Podtalk: Michael Kutza to Talk ‘Starstruck’ Book at Chicago’s Union Club on Jan. 31, 2023

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CHICAGO – On the next stop on the book tour, Chicago International Film Festival Founder Michael Kutza will talk about his book “Starstruck: How I Magically Transformed Chicago into Hollywood for More than 50 Years” at Chicago’s Union Club on Tuesday, January 31st, 2023. The tome is a dishy insider account of his two generation run as a film influencer, and moderating the event will be entertainment reporter Candace Jordan. Tickets and more information are available by clicking STARSTRUCK.

After retiring from the festival in 2018, Kutza authored the story, which talks of his early years growing up on Chicago’s West Side, his early interest as a short filmmaker and his founding of one of the most important film festivals in cinema history in 1964. Before Sundance, Telluride, Toronto and Tribeca, there was Michael Kutza and the Chicago International Film Festival.

Starstruck2
Michael Kutza of ‘Starstruck’
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

During his 55 years in film, Michael supported the early careers of many cinema titans, including Martin Scorsese, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Claude LeLouch, Wim Wenders, Margarethe von Trotta, Mike Leigh, Oliver Stone, John Carpenter, Joe Swanberg and Taylor Hackford. Over the years, some of the top tier “who’s who” of the film industry have attended the Chicago International Film Festival and related events – the “stars” of “Starstruck” – including Harold Lloyd, Bette Davis, Orson Welles, Francois Truffaut, Jack Lemmon, Vincente Minnelli, Sophia Loren, Jack Nicholson, Shirley MacLaine, Spike Lee, Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, Clint Eastwood, Liv Ullmann, Jodie Foster, Al Pacino, Sidney Poitier, Helen Mirren, Jane Fonda, Chadwick Boseman, and many more.

Michael Kutza has received recognition from his peers in film and arts, including the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres at the Cannes Film Festival, the Silver Lion Award from the Venice International Film Festival, the Sydney Pollack Award from American Cinematheque, a Knight of the Legion of Honor from France, and the “Onorificenza di Cavalierato,” the highest arts award in Italy.

“Starstruck: How I Magically Transformed Chicago into Hollywood for More than 50 Years” is Michael’s labor of love and gift to the cinema world, a brassy page turner that dishes all the insider stories on the stars, the festival, Chicago and of course his passion, the world of film.

In a Podtalk with Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com, Michael Kutza talks the background of the book and its stories …

Michael Kutza video pitch for “Starstruck” …

“Starstruck: How I Magically Transformed Chicago into Hollywood for More than 50 Years” by Michael Kutza is available wherever books are sold.

HollywoodChicago.com senior staff writer Patrick McDonald

By PATRICK McDONALD
Editor and Film Critic/Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
pat@hollywoodchicago.com

© 2023 Patrick McDonald, HollywoodChicago.com

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