<\/p>\n
Our movie and media Calendar appears every Friday\/Saturday on <\/em>C-U Blogfidential<\/span><\/strong> and caters to the downstate region anchored by Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, USA.<\/em><\/p>\n ~~~~~<\/p>\n MILESTONES | Happy Birthday to You!<\/strong><\/p>\n 8\/12: Ann Myrna (producer, RETURN OF THE CORN ZOMBIES, Acrostar Productions, Chicago, IL)<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n FIELD REPORT DU HQ | From Wherever It May Be Said<\/strong><\/p>\n The hits keep trickling in to the Secret MICRO-FILM Headquarters<\/strong>, so we\u2019re strategically placing the buckets to capture everything that\u2019s fit to print! This week, we\u2019ll take \u201cComing soon from the C-U\u201d for $500, Mayim \u2026 Keenan Dailey<\/strong> of Visage Entertainment<\/strong> has announced a series of showcases for his completed debut feature, BRIM<\/strong>, which was filmed in Champaign County<\/strong> and debuted here as part of the inaugural Savoy Lumier\u00e8<\/strong> in May; the next dates to see the stylistic drama about Black inequality and resilience in 20th century America will be Sunday, August 17<\/strong>, during the Black August Film Festival<\/strong> in Pasadena, CA<\/strong>, and again on Sunday, August 31<\/strong>, during the Urban Film Festival<\/strong> in Miami, FL<\/strong>, and Friday, September 15<\/strong>, at the Lake County Film Festival<\/strong> in Grayslake, IL<\/strong>. More information can be found<\/a><\/span> on the Visage website and an in-depth conversation between BRIM<\/strong> co-creators Trude Namara<\/strong> and Dailey with the hosts of The Filmographers Podcast<\/span><\/strong>, Keir Graff<\/strong> and Michael Moreci<\/strong>, can be listened to on YouTube<\/strong><\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n Also revealing initial bookings for their newest work is filmmaker Kimberly Conner<\/strong>, who has finished the twisty procedural thriller LIPSTICK<\/strong> and is doing-it-herself in introducing it to audiences; regional dates include its debut on Wednesday, October 1, 7 p.m.<\/strong><\/a><\/span>, at the Classic Cinemas Lake Theatre XQ<\/strong> in Oak Park<\/strong> and a showing on Saturday, October 25, 7 p.m.<\/strong><\/a><\/span>, at Brookens Auditorium<\/strong> on the University of Illinois<\/strong> campus in Springfield<\/strong>, along with events in Los Angeles<\/strong> (October 10), Dallas<\/strong> (October 18), and Brooklyn, New York<\/strong> (October 31). Recently on Facebook<\/strong><\/a><\/span>, Conner shared that July 31<\/strong> marked the twentieth anniversary of her production company, Predestined Arts & Entertainment<\/strong> of Springfield, a remarkable feat for the fiercely driven creator who has consistently driven home the worth of women in the industry with her self-promotion and featured Black talent front and center as well as behind the camera in all her work. LIPSTICK<\/strong>, which stars Camille Winbush<\/strong>, was shot in southern California<\/strong> by the Champaign native.<\/p>\n In another screening announcement, this one from fellow Champaign native and LA-friendly producer Peter McDowell<\/strong>, the acclaimed documentary about the mysteries coloring the life and death of his 24-year-old brother, JIMMY IN SAIGON<\/strong>, will receive its first official Chicago<\/strong> screenings at the Chicago Filmmakers Firehouse Cinema<\/strong> on Friday, August 22, 7 p.m.<\/strong><\/a><\/span>, and Sunday, August 24, 6 p.m.<\/strong><\/a><\/span>, with McDowell in attendance to discuss the project and its backstory, involving themes such as generational conflict and LGBTQ+ acceptance. Dark Star Pictures<\/strong><\/a><\/span> has released JIMMY<\/strong> on multiple streaming platforms and home media in 2025 after it enjoyed a lengthy and awards-heavy festival run.