Director

CHICAGO – A filmmaker’s feature debut is a special moment, made more special when the debut takes place in the filmmaker’s Chicagoland roots. Ms. Alex Heller screens “The Year Between” at the 58th Chicago International Film Festival (CIFF) on October 14th (8:30p) and 16th, 2022.

CHICAGO – A sure hand behind the camera and a dynamic performance from Florence Pugh help “Don’t Worry Darling” pull off an extremely difficult balancing act. This isn’t a perfect movie by any stretch of the imagination, but it inspires the kind of impressions and ideas that you will still be talking about a week later.

CHICAGO – It’s been three years, there is definitely a need to get together and destroy something. So in the spirit of this urge, power couple filmmaker Jack C. Newell and Rebecca Fons of the Gene Siskel Film Center, will conduct their 4th “Destroy Your Art” event, back from its last incarnation in 2019. The idea is a filmmaker creates a film, shows it once to the audience, and then destroys it forever. This will take place this year at the historic Music Box Theatre on August 25th, 2022. For more information, including tickets, click here.

CHICAGO – Police reform and procedural alternatives in the U.S. continue to be in a hurricane of evolution. Despite the attention that the George Floyd incident brought to the perception, the law enforcement culture continues to resist. Stefan Forbes goes back to the past (1973), to inform them (and us) that change can work with his new documentary “Hold Your Fire.”

CHICAGO – The 9th Chicago Critics Film Festival (CCFF) is on DAY THREE, and will feature “Hold Your Fire,” a tense documentary recounting a police incident in 1973 New York City, directed by Stefan Forbes. The Fest continues through May 19th, click CCFF for schedule and ticket info.

CHICAGO – Mental health and sports have been in the spotlight the last couple of years. The high profile breakdowns of tennis star Naomi Osaka and Olympian Simone Biles, as well as the confessions of swimmer Michael Phelps, has drawn scrutiny towards sports and mindful stress. Director Darryl Roberts explores this in his new doc, “I’m Fine, (Not) Really.”

CHICAGO – Let’s kick off the film year by getting together! Using the safest protocols for gatherings, the Midwest Film Festival presents the Best of Midwest Awards on February 1st, 2022, and it will be an in-person event for the first time in three years. To get tickets, click BEST OF THE MIDWEST.

CHICAGO – Although this former Chicago-based actor has moved on to Los Angeles, she continues as a filmmaker with her excellent second short, “Pick Up.” Clare Cooney wrote, directed and is featured in this poignant journey, as two ex-lovers figure out their current status in the midst of the world pandemic.

CHICAGO – In this new golden age of animation, the ability to create mood and setting is more accessible than ever. For creator and writer Ron Falzone (with director Julian Grant), a notable death in the 1920s and the movie business associated with it is in their film “Coriander and a Penny’s Worth of Lonesome.”

CHICAGO – Predicting the Oscars is like going on a blind date. You really don’t know what’s going to happen, and often you’re humiliated to boot. But here goes Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com, along with one million other online prognosticators. The 93rd Academy Awards are Sunday, April 25th, 2021, in Hollywood.