Gene Siskel Film Center

CHICAGO – Actor Jeremy Piven came home to Chicago on May 13th, 2017, to moderate the Gene Siskel Center Renaissance Award tribute to actor Kevin Spacey. Piven, who grew up in nearby Evanston, Ill., has forged a diverse career in Hollywood, and is most well-known for portraying super-agent Ari Gold in the HBO series “Entourage.”

CHICAGO – There is no better “renaissance man” as an actor and performer than Oscar Winner Kevin Spacey. He was the recipient the Gene Siskel Center “Renaissance Award” on May 13th, 2017.

CHICAGO – From March 3rd to the 30th, the 20th Chicago European Union Film Festival (CEUFF) of 2017 will unfurl at the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago. The Opening Night Film is from Malta – and their emerging film industry – and it’s entitled “20,000 Reasons,” directed by Jameson Cucciardi. For more information, including a complete schedule of films, click here.

CHICAGO – Tonight is the 89th Academy Awards, and Hollywood will honor their own in the annual lavish ceremony. In Chicago, there will be a similar celebration, as the Gene Siskel Film Center is throwing a “Hollywood on State” party, and honoring four local filmmakers at the event. Joining honorees Lori Felker, Jennifer Reeder and Michael Smith is filmmaker Lonnie Edwards, whose voice has made an impact ever since his awarding-winning debut in 2014, the short film “Parietal Guidance.”

CHICAGO – As Chicago evolves as a film town, so do its parties. The annual “Hollywood on State” gathering, put together by the Gene Siskel Film Center, is enhancing their Oscar watching event by honoring four prominent and emerging Chicago filmmakers – Lonnie Edwards, Lori Felker, Jennifer Reeder and Michael Smith. For more details, and to be a part of the magical evening, click here.

CHICAGO – Iconic and historical are the two apt terms for a film directed by an African American woman, the first to be distributed theatrically, Was it the 1920s? 1940s? It had to be the 1970s. No, it was 1992 when that barrier was broken, with the film “Daughters in the Dust,” directed by Julie Dash.

CHICAGO – A sold out Gene Siskel Film Center will be the scene for the Closing Night of the 2016 Black Harvest Film Festival on Thursday, September 1st, 2016. For the last three and a half weeks, the theater has been buzzing with African American-centric films, in a celebration of culture and history. The Closing Night Film is “Agents of Change: Black Students and the Transformation of the American University,” directed by Frank Dawson and Abby Ginzberg. The directors will be in attendance.

CHICAGO – What made the 1960s the petri dish for the counterculture had to do with many of that movement’s participants trying new things in the “underground.” When Sony released its first home video capability in 1968, many like-minded individuals – who wanted to use the technology to gather alternative news – set out to change the world. The result is a new documentary, “Here Comes the Videofreex.” The Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago will offer a premiere screening and panel discussion on May 19th, 2016. For details, click here.

CHICAGO – Last week, one of the most diverse film festivals of the year in Chicago opened with the Swedish film “The Paradise Suite.” The 19th Annual Chicago European Union Film Fest will be at the Gene Siskel Film Center on State Street. With countries ranging from Austria to Slovakia, European cinema voices will be available to the Chicagoland area through March 31st, 2016.

CHICAGO – The traditions and ceremony of our tribal past have eventually become homogenized in modern society. But there are some parts of the world where those traditions still exist, and much of it has a connection to art, dance, design, music and ritual. Executive Producer Marla Gamze is working on a new documentary – “Artists of the First Sunrise” – about the indigenous Aboriginal tribes of Australia, a native population that still bond to their tradition and expression.