IFP Chicago Goes Underground

by Matt Dentler
For the first time in either organization’s history, IFP Chicago and the Chicago Underground Film Festival joined forces in a new alliance to merge the decidedly disparate qualities of both.

The Chicago Underground Film Festival has spent 15 years earning a viable reputation as a mecca for avant-garde and anti-establishment feature filmmaking, as well as a Midwest platform for the year’s festival circuit hits. The 2008 program (held over Halloween weekend) was a mix of innovative experimental works by local filmmakers, and familiar crowd-pleasers from other American fests. Chicago-based artists like Jim Finn presented his latest, “The Juche Idea,” (pictured above) while the prolific James Fotopoulos premiered “Sleep Weep” (The Zookeeper).

These homegrown experimental talents were joined with new work from other acclaimed “underground” filmmakers like Kevin Jerome Everson (“The Golden Age of Fish“) and Jennifer Reeder (“Accidents at Home and How They Happen“). All screenings were held at the Viaduct Theatre near Lincoln Park, which allowed for an appropriately low-key and art-minded atmosphere.

However, programmer Bryan Wendorf did pepper the lineup with a few more conventional selections, such as James Westby’s porn mockumentary “The Auteur,” Chusy-Haney Jardine’s Sundance award-winner “Anywhere, USA” (the Opening Night Film), and Josh Koury’s Harry Potter fan documentary “We Are Wizards.”

As part of the IFP Chicago’s new involvement in the festival, the organization’s annual Midwest Filmmakers Summit ran concurrently with the screenings. Panelists spoke about various topics reflecting the sensibilities of the artist in attendance. Programmers from the like-minded Ann Arbor and Boston Underground Film Festivals shared advice on submitting innovative work to regional events, while installation experts shared war stories about non-traditional theatrical screenings in a panel called “Gallery and Art Film Exhibition.”

The vibrant local film community filled the seats, but many noted that attendance for the panels had been lower than in years past, when the Filmmakers Summit was a standalone attraction. Perhaps the “anti-establishment” and the “establishment” are a harder match to make.

It was apparent that the alliance of IFP Chicago and the Chicago Underground Film Festival may need a little time to grow into the ideal fit that it has the potential to become. It’s uncertain if the event’s slot — only days in between the Chicago International Film Festival and the Chicago Lesbian & Gay International Film Festival — hurts or helps the ambitious endeavor. One thing’s for sure: joining forces with IFP Chicago has allowed the Chicago Underground Film Festival to become a film destination unlike any other the Windy City has to offer.

http://www.variety.com

]]> http://www.ifpchicago.org/ifp-goes-underground/feed/ 0 http://www.ifpchicago.org/kodak-and-ifp-chicago/ http://www.ifpchicago.org/kodak-and-ifp-chicago/#comments Mon, 26 Jan 2009 18:29:46 +0000 srabiola http://www.ifpchicago.org/?p=412 A PAIR OF KINGS: Kodak and IFP/Chicago Team Up

By Dixon Galvez-Seale – SCREENMAG.COM WEB EXCLUSIVE

On December 14, Kodak and IFP/Chicago paired up to present a screening of Peter Reigert’s debut feature “King of the Corner,” an independent film shot on 16mm, using Kodak’s new Vision2 stocks, and blown up to 35mm for projection. Before the screening, Kodak showed a pair of demo reels for their new 5205 250D film stock. The first, was shot on 35mm by Allen Daviau, ASC and featured his commentary along with exposure and stock comparisons. The second, was shot on 16mm in Scotland and featured commentary by cinematographer Bella Halben and director Liam Hall.

“King of the Corner” was shot roughly a year ago on the East Coast, over the course of 20 days. The story concerns a middle-aged advertising professional (played by Reigert), who has to cope with his father’s death, a younger co-worker and his daughter’s boyfriend, among other crises. It’s based on “Bad Jews and Other Stories,” a collection of short stories by University of Nebraska – Lincoln professor Gerald Shapiro. The budget was $400,000, with another $150,000 required to get it to print. “Kodak wants to show people that, for not much more, you can shoot film instead of tape, which was my preference,” said Reigert in a post-screening Q & A.

In addition to their new stocks, Kodak is also featuring the Look Manager, a software-based system that allows cinematographers to more accurately communicate the look of a project that originates on film. According to Kodak’s Peter Postma, Look Manager underwent extensive real-world testing before it was released. He says the DPs who checked it out “all saw the need for it, especially as things are drifting towards digital dailies and digital intermediaries.” Postma says speed is another benefit of the Look Manager, citing a beta test shot by Steven Poster, ASC, and a set of images that were sent to the colorist as a guide. “Without the DP and the colorist even being in the same room together, they were able to do the first pass,” says Postma. Look Manager debuted at NAB 2004 and is available now.

www.kodak.com

www.screenmag.com

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