<\/p>\n Finally, Champaign-Urbana<\/strong> transplant Vijay M Rajan<\/strong>, the writer\/director behind the unorthodox serial killer chamber drama DARK SOUL RIVER<\/strong>, has unveiled a teaser trailer for the film<\/a><\/span> today, Friday, August 8<\/strong>; the co-production between Kartography Films<\/strong> and Siren Cinema<\/strong> is one of the first independent narrative features to take advantage of Champaign County and the facilities at Flyover Film Studios<\/strong> in Rantoul<\/strong> for almost all its primary filming needs. Rajan hopes to have RIVER<\/strong> \u201cin front of audiences by 2026,\u201d as pledged on his Facebook account<\/a><\/span>, and seems absolutely pleased with how the project has been progressing; in it, Saarathi (Kharti Bargav<\/strong>), a practicing Muslim from India<\/strong> and the brother of a woman victimized by a prolific murderer named Nathaniel Ambrose (Jonathan Thompson<\/strong>), agrees to sit down with the accused at an American prison in the hopes of securing a confession and the hidden location of the bodies before the latter\u2019s execution the following day. Michelle Girolami<\/strong> and Leigha Sinnott<\/strong> also star.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n NOW PLAYING | Champaign-Urbana Area<\/strong><\/p>\n @ AMC Champaign 13, Champaign, IL<\/strong> @ Phoenix Savoy 16 + IMAX, Savoy, IL<\/strong> @ Main Quad, Illini Union, UIUC, Urbana, IL<\/strong> @ Prairie Farm\/Centennial Park, Champaign, IL<\/strong> @ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL<\/strong> Events featuring locally produced movies are marked with an asterisk (*). Additional \u201cNow Playing\u201d and \u201cComing Soon\u201d listings appear after the jump!<\/em><\/p>\n ~~~~~<\/p>\n <\/p>\n NOW PLAYING | The Cities Beyond<\/strong><\/p>\n @ Clintonia Eagle Theater, Clinton, IL<\/strong> @ The Harvest Moon Twin Drive-in, Gibson City, IL<\/strong> @ The Lorraine Theatre, Hoopeston, IL<\/strong> @ The Normal Theater, Normal, IL<\/strong> @ The Onarga Theatre, Onarga, IL<\/strong> @ The Princess Theatre, Leroy, IL<\/strong> @ The Route 66 Drive-in Theater, Springfield, IL<\/strong> @ VIP Lincoln Grand 6, Lincoln, IL<\/strong> \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n NOW PLAYING | Midwest<\/strong><\/p>\n @ Chicago Filmmakers Firehouse Cinema, Chicago, IL<\/strong> For detailed and curated listings of Chicago-area film presentations and related events, please visit the fine folks at<\/em> Cine-File<\/strong> and subscribe to their definitive \u201cCine-List\u201d weekly blast<\/a><\/span>. And for northern Illinois industry news, be sure to read<\/em> Reel Chicago<\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/span>,<\/em> Screen Magazine<\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/span>, and the <\/em>Chicago Reader<\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n COMING SOON | Area-wide Events<\/strong><\/p>\n 8\/16<\/strong> 8\/16-8\/17<\/strong> NEW! 8\/22 & 8\/24<\/strong> 9\/17-9\/21<\/strong> 9\/19-9\/28<\/strong> 9\/20-9\/22<\/strong> 10\/15-10\/26<\/strong> NEW! 11\/6-11\/16<\/strong> 11\/7-11\/8<\/strong> 11\/8-11\/9<\/strong> ~~~~~<\/p>\n Compiled by Jason Pankoke.<\/em><\/p>\n ~~~~~<\/p>\n \u201cCalendar du C-U\u201d Select movie listings for August 8-14, 2025 in Champaign, Urbana, and the cities beyond! Don\u2019t forget to peruse this week\u2019s Field Report! And, did you take a peek at the Images of the week?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55,869,2144,416,10,13,441],"tags":[2780,870,2942,2200,2628,1740,317,1868,2201,2629,2943],"class_list":["post-16636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alums-done-good","category-calendar-du-c-u","category-documentary","category-news-du-c-u","category-production-updates","category-public-events","category-c-u-confidential-youtube","tag-brim","tag-cinema-calendar","tag-dark-soul-river","tag-illinois-filmmaking","tag-jimmy-in-saigon","tag-keenan-dailey","tag-kimberly-d-conner","tag-lipstick","tag-low-budget-filmmaking","tag-peter-mcdowell","tag-vijay-rajan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16636"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16636\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16651,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16636\/revisions\/16651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nFREAKIER FRIDAY, SKETCH, WEAPONS, THE BAD GUYS 2 (animation), F1 THE MOVIE*, THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS, I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER*, JURASSIC WORLD: REBIRTH, THE NAKED GUN, SMURFS* (animation), SUPERMAN, TOGETHER (8\/8 on), Studio Ghibli Fest: GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES (anim\u00e9) (8\/10, 4 & 7 p.m., 8\/11-8\/12, 7 p.m., in Japanese with English sub), AMC \u201cScreen Unseen\u201d (mystery movie) (8\/11, 7 p.m.), SHIN GODZILLA (in Japanese with English sub) (8\/13 on), WAR 2 (in Hindi with English sub) (8\/13 on), NOBODY 2 (8\/14 on) *single screenings daily<\/p>\n
