C-U Biz-en-scène: 04.22.2011
“C-U Biz-en-scène” appears every Thursday/Friday on C-U Blogfidential to give our readers a succinct snapshot of the cinema activity in and near Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, USA. Please support the artists and their work, attend screenings and events, and otherwise become active in our esoteric little world!
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MFHQ & YOU:
It’s One Hundred Thirty Miles from Chicago, We’re Running Out of Gas, We’ve Got a Full Pint of Beer, Half an April Schedule to Go, It’s Dark, and We’re Supporting Local Filmmakers
We don’t know about you folks, but we’re digging our abbreviated format below for the time being as we muddle through MICRO-FILM Country to accomplish what we’ve set out to do the next week plus – finish and distribute C-U Confidential no.5, attend and enjoy the 13th annual Roger Ebert’s Film Festival, table and speak at the first Midwest Zine Fest at the Independent Media Center, and otherwise sleep, eat, and survive! The Biz will continue keeping it quick for the next month, particularly since we’ll have a hearty surge of new and super-cool material to post for you as all of the above transpires. “It’s madness,” we say, but please enjoy the fruits of our labor!
Hit It:
- Robin Christian of Champaign’s Dreamscape Cinema confirmed for CUBlog that yet another of their productions has landed domestic distribution! ACT YOUR AGE, the drama-comedy about a desperate young actor who disguises himself as an elderly man and moves into a retirement home to study the inhabitants for an upcoming audition, will be released later this year by independent film label Vanguard Cinema. Release date and product specs are forthcoming;
- Julie Morgan of the Illinois Film Office also contacted CUBlog, letting us know that the IFO and the state’s Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity will once again sponsor the “Shortcuts” filmmaking contest, open to all Illinois residents 18 years of age and older. Entries should creatively showcase Illinois locations and talent; submissions should be sent on DVD and postmarked no later than Monday, August 1. You can write julie.morgan [at] Illinois [dot] gov or visit their Web site for full details;
- On the cinema studies front, Robin Murray of Eastern Illinois University sent CUBlog a Call for Papers that would be presented as part of this fall’s Embarras Valley Film Festival in Charleston. This year’s theme is “Films For and About Children and Young Adults;” 150-word abstracts should be submitted by Saturday, October 1, to either rlmurray [at] eiu [dot] edu or: Dr. Robin L. Murray, English Department, Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, IL 61920. The symposium will take place Friday, November 11;
- We mentioned A. Lawrence Dreyfuss’ short film HAD HE FIDELITY last week but forgot to mention he’s raising a $3,000 budget for it via Kickstarter. Check here for a teaser video and sales pitch about the project, which Dreyfuss is positioning as “the first ever senior thesis film to come out of the University of Illinois,” a claim that is shaky if taking all campus departments into account but may be true in that “accomplished at a university without a film school” sense.
Of course, we’ll have even more to report next week!
MEDIA LINKS
We have little problem restoring this section to the Biz since it’s all about reporting vicariously through other people’s words. Adam Dreyfuss is proving his go-getter nature on multiple fronts by not only moving forward with HAD HE FIDELITY but relating his experiences in a new buzz column, the first installment brazenly titled “All you always wanted to know about making movies, but were afraid to ask.” Our state government has been sending mixed signals about its commitment to draw entertainment production commerce within the Land of Lincoln; despite a proposal by some politicians to add a five-year “sunset clause” onto the existing tax credit program comes the news, as reported in The Pantagraph on April 13, about a different amendment intended to attract animation productions, of all things! And finally, in a New Art Film Festival related flashback, go here to listen to your animated humble editor speak about our growing movie culture with Jeff Bossert for a WILL-AM 580 segment that aired during the noon hour on Thursday, April 7.
PLAYING THIS WEEK
@ The Art Theater, Champaign, IL: OF GODS AND MEN (4/22 on), INSIDE JOB (4/22-4/25, 5 p.m.), HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE (4/22, 4/23, 4/28, 10 p.m.), Charlie Chaplin short films (4/23-4/24, 12 p.m.), CITY LIGHTS (4/23-4/24, 2 p.m., Charlie Chaplin), FALLING UP* (4/25, 7 p.m., w/local filmmakers, free)
@ Foellinger Auditorium, UIUC, Urbana, IL: AMERICAN MOVIE (4/26, 7:30 p.m., w/Mark Borchart, free?)
@ Allen Hall/Unit One, UIUC, Urbana, IL: MY HEART IS AN IDIOT (4/27, 8 p.m., w/filmmakers, free)
@ The Virginia Theater, Champaign, IL: Roger Ebert’s Film Festival Opening Night – METROPOLIS (4/27, 7 p.m.), NATURAL SELECTION (4/27, 10:30 p.m.)
@ The Avon Theater, Decatur, IL: WATER FOR ELEPHANTS, WIN WIN, THE CONSPIRATOR (4/22 on)
@ The Normal Theater, Normal, IL: KING KONG (1933, 4/21, 7 p.m.), PSYCHO (1960, 4/22, 7 p.m.), TRUE GRIT (1969, 4/23, 7 p.m.), THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (1951, 4/24, 7 p.m.)
