Opening Night: Star Power at the Chicago International Film Festival

CHICAGO – The big hitters were out on the red carpet, kicking off the 45th Chicago International Film Festival. Opening with Uma Thurman’s “Motherhood,” prominent artists, politicians and Uma herself graced the proceedings.

HollywoodChicago was there, both with the master lensing of photographer Joe Arce and a number of exclusive interviews with the red carpet attendees.

Uma Thurman, star of “Motherhood”

Ms. Thurman, a prominent film star ever since her unforgettable debut in “Dangerous Liasons” in 1988, and in 2003-4 stunned audiences with her audacious role as Beatrix Kiddo in Quentin Tarantino’s “Kill Bill” series.

Uma Thurman at the Chicago International Film Festival, Opening Night, October 8, 2009. Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

HollywoodChicago.com: What did you recognize in yourself as a working mother when you were making the film ‘Motherhood?’

Uma Thurman: I fell in love with the script because I identified with the script so much. I thought it was an honest and smart rendering of a real situation, incredibly funny and touching in a transporting way. The script was brilliant.

Jacqueline Bisset, International Star and Film Festival Jury Head

As a person who has co-starred with some of the legends of the screen, from Frank Sinatra (”The Detective”) to Steve McQueen (”Bullitt”) to Rob Lowe (”Class”), Ms Bisset is exciting on her own, working the red carpet with her trademark beauty and charm.

Jacqueline Bisset at the Chicago International Film Festival, Opening Night, October 8, 2009. Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

HollywoodChicago: You have a Chicago connection with the film, “Class.” What do your remember about that shoot?

Jacqueline Bisset: I remember the elevator (laughs) and the director writing it right before we did it. And I went ‘Oh my God, this is really funny and sexy.’ Andrew McCarthy was so young and I thought how was it going to work?

It’s funny how films evolve. That film wasn’t really a comedy. It was a comedy with a sad, poignant aspect in my character. But when they cut it together it became more of a comedy and less about the poignancy of my character.

HC: What do you remember about Francois Truffaut’s classic “Day for Night”?

JB: Well, it’s a film about making movies, and his love of film is very clear. He said to me, at one point before it came out, that he thought the film would succeed because all the people who are in the industry know how it is and those who aren’t will want to be, so it will be an ‘in’ thing.

Paula Wagner, Producer, Power Broker and Film Festival Jury Member

If the name Paula Wagner is not familiar in celebrity circles, it certainly is in the film industry. After beginning her career as an agent, she went on to pair with Tom Cruise on several productions (including the “Mission Impossible” series) and at a time helped run United Artists, the famous film studio.

Paula Wagner at the Chicago International Film Festival, Opening Night, October 8, 2009. Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

HollywoodChicago.com: As the head of a studio for awhile, how do you relate to those old classic moguls, such as the founders of United Artists?

Paula Wagner: I love it. I this it’s so exciting. I’m enamored with Hollywood history. I’m a romantic at heart and I think there is something storybook-like about those artists who came together and formed studios.

We’re so sophisticated now, or think we are. I think, though, the past informs the present and the future, so I look toward the past. And in art, film and music currently, you can see a real homage to the past happening. It’s a reinvention.

HC: What specifically did you love about the old studio systems of Old Hollywood?

PW: I just love the concept that the studios developed talent and nurtured artists. I love the idea of the old “film factory.”

Richard M. Daley, Mayor of the City of Chicago

The Mayor of the City of Chicago since 1989, Richard M. Daley follows in his the famous mayoral footsteps of his father, Richard J. Daley (serving from 1955-1976). He just had famously came back from Copenhagen, where Chicago’s bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics was rejected.

Mayor Richard M. Daley at the Chicago International Film Festival, Opening Night, October 8, 2009. Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

HollywoodChicago.com: What was your father’s objection to filmmaking in Chicago during his time?

Mayor Richard M. Daley: Oh no, he allowed a lot of films to come to Chicago.

HC: I heard he didn’t like filmmakers

RD: Oh no. Not true.

HC: What film do you like that shows Chicago the best?

RD: You take all of them over the years, even the ones that sometimes you don’t want to see, but all of them are the heart of Chicago.

By PATRICK McDONALD Senior Staff Writer HollywoodChicago.com pat@hollywoodchicago.com