Some Girls Never Learn (2011, Jerzy Rose, USA, 80 min.)

World Premiere of Chicagoan Jerzy Rose’s first feature.  SAIC alum Jerzy Rose and his Chicago based cast and crew will be present for post-film Q&A

With:  Monica Panzarino Sings the Star-Spangled Banner (2011, Monica Panzarino, USA, 3 min.)

Opening Night After-party with DJ Rad Brian

Bottom Lounge, Volcano Room, 10pm-2am

Program of Challenging, Provocative and Entertaining Features, Docs and Shorts

Gene Siskel Film Center, June 2 – June 9 2011

The 18th annual Chicago Underground Film Festival (CUFF), presented by IFP/Chicago, heats up the summer film festival circuit with a provocative and entertaining slate of features, documentaries and short films that redefine the term “underground” and what it means for a culture in flux.  All screenings take place at the Gene Siskel Film Center of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 164 N State Street, June 2 – June 9.

Full Schedule: CUFF

Online Tickets:  Gene Siskel Film Center

LOCATION:  The Nightingale, 1084 North Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, IL 60642

DATE:  Wednesday, May 18th

TIME:  7PM

PRICE:  $10 non-members, $5 members

The IFP is pleased to launch a new salon/discussion series for media makers in the Chicagoland and Midwestern region: MEET YOUR DIGITAL PARTNERS.  The goal is to bring together people from a broad array of fields related to media making, to exchange ideas and talk about developing visual and aural stories in a variety of cross-platform arenas.

 With the convergence of technology, there is a lot of talk of making work that can be relevant across a multitude of platforms.  Yet media makers may not know where to meet potential collaborators outside their usual circle.  Stay relevant and make new connections by attending this open forum, whether you’re a game developer, filmmaker, social media producer, advertiser, audio artist, or cross-platform media maker. 

Round #1 of this experiment features the following media artists:

Ian Pottmeyer graduated college prepared to be an opera singer. From there he became a composer, then a composer of video game soundtracks.  Now he creates the games themselves at Studio Cypher, a game design studio based in Bloomington, Indiana.  As part of the three-man team, he takes on numerous design roles, from game to graphic to web to audio.  Ian’s games are often marked by his desire to help players be as personally creative as possible. On May 18th, he’ll be giving a crash course in game design to help ensure that everyone who comes across your experience feels like they can participate and have fun.

Ben Groenevelt makes fast, robust websites for non-profits, artists, musicians as well as small businesses and larger corporations.  His tool of choice is Drupal, an open-source content management systems (CMS) used to build sites like the whitehouse.gov and grammy.com.  He also, along with other open source devotees, spends his time giving back to Drupal’s open source community.  He will be presenting, “What is this Drupal Thing?” giving a brief overview of what Drupal is and some of the powerful tools it provides to build dynamic, content rich web sites.

Cole Pierce is a Chicago based artist who makes paintings, video installations and audio multiples.  He earned his MFA in Art Theory & Practice from Northwestern in 2007 and has exhibited work at Antenna Gallery, Old Gold, Vega Estates, and is curating a group show at the Milwaukee Avenue Art Festival for the third consecutive year.  He co-authors Field Mic, a sound art and music blog, and contributes music mixes to Headphone Commute’s podcast series. He is currently a videographer and educator at the Chicago Teachers’ Center of NEIU.

Jon Satrom is a new-media artist, educator, designer, and organizer.  He performs realtime audio and video, celebrates obsolescence, and cultivates glitches.  Satrom operates a production company called studiothread http://studiothread.com and teaches in the Department of Film Video New Media Animation at the School of the Art Institute. He will discuss “Strategies for Shattering Through Glowing Rectangles.”  Riffing on Gene Youngblood’s Expanded Cinema (1970), Satrom will discuss new-media art’s potential to sculpt stories, transcend technologies, and remix our relationship(s) with cinema. 

Able Parris is a designer, art director, and illustrator. He learned graphic design at the Rhode Island School of Design before opening his own niche design studio in Providence, RI.  His collage art has shown nationally, and has been published internationally.  He co-authors Field Mic, a sound art and music blog, and contributes to We Love Typography, the beloved typography site that’s like an FFFFound for type-related content.  Currently, he spends his days at McKinney in Durham, NC practicing design and art direction in the context of advertising.

Two full days of film, music, creative displays, art gallery and photo exhibits.

Mofest is the annual film, media and arts festival that celebrates the local film, post, print and media production and creative communities.

For more details, visit mofest.com or email mo@mofest.com

For those of you who missed the official IFP/Chicago screening in late 2009, ROOFTOP WARS will have it’s hometown film festival premiere at the 27TH CHICAGO LATINO FILM FESTIVAL on APRIL 8TH and 9TH.

Rooftop Wars has been featured in over a dozen film festivals worldwide with a big win last month for BEST SHORT FILM at the 33RD CINEFESTIVAL in SAN ANTONIO!

