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Chicago Underground Sets Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Celebration

Posted Monday, August 28th, 2017 - Comments Off on Chicago Underground Sets Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Celebration
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CALLING ALL STARS: CHICAGO UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL (CUFF) ANNOUNCES CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS FOR 25 ANNIVERSARY EDITION

Still Alive at 25: Special Events, Special Screenings, Art Exhibits and Celebrity Guests of Honor Kick off the 25th Anniversary Celebration of the Longest Running Underground Film Festival in the World.

In 1994 a gallon of gas was $1.09, a loaf of bread was $1.39 and a movie ticket cost $4.08. But that is not all… Michael Jordan came out of retirement, Forrest Gump was the top grossing film of the year, Justin Bieber was born, Kurt Cobain was found dead in his apartment and the Chicago Underground Film Festival (CUFF) was created by co-founders Bryan Wendorf and Jay Bliznick. Twenty-five years later, CUFF will be hosting a year-long celebration of special events and other festivities to celebrate its 25th Anniversary, and today is announcing its call for submissions for filmmakers who would like to the opportunity to be a part of this milestone.

“It’s hard to believe 25 years have passed since Jay and I founded CUFF,’ said Bryan Wendorf, CUFF Artistic Director and Festival Programmer. “We are really excited about this year’s festivities that will be taking place in honor of the 25th Anniversary. There will be many surprises and unique, celebratory events – we look forward to having a lot of fun,” he said.

Filmmakers who miss the Earlybird deadline have a chance to make the Regular deadline on December 1, 2017 and the Final deadline on January 6, 2018. The entry fees increase with each deadline so all filmmakers are urged to submit entries as soon as possible.

  • ●  Earlybird Deadline: Oct. 2, 2017 – Entry Fee: Features $35 (Students $25); Shorts $30 (Students $20)
  • ●  Regular Deadline: Dec. 1, 2017– Entry Fee: Features $45 (Students $35); Shorts $35 (Student $25)
  • ●  Final Deadline: Jan. 5, 2018 – Entry Fee: Features $55 (Students $45); Shorts $40 (Student $30)This year CUFF will host special screenings of vintage CUFF films, host Q & A sessions with a celebrity guests of honor, sponsor a festival art exhibit, unveil 25 special moments from CUFF and announce surprise media spectacles and a bevy of special events. Filmmakers from each of the past 25 years are expected to attend and there will be a special unveiling of the 25th Anniversary CUFF poster art by renowned artist Amy Davis. Amy, the wife, lead actress and muse of legendary underground filmmaker Jon Moritsugu, has created many ads and packaging for HARD CANDY and URBAN DECAY as well as NINE WEST. Her editorials have run from SEVENTEEN to PAPER, mainstream to avant garde. Ten years ago she created a streetwear collaboration with Cosmic of the Emily the Strange line. For more about Amy visit amydavis.com

    For more information about CUFF and submitting entries, please visit www.cuff.org .

    ABOUT THE CHICAGO UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL
    Now in its twenty-fifth year, the Chicago Underground Film Festival, presented by IFP Chicago, is dedicated to the work of film and video makers with defiantly independent visions. Widely recognized as a world-class event, the festival showcases the best in new American and international cinema and provides the movie-loving public with access to some of the most critically acclaimed filmmakers and emerging talent from around the world. Our mission is to promote films and videos that dissent radically in form, technique, or content from the “indie” mainstream and to present adventurous works that challenge and transcend commercial and audience expectations. To learn more about the festival visit www.cuff.org , on Facebook at ChicagoUndergroundFilmFestival and Twitter @CUFF_Chicago

    ABOUT IFP CHICAGO
    Founded in 1987, IFP/Chicago is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization committed to the idea that independent film is an important art form and a powerful voice in our society. We provide community, education, professional development and exhibition opportunities for independent filmmakers, industry professionals and independent film enthusiasts. This program is funded in part by the Illinois Arts Council.

    Visit www.ifpchicago.org. Find IFP Chicago on Facebook and Twitter.

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It shows how out of it I was in trying to be in it, acknowledging that I was out of it to myself, and then thinking, “Okay, how do I stop being out of it? Well, I get some legitimate illogical narrative ideas” — some novel, you know?

So I decided on three writers that I might be able to option their material and get some producer, or myself as producer, and then get some writer to do a screenplay on it, and maybe make a movie.

And so the three projects were “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep,” “Naked Lunch” and a collection of Bukowski. Which, in 1975, forget it — I mean, that was nuts. Hollywood would not touch any of that, but I was looking for something commercial, and I thought that all of these things were coming.

There would be no Blade Runner if there was no Ray Bradbury. I couldn’t find Philip K. Dick. His agent didn’t even know where he was. And so I gave up.

I was walking down the street and I ran into Bradbury — he directed a play that I was going to do as an actor, so we know each other, but he yelled “hi” — and I’d forgot who he was.

So at my girlfriend Barbara Hershey’s urging — I was with her at that moment — she said, “Talk to him! That guy really wants to talk to you,” and I said “No, fuck him,” and keep walking.

But then I did, and then I realized who it was, and I thought, “Wait, he’s in that realm, maybe he knows Philip K. Dick.” I said, “You know a guy named—” “Yeah, sure — you want his phone number?”

My friend paid my rent for a year while I wrote, because it turned out we couldn’t get a writer. My friends kept on me about, well, if you can’t get a writer, then you write.”
~ Hampton Fancher

“That was the most disappointing thing to me in how this thing was played. Is that I’m on the phone with you now, after all that’s been said, and the fundamental distinction between what James is dealing with in these other cases is not actually brought to the fore. The fundamental difference is that James Franco didn’t seek to use his position to have sex with anyone. There’s not a case of that. He wasn’t using his position or status to try to solicit a sexual favor from anyone. If he had — if that were what the accusation involved — the show would not have gone on. We would have folded up shop and we would have not completed the show. Because then it would have been the same as Harvey Weinstein, or Les Moonves, or any of these cases that are fundamental to this new paradigm. Did you not notice that? Why did you not notice that? Is that not something notable to say, journalistically? Because nobody could find the voice to say it. I’m not just being rhetorical. Why is it that you and the other critics, none of you could find the voice to say, “You know, it’s not this, it’s that”? Because — let me go on and speak further to this. If you go back to the L.A. Times piece, that’s what it lacked. That’s what they were not able to deliver. The one example in the five that involved an issue of a sexual act was between James and a woman he was dating, who he was not working with. There was no professional dynamic in any capacity.

~ David Simon