\nFREAKIER FRIDAY, MAHAVATAR NARSIMHA* (animation) (in Hindi with English sub), SKETCH, STRANGE HARVEST, WEAPONS, THE BAD GUYS 2 (animation), F1 THE MOVIE, THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS, SUPERMAN THE NAKED GUN, I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER, JURASSIC WORLD: REBIRTH, SUPERMAN, TOGETHER (8\/8 on), THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RINGS (8\/9, 2 & 7 p.m.; 8\/10, 3 & 7 p.m.; 8\/13, 7 p.m.), Studio Ghibli Fest: GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES (anim\u00e9) (8\/10, 4 & 7 p.m., 8\/11-8\/12, 7 p.m., in Japanese with English sub), The Metropolitan Opera Encore: Rigoletto<\/span> (8\/3, 1 & 6:30 p.m., recorded), \u201cRiffTrax Live!\u201d presents TIMECOP (8\/14, 7 p.m., simulcast), NOBODY 2 (8\/14 on) *single screenings daily<\/p>\n
\nIllini Union Board presents \u201cSummer Films on the Quad\u201d feat. MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE \u2013 THE FINAL RECKONING (8\/14, 9 p.m., free)<\/p>\n
\nChampaign Park District presents \u201cMoo-vie Nights at Prairie Farm\u201d feat. CHARLOTTE\u2019S WEB (2006)
\n(8\/8, 8 p.m., free)<\/p>\n
\nThe News-Gazette<\/span> Film Series and Central Illinois Young Farmers Coalition present THE BIGGEST LITTLE FARM special event (8\/9, 2 p.m. screening, 3-5 p.m. Park Avenue farmer\u2019s market)<\/p>\n
\nFREAKIER FRIDAY, WEAPONS, THE BAD GUYS 2 (animation), THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS, THE NAKED GUN (8\/8 on)<\/p>\n
\nFREAKIER FRIDAY (Screen 1), THE BAD GUYS 2 (animation) (Screen 2) (8\/7-8\/9), Make-a-Wish Foundation fundraiser feat. MUNSTERS, GO HOME and actor Butch Patrick (8\/10, 6:30 p.m. gates, 8:30 p.m. film)<\/p>\n
\nFREAKIER FRIDAY (8\/7-8\/10)<\/p>\n
\n\u201cThe Summer of Bond\u201d series feat. DIE ANOTHER DAY (8\/8-8\/10) and THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH (8\/9-8\/10), INNERSPACE (8\/14)<\/p>\n
\nTHE BAD GUYS 2 (animation) (8\/8-8\/10)<\/p>\n
\nSMURFS (animation) (8\/8-8\/10)<\/p>\n
\nTHE BAD GUYS 2 (animation), JURASSIC WORLD: REBIRTH (Screen 1), FREAKIER FRIDAY, THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS (Screen 2) (8\/8-8\/10, 8\/13-8\/14)<\/p>\n
\nFREAKIER FRIDAY, STRANGE HARVEST*, WEAPONS, THE BAD GUYS 2 (animation), THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS, JURASSIC WORLD: REBIRTH, THE NAKED GUN, SUPERMAN (8\/8 on)<\/p>\n
\nChicago Filmmakers presents Group 312 Films \u201c2025 Annual Report\u201d showcase (8\/9, 7 p.m.)<\/p>\n
\nPens to Lens Gala 2025*
\n@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL, 3 p.m.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cFischerFest\u201d* celebrating Gene Hackman
\n@ The Fischer Theatre, Danville, IL<\/p>\n
\nJIMMY IN SAIGON* screening w\/filmmaker Peter McDowell
\n@ Chicago Filmmakers Firehouse Cinema, Chicago, IL, 7 p.m. (8\/22) & 6 p.m. (8\/24)<\/p>\n
\n32nd Chicago Underground Film Festival
\n@ ACX Harper Theater \u2013 Hyde Park, Chicago, IL<\/p>\n
\n43rd Reeling: The Chicago LGBTQ+ International Film Festival
\n@ Landmark\u2019s Century Centre Cinema + Chicago Filmmakers, Chicago, IL<\/p>\n
\nChampaign Film Society presents
\nthe first CineSonic* music film festival
\n@ TBA, Champaign-Urbana, IL<\/p>\n
\n61st Chicago International Film Festival
\n@ Music Box Theatre, etc., Chicago, IL<\/p>\n
\n34th Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival
\n@ The Hi-Pointe Theatre, St. Louis, MO<\/p>\n
\n24th Route 66 International Film Festival*
\n@ Hoogland Center for the Arts, Springfield, IL<\/p>\n
\nDark History & Horror Con* 2025
\nfeat. Screaming Mad Film Festival
\n@ The Orpheum Theatre, Champaign, IL<\/p>\n
\n\u00a9 2025 Jason Pankoke\/C-U Blogfidential<\/span>
\n[T \u2212106]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"