Venues and Admission

Unless otherwise indicated admission is $8 general, $7 Student and Seniors (with I.D.) $4 Members.

Film Group Membership: $25 per year, includes 4 free admissions and
discounted single admissions to CF Screenings for one full year.

All screenings are located at:

Programming Coordinator: Todd Lillethun
Programming Intern: Andrew Messer

Programmers: Todd Lillethun, Amir George, Karen Johannesen, Brenda Webb, Heather McAdams.

Web Hosting: BurntHost, LLC

Special Thanks to Patrick Friel

"There's no straight path to riches, particularly if you're a Utah used-car salesman helping two World War II veterans find treasure they've buried... and now lost. The failing eyesight of one keeps him from unearthing his cache in Austria. The other is a pack rat who may or may not have a map to hidden samurai swords and jewels in the Philippines. But Loot isn`t just about loot--it's also about the quest for deeper truths, and the excising of personal demons. It's a lyrical tale of fathers and sons, the fallibility of memory and, ultimately, about our own mortality, and a story about storytelling, about coincidence and chance. If it is a disquieting film for us--watching as characters deal with their ghosts--that not-unpleasant haunting feeling lingers long after the film ends." - True/False Film Festival 2009

Best Doc at LA Film Festival 2008, and Independent Spirit Award nominee.

Check out the trailer at www.lootmovie.com.

"There's no straight path to riches, particularly if you're a Utah used-car salesman helping two World War II veterans find treasure they've buried... and now lost. The failing eyesight of one keeps him from unearthing his cache in Austria. The other is a pack rat who may or may not have a map to hidden samurai swords and jewels in the Philippines. But Loot isn't just about loot — it's also about the quest for deeper truths, and the excising of personal demons. It's a lyrical tale of fathers and sons, the fallibility of memory and, ultimately, about our own mortality, and a story about storytelling, about coincidence and chance. If it is a disquieting film for us — watching as characters deal with their ghosts — that not-unpleasant haunting feeling lingers long after the film ends." - True/False Film Festival 2009

Best Doc at LA Film Festival 2008, and Independent Spirit Award nominee.

Check out the trailer at www.lootmovie.com.

The current health care crisis provides a lurid backdrop for this explosive new documentary by Rebecca Shanberg. Phoebe-Putney is the health care giant that dominates the medical landscape in Albany, Georgia. In 2003, when doctor John Bagnato and accountant Charles Rehberg realize that the hospital is overcharging indigent patients and pursuing aggressive collections tactics, they begin an investigation that uncovers lucrative for-profit business deals and offshore accounts -- and they find the same at many other hospitals across the country. After they blow the whistle they become targets for harassment and intimidation. The harrowing courtroom drama that follows will test the men's loyalty to their cause and need to protect their families. (2009, 55 min.)

A panel discussion with the filmmaker and patient rights advocates will follow the screening.

Music videos are a genre that everyone loves but no one wants to give any respect. Come check out where independent filmmakers have been taking it since the fall of MTV. This program will feature several new videos from indie rock, hip-hop, and rap artists that incorporate narrative, experimental, and documentary formats. The final line-up will be announced in early July.

Programmed by Amir George of The Film Culture

Heather McAdams began making experimental 16mm movies back in 1978 when she moved from her home state of Virginia to attend the Chicago Art Institute. Now with over 25 short films under her belt, she has decided to present a mini-retrospective of some of her own personal favorites in a two part series.

This program is part one of the movies she made from 1978 to 1995 and includes what has been referred to as her most ambitious film to date: MEET...BRADLEY HARRISON PICKLESIMER, an experimental documentary about a colorful Kentucky bar owner and drag queen. Also included are two collaborations made with musician husband Chris Ligon: CARTOON GIRL, a 16mm animated pilot commissioned by MTV, and THE LESTER FILM, a wacky portrait of a Chicago artist and cross dresser named Lester Brodzik.

Musician Chris Ligon will open the show with a fun 15-minute set of his unique and often hilarious original songs!