@ The Lorraine Theatre, Hoopeston, IL: RIO, SCREAM 4 (4/22 on)
@ Gemini Cinemas, Villa Grove, IL: RIO, DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: RODRICK RULES (4/22 on)
@ The Onarga Theatre, Onarga, IL: RIO (4/22, 7 p.m.; 4/23, 2 & 7 p.m.; 4/24, 7 p.m.)
@ Princess Theatre, LeRoy, IL: DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: RODRICK RULES (4/22-4/24)
@ Harvest Moon Drive-In, Gibson City, IL: RIO, HOP (4/22-4/24)
@ Route 66 Drive-In, Springfield, IL: HOP, THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU, LIMITLESS, SOURCE CODE (4/22-4/23)
@ That’s Rentertainment, Champaign, IL: RABBIT HOLE, THE KING’S SPEECH, GULLIVER’S TRAVELS, HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 1, more! (4/19 on)
@ Centerbrook Drive-In, Martinsville, IN: SCREAM 4, RED RIDING HOOD (4/22-4/24)
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Locally produced movies and events featuring locally produced movies are marked with an asterisk (*). Go see ‘em!
COMING SOON
4/27-5/1: Roger Ebert’s Film Festival
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL
NEW! 4/30-5/1: Midwest Zine Fest feat. C-U Confidential film panel*
@ Independent Media Center, Urbana, IL
4/30: THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW
@ The Canopy Club, Urbana, IL, 11 p.m. w/Millikin U. shadow cast
5/1: THE GIANT COMMUNIST* audition
@ Room 104, English Building, UIUC, Urbana, IL, 5 p.m.
5/4: 2nd Annual Feminist Film Festival
@ The Art Theater, Champaign, IL
5/8: Film Firm Casting audition for untitled indie film*
@ Room 409, Illini Union, UIUC, Urbana, IL, 12-7 p.m.
NEW! 5/19: Central Illinois Film Commission Meeting
@ TBA, 7 p.m.
NEW! 5/19-5/28: “Vincentennial” (Vincent Price celebration), St. Louis, MO
6/2-6/9: Chicago Underground Film Festival, Chicago, IL
6/23-6/26: Onion City Experimental Film and Video Festival, Chicago, IL
7/19-7/24: Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival, Palatine, IL
9/16-9/18: Route 66 International Film Festival
@ Hoogland Center for the Arts, Springfield, IL
10/6-10/20: Chicago International Film Festival, Chicago, IL
10/28-10/30: Freeky Creek Short Film Festival
@ Sleepy Creek Vineyards, Fairmount, IL
11/10-11/12: Embarras Valley Film Festival
@ EIU campus/Will Rogers Theater/etc., Charleston, IL
NEW! 11/10-11/20: St. Louis International Film Festival, St. Louis, MO
COMMUNITY FILM SERIES
The News-Gazette Film Series 2011
@ The Virginia Theater, Champaign, IL, 1 & 7 p.m.
4/23: TOY STORY 3; 5/14: REAR WINDOW; 6/4: MOULIN ROUGE!; 7/23: BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S; 8/6: ARSENIC AND OLD LACE; 9/10: ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT; 10/8: THE EXORCIST; 11/5: THE GODFATHER; 12/3: THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS
WILL-TV/Independent Lens “Community Cinema” series
@ Champaign Public Library, Champaign, IL, 6:30 p.m.
4/26: BHUTTO: 5/10: WELCOME TO SHELBYVILLE; TBA: TWO SPIRITS
UNIVERSITY FILM SERIES
AsiaLENS: AEMS Documentary/Film Series
@ Knight Auditorium, Spurlock Museum, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, 7 p.m.
5/3: IN THE MATTER OF CHA JUNG HEE
Global Lens 2011: International Films
@ Latzer Hall, University YMCA, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, 5:30 p.m.
5/19: THE INVISIBLE EYE, Argentina; 6/16: THE LIGHT THIEF, Kyrgyzstan; 7/21: SOUL OF SAND, India; 8/18: STREET DAYS, Georgia; 9/15: THE TENANTS, Brazil; 10/20: A USEFUL LIFE, Uruguay; 11/17: WHITE MEADOWS, Iran
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That’s it for the “business of our scene” this week!
If you have relevant news, opportunities, dates, or promotions that you would like included in CUBiz, please forward the who, what, where, when, and how much to cuconfidential [at] gmail [dot] com.
Compiled by Jason Pankoke
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We welcome your virtual presence in the Confidential scheme!
281 awesome (but way too few) peeps dig our Facebook page, while 14 astounding (yet way way way too few) comrades keep a watchful eye on our YouTube channel, the C-U Confidential Revue! We’d place our bets in a heartbeat that many more would enjoy our social/video outreach if they knew about us! Have you joined us on-line? Will you be ambassadors for our indie film cause and send your recruits in our direction? The more attention we receive, the better we can serve the interests of local artists and the movies of Champaign, Urbana, and the cities beyond!
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“C-U Biz-en-scène” no.39 © 2011 Jason Pankoke/C-U Blogfidential.