GENE SISKEL FILM CENTER (GSFC)
OF THE SCHOOL OF THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO (SAIC)
SCREENINGS AND EVENTS, DECEMBER 2, 2016-JANUARY 5, 2017
Series
Shakespeare on Film (December 3-January 5) showcases 10 films that were chosen out of 1,189
currently listed on IMDb.com based on the Bard’s work. The criteria to present
this series included keeping the language rooted in Shakespearean language and
to include only one version of each selected play, and only one film by each
director. Featured are Orson Welles’ Chimes at Midnight; Joss Whedon’s Much
Ado about Nothing; Al Pacino and Ralph Fiennes in The Merchant of Venice;
Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes in Baz Luhrmann’s William Shakespeare’s Romeo +
Juliet; Peter Brook’s King Lear; Helen Mirren, Diana Rigg,
and Judi Dench in A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Laurence Olivier’s Richard
III; Roman Polanski’s The Tragedy of Macbeth; Kenneth
Branagh’s Hamlet; and Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in Franco
Zeffirelli’s The Taming of the Shrew.
Film/lecture series No
Borders: Contemporary Latin American Cinema (September 3-December 13)
presents Latin American filmmaking from the early 1980s through the present,
concluding with Ixcanul (December 10, 13), a powerfully visualized drama set in
a traditional indigenous community of coffee farmers. Starting January 28 will
be the film/lecture series New Sensory
Cinema. Sponsored
by HBO. http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/noborders
Runs
New 4K restoration of the classic 80s Japanese comedy Tampopo
(December 2-15) in which cowboy-hatted Goro takes ramen noodle shop purveyor
Tampopo on a quest for The Perfect Noodle. http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/tampopo
First Chicago run! Being 17 (December 2-8), in which love
and hatred are two sides of sexual desire in this coming-of-age story, concerns
the deep attraction between Damien, a brainy son of professionals, and Tom, the
adopted biracial son of farmers. http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/being17
Back by popular demand! Hieronymus Bosch: Touched by the Devil
(December 2-8) is the portrait of an artist and also a behind-the-scenes
art-world drama involving territorialism and jealousy. http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/bosch
Chicago premiere! Don’t Call Me Son (December 9-15) in
which Pierre, a child stolen at birth, learns his natural parents are
well-to-do all the while exploring his wild side as a full-blown cross-dresser.
http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/dontcallmeson
First Chicago run! Fire at Sea (December 9-15) is an
adventurous documentary set on the small Italian island of Lampedusa whose
proximity has attracted hundreds of thousands of African refugees and examines how
they interface with the daily life of the islanders. http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/fireatsea
First Chicago run! Long Way North (December 16-29) is a
family-friendly animated tale in which a 19th-century adventuress flees the
pomp of the Russian court in order to track down her beloved grandfather, a
famed Arctic explorer whose ship has disappeared in the North Pole. http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/longwaynorth
Chicago premiere! National Bird (December 16-22)—executive
produced by Wim Wenders and Errol Morris—is a harrowing documentary in which
three former employees of the U.S. drone program turn whistleblower in this
searing look at the little-known moral and emotional impact on those whose jobs
involve remotely identifying and bombing human targets in Afghanistan. http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/nationalbird
The Handmaiden (December 16-22)
is based on Sarah Walter’s Booker Prize-winning lesbian crime novel Fingersmith
in which a demure heiress, a sexually curious lady’s maid, a ruthless conman,
and a degenerate uncle with an unusual library of carnal curiosities figure in
this quirky no-return ride into the darkest depths of erotic fantasy. http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/thehandmaiden
Certain Women (December 23-29),
based on the short stories of Maile Meloy, relates three tales set under the
big skies of Montana, each centered on a female character, each only slightly
connected on a plot level, but all subtly linked by themes of betrayal and
class conflict. http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/certainwomen
The Gene Siskel Film Center’s annual holiday tradition is the ever-popular cult
film Antonio
Gaudí (December 30-January 5), inspired by the wild, undulating,
joyously erupting forms by Barcelona architect Antonio Gaudí, paired with Sagrada:
The Mystery of Creation (December 30-January 5), the story of Gaudí’s
unfinished basilica of Barcelona’s La Sagrada Família, as architects and artisans with rival
interpretations of the master’s vision attempt to finish the long-incomplete
project. http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/antoniogaudi
Back by popular demand! Miss Hokusai (December 30-January
5), a Japanese anime that immerses the
viewer in the sights and sounds of 19th-century Edo's "floating
world" of prostitutes, artists, and merchants, as the prickly O-Ei
struggles to mature as an artist and as a woman. http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/misshokusai
Special
events and limited engagements
Spa Night (December 3)
centers on David, the son of Korean immigrants, as he struggles against his
attraction to men, and getting a job in a men-only spa only brings new urgency
to his buried desires. Actor Esteban Andres Cruz will be present for Q&A
after the screening. http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/spanight
Neighborhood Night (December 5)
celebrates quality cinema and community, and anticipates our Chicago
European Union Film Festival in March 2017 by featuring March 2016’s
Audience Award winner, Land of Songs, an elegiac documentary
looking at five lively Lithuanian grannies who are the last to sing their
region’s traditional folk songs. Also presented at Neighborhood Night
will be Tampopo, Being 17, and Hieronymus Bosch. http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/neighborhoodnight
Kate Plays Christine (December 9, 10,
12) is the haunting, thought-provoking film about Christine Chubbuck, a Florida
newscaster who committed suicide on-air in 1974 as explored and re-enacted by
actress Kate Lyn Sheil. Director Robert Greene will appear for Q&As with
critic and filmmaker Michael Smith on December 9 and with acclaimed
documentarian Steve James on December 10. http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/kateplayschristine
Gene
Siskel Film Center Movie Club looks at Tampopo (December 12; see
above for information and dates of full run). Enjoy a complimentary beverage
and a discussion (facilitator TBA). Sponsored by HBO. http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/movieclub
Screening in a 25th anniversary digital restoration, the cheeky black
comedy Delicatessen (December 16, 17) sets an incongruously
tender love story in a depraved and deprived society where the lower life forms
have already been consumed, and an unemployed circus clown falls in love with
the daughter of an opportunistic butcher. http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/delicatessen
National
Theatre Live Encore’s War Horse (December 23, 30) is based on Michael Morpurgo’s novel
and adapted by Nick Stafford, taking the audience on an extraordinary journey
from the fields of rural Devon to the trenches of World War I France as puppets
bring breathing, galloping horses to thrilling life on stage. http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/warhorse
A salute to Nobel laureate Bob Dylan in Don’t Look Back
(December 23, 26, 28), the landmark cinema-verite portrait of the artist in his
insolent, freewheeling prime as filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker gets up close and
personal as never before during Dylan’s 1965 English
tour. http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/dontlookback
* * *
All screenings and events are at the
Gene Siskel Film Center of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, located
at 164 N. State St.