Films:
MEET... BRADLEY HARRISION PICKLESIMER (1987, 33 min.)
THE LESTER FILM (1993, 15 min.)
CARTOON GIRL (1995, 10 min.)
SCRATCHMAN II (1980, 4.5 min.)
THE SPACE CADETS (1979, 4 min.)
MR. GLENN W. TURNER (1990, 10 min.)

Four acclaimed filmmakers from four different backgrounds come together to explore the body. Rick Bahto works form visual scores he creates, influenced by his studies of traditional and avant-garde classical music. Angelina Krahn incorporates direct filmmaking techniques--scratching, sewing, and chemical alteration, much like sculpture. Karen Johannsen's intense paterns are informed by her training in painting and research of quantum mechanics. Stom Sogo uses found footage and documentary techniques as collage. Their films reflect their respective sensibilities, and the body as subject goes through many different forms. Hypnotic, ethereal, observational, ecstatic: their ideas clash and converge, and spin off into wild directions. Using silence, sound, color, super8, 16mm and video, the collection gains power from rhythmic variation, radiant textures and candid expression.

PROGRAM
Rick Bahto - THE BELLOUIN SEQUENCE (2008), VARIATIONS (2004), THE SOFT THINGS (1999);
Angelina Krahn - PINATA (2000), STIGMATA SAMPLER (2006);
Karen Johannesen - LIGHT QUANTA (2004), LIGHT SPEED (2007), DAYLIGHT AND THE SUN (2009);
Stom Sogo - TAKE THIS TABLET (2004), C FOR CIAS (2008), SYNC UP ELEMENTS 2 (2007).

Programmed by Karen Johannesen

IN SICKNESS AND HEALTH (2007, 56 min.) - a film by Pilar Prassas

In 2002, filmmaker Pilar Prassas began following seven couples in their effort to legalize same-sex marriage in the state of New Jersey. Two years into filming, however, plaintiff Marilyn Maneely, mother of five, was diagnosed with a terminal disease. On the day Marilyn passed away, her life partner of 14 years, Diane Marini, was not even allowed to sign her death certificate. With a tender touch, Prassas delicately balances tragedy and triumph in this film about the civil rights issue of our time.

Reel Affirmations - DC Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, Best Documentary


IN MY FATHER'S CHURCH (2004, 49 min.) - a film by Charissa King-O'Brien

Charissa is a lesbian who wants a church wedding, and her dad is the pastor of the town's United Methodist Church. While he has been quietly supportive of his daughter's lesbian relationship, he knows he would put his career at risk if he chose to officiate at her marriage ceremony. Though disappointed by her father's resistance to marry her, Charissa and her bride-to-be Kelly continue to make their wedding plans, and find support in surprising places. This emotionally charged story of one woman's attempt to reconcile her love, faith and family brings to life the deep conflicts that gay marriage has caused in many churches--and for many individuals trying to maintain their faith while preserving their own identities.

Official Selection: San Francisco International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival, Austin Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival, Long Island Gay & Lesbian Film Festival

Animation for adults. Victor Faccinto's animated psycho-erotic dramas use hand-painted paper puppets and background sets to explore in graphic detail a personal vision of God, Satan, Man and Woman. In FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, Graham is an adult child living with his mother and still obeying her strict sense of order until he starts to entertain unholy fantasies. A LETTER TO COLLEEN dives back into the animator's past to explain a memory from adolescence that might help define himself and his world. CHAINSAW uses 2-D animation and documentary techniques to chronicle a couple's romance with power tools and a rodeo.

The Video Vic Series by Victor Faccinto:
WHERE IS IT ALL GOING? WHERE DID IT ALL COME FROM? (1970, 7 min.)
THE SECRETE OF LIFE - (1971, 15 min.)
FILET OF SOUL - (1972, 16 min.)
SHAMELESS - (1974, 14 min.)

PLUS:
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD - Joe Tucker (2007, UK, 11 min.)
A LETTER TO COLLEEN - Andy London & Carolyn London (2008, US, 8.5 min.)
CHAINSAW - Dennis Tupicoff (2008, Aus, 25 min.)

