CHICAGO – YIPPIE! It’s back, in the neighborhood of its roots. YippieFest 2023 will be August 4th-6th in the Lakeview/Buena Park venue of PRIDE ARTS, 4139 North Broadway in Chicago. The space is less than a half mile from the former Mary-Arrchie Theatre, whose “Abbie Hoffman Festival” was the template for the three-day performance celebration. YippieFest currently has slots for theater acts, including one-act plays, monologue, sketch, improv, vaudeville and other stage performance arts. Artists get free admission to the rest of the festival, so click YiPPIE FEST 2023 to sign up.
Steve James
Slideshow: Opening Night at 58th Chicago International Film Festival, Oct. 12, 2022
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 15, 2022 - 10:16amCHICAGO – Opening Night was a sensation for the 58th Chicago International Film Festival (CIFF). Besides the Opening Night Red Carpet for the film “A Compassionate Spy,” a Block Party took place on the streets in front of Chicago’s historic Music Box Theatre, in a memorable beginning to a Fest that runs through October 23rd. !—break—>
Via Zoom: Steve James’ ‘A Compassionate Spy’ Opens the 58th Chicago International Film Fest
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 11, 2022 - 8:13amCHICAGO – The 58th Chicago International Film Festival (CIFF) is here, and opens Wednesday, October 12th, 2022, at Chicago’s historic Music Box Theatre with “A Compassionate Spy,” from master documentary maker Steve James (“Hoop Dreams”).
Via Zoom: Steve James and Zak Piper for ‘City So Real,’ Premiering on NatGeo Oct. 29, 2020
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 27, 2020 - 10:40pmCHICAGO – The 2018-19 mayoral campaign in Chicago was a historic moment for the city, as the first woman of color (Lori Lightfoot) was elected. Director Steve James, of the legendary “Hoop Dreams,” takes on the events leading up to this history and beyond, in “City So Real.”!—break—>
DAY SEVEN: Podtalk with Neal Sáles Griffin, for ‘City So Real’ at 56th Chicago International Film Fest
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 20, 2020 - 9:43amCHICAGO – One of the most influential documentary makers in film history is Chicagoan Steve James of Kartemquin Films. His lens has commented upon not only the seminal “Hoop Dreams” (1994), but “Stevie” (2002), “The Interrupters” (2011), the Roger Ebert bio doc “Life Itself” (2014) and the recent “America to Me.”
DAYs THREE-FIVE: Industry Days Wraps Up at the 56th Chicago International Film Festival
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 16, 2020 - 3:20pmCHICAGO – The 56th Chicago International Film Festival (CIFF) is virtual and online RIGHT NOW, so go download some movies! This is your last chance for INDUSTRY DAYS (through October 18th), where you can rub virtual elbows with some of the movers and shakers in the film industry here in Chicago.
DAY TWO: Appearances and Film Q&As Announced for the 56th Chicago International Film Fest
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 15, 2020 - 12:30pm- 2020
- 56th
- Belushi
- Chicago
- Chicago International Film Festival
- City So Real
- David Byrne’s American Utopia
- Film News
- Fireball: Visitors From Darker Worlds
- HollywoodChicago.com Content
- Hoop Dreams
- Industry Days
- I’m Your Woman
- Patrick McDonald
- Q&As
- Rachel Brosnahan
- Rick & Morty
- Spike Lee
- Steve James
- The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
- Werner Herzog
CHICAGO – Just because the majority of the 56th Chicago International Film Festival (CIFF) will be virtual and online, doesn’t mean that there won’t be filmmaker and talent appearances. Highlights for appearances for the 56th CIFF include “The Marvelous Mrs.
Oscar Week: Podtalk with Director Bing Liu of Oscar nominated Feature Doc ‘Minding the Gap’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on February 18, 2019 - 4:06pmCHICAGO – All through the 2019 Oscar Week, HollywoodChicago.com will rerun significant articles from 2018 that feature the nominees associated with Sunday’s Academy Award ceremony. Today is a Podtalk with director Bing Liu, who was the filmmaker behind a Best Documentary Feature nominee, “Minding the Gap.” The film seems to be a nostalgic profile of Liu’s youth in Rockford, Illinois, as he goes back to his hometown to explore the skateboarding culture that kept him balanced while growing up in a difficult home environment. What he found out about himself was an organic reveal in the film, both shocking and cathartic.
Podtalk: Mike Kwielford on Midwest Independent Film Fest’s ‘Best of the Midwest,’ Jan. 17, 2019
Submitted by PatrickMcD on January 14, 2019 - 7:07pmCHICAGO – Local Awards Season is coming up with the Best of the Midwest, honoring the 2018 film year of the Midwest Independent Film Festival. The Gala is on Thursday, January 17th, 2019, click here for tickets and information.
Podtalk: Director Robert Greene of ‘Bisbee ’17’ at Chicago’s Music Box Theatre
Submitted by PatrickMcD on October 5, 2018 - 4:58pmCHICAGO – In a film that worked like destiny for veteran documentary filmmaker Robert Greene, “Bisbee ’17” will open at the Music Box Theatre in Chicago on Friday, October 5th, 2018, and run through October 11th. As part of the run, director Greene will make an appearance on behalf of the film on October 5th, in a post-screening discussion moderated by fellow documentary maker Steve James (“America To Me”). For details and tickets, click here.
Podtalk: Filmmaker Bing Liu is Essential in ‘Minding the Gap’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on August 29, 2018 - 3:23pmCHICAGO – Sometimes, if a filmmaker is aligned, all of their experience, accessibility and life force combine to create a signature production. This is what happened to Bing Liu, who took his life as a skateboarder and explored beyond it to find what was essential. The result is the multiple award winning documentary, “Minding the Gap.”
