Movie News: Preview Night For 2010 Chicago International Film Festival

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CHICAGO – The 2010 Chicago International Film Festival kicked off it’s 46th year with a preview party last night at the Lucky Strike Lounge, next to the location where all the films will be shown, AMC River East 21 on Illinois Street. Founder and Artistic Director Michael Kutza introduced staff members who highlighted the various cinema categories offered by the festival, and then presented a roster of notable films to be shown.

Also premiering was the highly anticipated annual trailer of the Chicago International Film Festival, again narrated by the legendary vocal artist Ken Nordine. As the cinema landscape has changed, so has the trailers throughout the years and this one has a visual acuity and excitement that speaks to the modern filmgoer.

Founder/Artistic Director Michael Kutza at the Preview of the Chicago International Film Festival, September 21st, 2010 Photo credit: Patrick McDonald for HollywoodChicago.com

Highlights of special events include Opening Night, with the film “Stone,” featuring appearances by star Edward Norton and Director John Curran. The Black Perspectives Tribute on October 9th honors Forrest Whitaker. Danny Boyle will introduce the Centerpiece film “127 Hours” on October 13th. And Director Guillermo Del Toro will be feted at the Cinema of the Americas Tribute on October 15th.

After remarks by Jeanne Randall Malkin, Chair person of the festival, and a welcome by Michael Kutza, the representatives of the committees that pick the film selections, including shorts, documentaries and features, presented their personal highlights.

For example, Joel Hoglund of the Documentaries Committee, thinks that “Problema” from Germany is notable. “It’s a tough pitch, and it’s hard to describe because there is no precedent for it,” he said. “This organization, a joint venture of Germany and the U.S. called ‘Dropping Knowledge’ put together this massive event a couple years ago called the ‘Table of Free Voices.’ They brought together these noted thinkers and scholars.”

Hoglund continued: “They sit everyone down where the Nazis used to burn books, a gigantic table with 112 people sitting around it. People from all over the world submitted questions to a website, and they came up with 100 questions. Each speaker has a camera in front of them and answer the questions. It took nine hours to answer all of them, and the film that you see is the result of filmmaker Ralf Schmerberg whittling down 10,000 hours of footage. It’s a combination of people answering the questions and archival footage. It split my head wide open. It’s a visceral experience.”

Finally, a video presentation of notable feature films and documentaries concluded the preview. Highlights included “Black Swan” (USA), “How I Ended the Summer” (Russia), “Beautiful Darling” (USA), “On Tour” (France), “127 Hours” (USA), “The Robber” (Austria/Germany), “Go For It” (USA), “Stone” (USA), “The Tree” (Australia), “Stanley Pickle” (UK), “Drunkboat” (USA), “Big Tits Zombie 3D” (Japan), “Honeymooner” (UK), “Little Big Soldier” (China/Hong Kong), “A Company Man” (USA), “The Matchmaker” (Israel), “Louder Than a Bomb” (USA Chicago), “Bitter Feast” (USA), “The Happy Housewife” (Netherlands), “Ten Winters” (Italy), “Mooz-lum” (USA), “Circus Kids” (USA/Israel), “Conviction” (USA), “Leap Year” (Mexico) and “Brother and Sister” (Argentina).

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