Programmed by Brenda Webb

Kelly Parker's rich, clear-eyed documentary follows three women who are being relocated from a dangerous housing project slated for demolition in South Central Los Angeles to new affordable housing in mixed income neighborhoods. Though their new locations are safer and more hospitable, they come with their own unique challenges, and the adjustment is not easy. Latisha's fiance is killed in a drive-by shooting on the day before the move, and she must face becoming a mother without him. Tena works full-time, but the new bills pushes her closer to poverty. Tajuana's new landlord has decided that he suddenly wants her family out and thrusts her again into a state of housing limbo. Here are three portraits of women living on the edge, their vitality and struggle simply captured and realistically portrayed. Parker uses straightforward framing devices and a striking use of off-screen sound in order to let scenes develop in real time and with minimal editing. SOUTH MAIN is mesmerizing, honest, and hopeful. (2008, 77 min.)

Official Selection: Berlin International Film Festival, The Times BFI London Film Festival, Detroit Docs International Film Festival

Chicago-based cartoonist and independent filmmaker Heather McAdams presents part two of her retrospective which includes an experimental documentary on the late great Jay Elvis, as well as the premier of two newly preserved early works WE HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS FILM and IT'S EDDIE (whose preservations were made possible with a grant from the New York Women's Film Preservation Fund). COMES TO A POINT LIKE AN ICE CREAM CONE features rare circus sideshow footage optically printed and set to an original soundtrack composed by her husband Chris Ligon. Best known for her offbeat sense of humor, she used her cartooning skills to scratch into the emulsion of some found footage with a safety pin, transforming the once serious government film into a ridiculous one in her wacky animation SCRATCHMAN I. Heather will be present to field any questions from the audience.

Kicking off tonight's show will be a short set of music by one of Heather's favorite singer-songwriters in a rare appearance.... the Mysterious Matt Miller. Don't miss this one!

Films:
JAY ELVIS (1991, 25 min.)
COMES TO A POINT LIKE AN ICE CREAM CONE (1993, 22 min.)
IT'S EDDIE (1979, 13 min.)
WE HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS FILM (1979, 4.5 min.)
SCRATCHMAN I (1978, 4 min.)
JOE WAS NOT SO HAPPY (1990, 3 min.)
PRIVATE PARTY (1980, 6 min.)

It's that time again! Our popular Open Screenings feature whatever walks in the door - it could be anything: insane comedies, touching dramas, high-energy music videos, odd animation, hot topic documentaries, neighborhood portraits, or who knows what. Join us to showcase your work, or just come to watch. Maximum length per person is 20 minutes, and we will screen at least one work from everyone who brings something up to that time length. Accepted formats: 16mm, BetaSP, Mini-DV, DVD, and VHS. Nothing X-rated - sorry!

This program includes REFLECTIONS (2007/2009, 38 min.) by Hart Ginsburg and Dave Schmudde. Continuing to explore human truths in a vox populi format, Ginsburg trains his camera on Chicago citizens to ask "What is freedom?" The answer is always surprising. Like their previous films Aijo and The Year of the Rooster, narrative elements add suspense and a poignant dimension to the interviews featured on screen.

More films for this program will be announced.

Heather McAdams is proud to present an exciting evening of hilarious Tex Avery cartoons from her own private collection. Ranging from popular to rare, these are cartoons you've probably not seen in a long time, and with 16mm prints projected on the big screen, you've never seen them like this. The gang's all here: Droopy, Spike, Wolf, Dinosaur Dan, the Great Poochini, and more. During his time at MGM (1942 - 1955), Avery is known for creating some of the funniest cartoons ever made, even after he developed Porky Pig, Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny for Warner Brothers. We'll show 15 great ones that will make you smile, including MAGICAL MAESTRO (1952), LITTLE RURAL RIDING HOOD (1949), and HOUSE OF TOMORROW (1949). Don't miss this rare evening by the King of Cartoons!

Talented musician and Tex Avery fan Casey McDonough (from The Western Elstons and The Possum Holler Boys) will kick off the festivities with a short acoustic set of songs and jokes.