What: Screening of ROOFTOP WARS at the 27TH CHICAGO LATINO FILM FESTIVAL

When/Where: Screening 1: April 8th, 4:30 PM, Landmark Theatres (2828 N. Clark);  Screening 2: April 9th, 1:45 PM, Instituto Cervantes (31 W. Ohio)

More Info:www.chicagolatinofilmfestival.org

View Rooftop Wars Trailer

IFP PRODUCERS SERIES: SHOOT YOUR MOVIE, ENGAGE YOUR AUDIENCE 

Saturday, March 19th

$25 members/$30 non-members for the full day of events. 

Pre-registration is required. 

To register email Christy @ chicago@ifp.org.  

Deadline to register is Friday, March 18th at Noon. 

Schedule:

10AM – 1PM 5D/7D Camera Workshop

LOCATION: ProGear Rental (1740 W. Carroll Ave, just south of Grand and west of Ashland. Plenty of free parking.) 

Join us for a Canon 5D, 7D and D60 Workshop including an overview with Canon’s Ed Meyers, a hands-on demo and discussions about data management, rigging, lighting, lenses, audio and renting a full production package. This workshop will tell you everything you need to know to shoot your movie or just become bettter informed about these cameras and gear. Also, please bring a CompactFlash card so you have an opportunity to test the cameras out and review your results at home. Lunch will be provided. 

Sponsored by Canon, Fletcher Chicago, ProGear Rental, Barbizon Lighting and IFP Chicago. 

2PM – 4:30PM PUSHING THE ELEPHANT Screening

LOCATION: Chicago Cultural Center (78 E Washington St., at Washington & Michigan Ave.)

ITVS Community Cinema and IFP Chicago are proud to present Arts Engine’s internationally acclaimed documentary, PUSHING THE ELEPHANT, about Rose Mapendo, a Congolese woman who lost her family to violence and became an international advocate of forgiveness and reconciliation. We are also delighted to host Arts Engine’s Director of Production and Director of PUSHING THE ELEPHANT, Beth Davenport, who will participate in a discussion after the screening. Arts Engine is a New York based social-issue documentary production company, an online community of filmmakers and activists through Mediarights.org, and creators of the film festival Media That Matters. If you want to know how to engage your audience from the day you begin shooting, Arts Engine is an organization that can help guide your way. 

5PM – 7PM Post-Screening Meet and Greet

LOCATION: Elephant & Castle (185 N. Wabash)

Join us for a post-screening meet up at Elephant & Castle, where you will have an opportunity to talk to people from Arts Engine, ITVS Community Cinema, IFP Chicago and filmmakers from PUSHING THE ELEPHANT as well as other participants from the day.

Sponsored by ITVS, Arts Engine and IFP/Chicago.

Save the date for more IFP Producers Series Events!

APRIL 20th and MAY 18th: Meet Your Digital Partners

The 18th Annual Chicago Underground Film Festival Call for Submissions is open. CUFF 2011 will take place June 2-9, 2011 at The Gene Siskel Film Center. To find out more visit cuff.org

Chicago premiere!
LOVERS OF HATE
2010, Bryan Poyser, USA, 93 min.
With Chris Doubek, Alex Karpovsky

“Witty…a riveting sense of spontaneity.”—Rob Nelson, Variety

“A thrillingly emotional roller coaster ride–a cinematic achievement that few directors and actors have pulled off as successfully.”—Don Simpson, Smells Like Screen Spirit

“Do unto brothers…” might be the perverse motto of this quasi-comic thriller of a sibling rivalry taken to the height of absurdity. Rudy (Doubek), a would-be writer and perennial loser soon to be divorced from Diana (Heather Kafka), harbors a snarling resentment of younger brother Paul, the acclaimed and wildly successful author of a Harry Potter-like series of kids’ books. With Rudy out of the picture, Paul and Diana succumb to a long-simmering attraction, and Paul whisks her off to his palatial winter retreat in trendy Park City. Bringing up the rear in his beater car is a vengeful Rudy, turned stalker, home invader, and diabolical trickster. Let the games begin. HDCAM video. (BS)

Visit the Gene Siskel Film Center website to watch the trailer, get showtimes, and purchase tickets!!

First Tuesdays with The Midwest Independent Film Festival continue on Tuesday, August 3rd at Landmark’s Century Centre Cinema, 2828 North Clark beginning at 6 p.m. A post-screening reception will be held immediately following the film at Forno Diablo, 433 West Diversey. The Midwest Independent Film Festival is the nation’s only film festival solely dedicated to the Midwest filmmaker, presenting audiences with regionally produced independent cinema every first Tuesday of the month at Landmark’s Century Centre Cinema, 2828 North Clark in Chicago. This year-round film festival sits proudly at the center of the independent film scene in Chicago and the Midwest and is dedicated to celebrating and strengthening that community. More information can be found on the Festival website: www.MidwestFilm.org.