albums since, and with the meltdown of the music industry, has shifted to filmmaking as another artistic outlet, itself a troubled medium for anyone wanting to make a career today. [Kinsella’s diverse collaborations have appeared under such names as Joan of Arc and Make Believe.] His writing-directing debut, Orchard Vale, a claustrophobic experimental feature about a band of outsiders after an cyan couch 2.jpgoff-screen collapse of civilization, opens the 14th Chicago Underground Film Festival on August 15, just a few weeks after his decision to leave the band Make Believe.
Read the rest of the interview here.
Dated: 10 Aug 2007
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Underground films get their due
LOCAL CINEMA | CUFF promises to startle, upset and mesmerize fans for five days
August 10, 2007
BY BILL STAMETS
The Chicago Underground Film Festival is the city’s most eclectic yet best curated fest. Director and co-founder Bryan Wendorff has a knack for uncovering work that startles, upsets and spellbinds.
For the 14th annual run, Wendorff offers 19 features and 91 shorts in the five-day fest that kicks off at 8 p.m. Wednesday with the post-apocalyptic drama “Orchard Vale” at the Chopin Theatre.
Read the rest of the story here.
Dated: 10 Aug 2007
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Due to demand we’ve added a second screening of Orchard Vale on Wednesday August 15th Tickets for the added 10pm screening are available now. A few tickets are still available for the 8:00
screening but they are going fast.
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/18081
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