Tickets to each screening--unless
stated otherwise—are $11/general admission, $7/students, $6/Film Center
members, and $5/Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) staff and School of the Art
Institute of Chicago (SAIC) faculty, staff, and students. Friday 2:00 pm
matinee tickets are $8/general admission and $5/Film Center members and
students. All tickets may be purchased at the Film Center Box Office. Both
general admission and Film Center member tickets are available through the Gene
Siskel Film Center’s website www.siskelfilmcenter.org/content/tickets or
through the individual films’ weblinks or visit www.siskelfilmcenter.org of $1.50 per
ticket. The Film Center and its box office are open 5:00 to 8:30 pm, Monday
through Thursday; 1:00 to 8:30 pm, Friday; 2:00 to 8:30 pm, Saturday; and 2:00
to 5:30 pm, Sunday.
Note
that the Gene Siskel Film Center’s theaters will be closed on November 24; December
24, 25, and 31; and January 1.
Film Center members pay $6 per screening to the No
Borders film/lecture series.
Two-Film Antonio Gaudí/Sagrada Discount: Buy
a ticket at the regular prices for either Antonio Gaudí or Sagrada and
get a ticket for any show of the other film at this discount rate with proof of
original ticket purchase: $7/general admission; $5/students; $4/Film Center
members. (This discount applies to the second feature only. Discount available
in person at the box office only.)
Admission to November 20’s National Theatre Live Encore: War Horse
is $14/general admission and
$8/students and Film Center members.
* * *
A Gene Siskel Film Center membership is
a year-round ticket to great movies for only $6 per screening! Memberships are
$50 (Individual) and $80 (Dual). For more information, call 312-846-2600 or
visit http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/membership.
Discounted parking is available for $18
for 10 hours at the InterPark SELF-PARK at 20 E. Randolph St. A rebate ticket
can be obtained from the Film Center Box Office.
The Film Center is located near CTA
trains and buses. Nearest CTA L stations are Lake (Red line); State/Lake
(Brown, Green, Orange, Pink, Purple lines); and Washington (Blue line). CTA bus
lines serving State St.: 2, 6, 10, 29, 36, 62, 144, and 146.
For more information about the Film
Center, call 312-846-2800 (24-hour movie hotline) or 312-846-2600 (general
information, 9:00 am-5:00 p.m., Monday-Friday), or visit www.siskelfilmcenter.org.
* * *
About the Gene Siskel Film Center of
the School of the Art Institute of Chicago Since 1972, the Gene Siskel
Film Center of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago has presented cutting
edge cinema to an annual audience of 80,000. The Film Center’s programming
includes annual film festivals that celebrate diverse voices and international
cultures, premieres of trailblazing work by today’s independent filmmakers,
restorations and revivals of essential films from cinema history, and
insightful provocative discussions with filmmakers and media artists.
Altogether, the Film Center hosts over 1,500 screenings and 100 filmmaker
appearances every year. The Film Center was renamed the Gene Siskel Film Center
in 2000 after the late, nationally celebrated film critic, Gene Siskel. Visit www.siskelfilmcenter.org to learn more
and find out what’s playing today.
About the
School of the Art Institute of Chicago
For more than 150 years, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago
(SAIC) has been a leader in educating the world’s most influential artists,
designers and scholars. Located in downtown Chicago with a fine arts graduate
program consistently ranking among the top programs in the nation by U.S. News
and World Report, SAIC provides an interdisciplinary approach to art and design
as well as world-class resources, including the Art Institute of Chicago
museum, on-campus galleries and state-of-the-art facilities. SAIC’s
undergraduate, graduate and post-baccalaureate students have the freedom to
take risks and create the bold ideas that transform Chicago and the world—as
seen through notable alumni and faculty such as Michelle Grabner, David
Sedaris, Elizabeth Murray, Richard Hunt, Georgia O’Keeffe, Cynthia Rowley, Nick
Cave, Jeff Koons and LeRoy Neiman. www.saic.edu
Twitter: @filmcenter
