1st Annual Gen Art Chicago Film Festival
2007 Gen Art Chicago Film Festival Slate
Opening Night: Broken
Tuesday, 26th @ Music Box Theater
Feature: Broken directed by Alan White
Starring: Heather Graham ("Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me"), Jeremy Sisto ("Waitress"), Linda Hamilton ("Terminator 2: Judgement Day"), Tess Harper ("No Country for Old Men"), Michael Goorjian, & Jake Busey ("Starship Troopers")
Short: Blindsight directed by Bryan Cunningham
Party: The Notebaert Nature Museum - 2430 North Cannon Drive
Hope (Graham) is a twenty-seven year old Midwestern transplant to Los Angeles whose dream of a successful music career has left her with nothing more than a steady gig as a waitress in an all-night diner. On this particularly fateful night however, she is haunted by her sordid past, revealing itself through seemingly innocuous interactions with the patrons of the diner - stirring up painful memories.
In an almost hallucinatory fashion, Hope dwells on the solace she once found in the arms of Will (Sisto) a handsome, charming bad boy who led her down the primrose path of pain and drugs, which she now believes has finally come to an end. Hope is navigating through her own version of the seven deadly sins: Sloth, Gluttony, Envy, Lust, Greed, Pride, and ultimately Wrath - which eventually erupts in the form of a desperate Will, heading back to LA in a stolen car, gun tucked in his jeans, dead set on getting his girl back come hell or high water.
Broken unconventionally and unabashedly explores the intense power of memory and deception that we are all capable of experiencing in the pursuit of our dreams.
Crime Fiction
Wednesday, 27th @ AMC Pipers Alley
Feature: Crime Fiction directed by Will Slocombe
Starring: Jonathan Eliot, Amy Sloan, Dan Bakkedahl (television's "The Daily Show"), Yasen Peyankov, Christian Stolte ("Stranger Than Fiction"), & Katrina Lenk
Short: Bodega directed by Brian Billow
Party: Castaways - 1604 North Lakeshore Street
Some people would kill for a good story.
James Cooper (Eliot) is a 28 year old copy editor with dreams of literary stardom, wasting his days editing third-rate textbooks in a dreary Chicago basement. Recently crowned the voice of a new America by the New York literati, his girlfriend (Sloan) is well on her way, while James’ first novel just got panned. His agent dumps him. Things look increasingly bleak. But when his girlfriend's corpse ends up sprawled beneath the bedroom window, this tragedy could actually provide the literary spark he has been looking for. Crime Fiction is a comedic take on murder, betrayal and outrageous creative fortune.
Joshua
Thursday, 28th @ AMC Pipers Alley
Feature: Joshua directed by George Ratliff
Starring: Sam Rockwell ("The Green Mile"), Vera Farmiga ("The Departed"), Celia Weston ("The Talented Mr. Ripley"), Dallas Roberts ("Walk the Line"), Michael McKean ("This is Spinal Tap"), & Jacob Kogan
Short: True Colours directed by Barney Elliot
Party: Manor - 642 North Clark Street
The story of a perfect boy who had a perfect plan.
Brad (Rockwell) and Abby (Farmiga) have the perfect upwardly mobile life in Manhattan. Brad is excelling at his job, Abby takes care of the family, and their child Joshua is turning out to be the star prodigy of his private school. But things begin to unravel when Joshua is provided with a baby sister, Lily. What starts with a couple of long nights with Lily slowly descends into madness…but how could anyone blame the prodigal son?
Joshua is a dark tale of innocence lost, deception, and the fear of a perfect life falling apart.
Suffering Man's Charity
Friday, 29th @ AMC Pipers Alley
Feature: Suffering Man's Charity directed by Alan Cumming
Starring: Alan Cumming ("X2"), Anne Heche ("Wag the Dog"), David Boreanaz ("Valentine"), & Carrie Fisher ("Star Wars")
Short: Patterns 3 directed by Jamie Travis
Party: Blue Water Grill - 520 North Dearborn Street
When handsome Sebastian St. Germain (Boreanaz) enters the life of John Vandermark (Cumming) claiming to be a novelist down on his luck, he is welcomed with open arms. But when Vandermark grows bitter, feeling his hospitality has been abused, he is forced to confront the smarmy Sebastian. What ensues is a vindictive and farcically dark tale, offering a fresh twist on the hustler/john power dynamic.
Teaming with juicy theatrical flair and echoes of Edgar Alan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart", this edgy and stylish film offers a new look at the true price of good art.
Numb
Saturday, 30th @ AMC Pipers Alley
Feature: Numb directed by Harris Goldberg
Starring: Matthew Perry (television's "Friends"), Barry W. Levy ("Spook"), Lynn Collins ("The Number 23"), Kevin Pollak ("The Usual Suspects"), Mary Steenburgen (television's "CSI: Crime Scene Investigations")
Short: Validation directed by Kurt Kuenne
Party: The Underground - 56 West Illinois Street
After one particularly intense bong-hit, screenwriter Hudson Milbank (a humorously neurotic Perry) falls into an unshakable depression, ultimately diagnosing himself with “depersonalization disorder” - the sense that everything is unreal, dreamlike and “hellish.” Desperate to feel like himself again, he seeks out every traditional and alternative therapy imaginable. Unsuccessfully running the Los Angeles shrink gauntlet and even self-medicating with a healthy dose of the Golf Channel, he plummets further into the depths of despair.
Hudson’s writing partner (Pollak) increasingly fears they’ll never work again. But like every crazy-boy meets sexy-girl story, things change early-on when Hudson meets Sara (Collins) at a movie pitch, whose relaxed ways and big-hearted spirit provide tangible incentive for his race to recovery. Numb is a delightfully executed dramedy that lightly explores human emotion and ultimately the strength in each of us.
