GENE SISKEL FILM CENTER (GSFC)
OF THE SCHOOL OF THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO (SAIC)
SCREENINGS AND EVENTS, NOVEMBER 3-30, 2017
Series
Making ‘Em Move: A History of Animation (September 2-November 28) is a series of 13 programs that explores the foundations of present-day animation that was established in the medium of theatrical entertainment films. Presented in November are Oscar nominee The Illusionist (November 4, 7; format: 35mm), the follow-up to The Triplets of Belleville; Robert Zemeckis and Richard Williams’ Who Framed Roger Rabbit (November 11, 14; format: DCP digital); Studio Ghibli’s Oscar-winning classic Spirited Away (November 18, 21; format: 35mm); and The Red Turtle (November 25, 28; format: DCP digital), the first Studio Ghibli film helmed by a non-Japanese animator. Each Tuesday screening includes a lecture by Donald Crafton, Professor Emeritus at the University of Notre Dame. Stay tuned for more information about the spring 2018 film/lecture series Apocalypse Then: The Vietnam War on Film, beginning January 30 with weekly Tuesday lectures by Nora Annesley Taylor, Alsdorf Professor of South and Southeast Asian Art at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/makingemmove
Conversations at the Edge, a weekly dynamic series featuring the groundbreaking work of media artists, concludes its fall programing on November 30. Presented in November will be Alex Gerbaulet: Digging Deep (November 2) in which both archival material and footage filmed by the artist herself are utilized, unearthing the complex narratives hidden within personally and collectively repressed memory; The Films of Ana Mendieta (November 9), a program of numerous short films which capture and transform the late Cuban-born artist’s ephemeral performances and work comprised of earthworks, photographs, and performances; Sondra Perry: Performance and Video (November 16) which mixes personal history and pop culture by the New York-based performance and multimedia artist who savvily dissects power relations that shape Black identity and representation; and Coco Fusco: Cuba Portraits (November 30), showcasing two intimate portraits by the interdisciplinary artist centered on concepts of the body and state control, investigating their effects on artistic production in Cuba. Formats for Conversations at the Edge vary. http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/cate
Runs
Chicago premiere! In The Paris Opera (November 3-9), the Palais Garnier, more familiarly known worldwide as the Paris Opera, gives up its secrets and behind-the-scenes dramas in this multi-faceted documentary filmed over the tumultuous 2015-2016 season. Presented in DCP digital. http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/parisopera
First Chicago run! Director Stephen Cone, cast, and crew in person! In Princess Cyd (November 3-9), Chicago-based director Cone builds a warm, expansive, and generous world around Cyd, an adventurous 16-year-old who comes to Chicago to spend the summer with her literary aunt. Producers Grace Hahn and actors Rebecca Spence and Malic White are scheduled to appear for audience discussion on November 3; Hahn and producer Madison Ginsberg, on November 4; and director Stephen Cone, on November 8 and 9. Presented in DCP digital. http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/princesscyd
Columbus (November 3-9): Chance brings together Casey, a twentyish tour guide tied to the town of Columbus, IN, by her love of its buildings, and Jin, a Seoul-based translator visiting his ailing father, for an adventure of conversation and self-exploration. Presented in DCP digital. http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/columbus
Okja (November 3-9): Director Bong Joon-ho (Snowpiercer) turns a seemingly family-friendly, laugh-laden saga about a little girl and her adorable oversized pig into a scathing satire on corporate greed in which Tildo Swinton plays a slick, New York-based CEO. Presented in DCP digital widescreen. http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/okja
Chicago premiere! Director Kelly Richmond in person! The Kartemquin-produced documentary All the Queen’s Horses (November 10-22) details how the placid farm town of Dixon, IL, became notorious for the largest case of municipal fraud in U.S. history, thanks to a flamboyant horse breeder who embezzled $54 million. Director Kelly Richmond Pope is scheduled to appear for audience discussion on November 10 (8 pm only), 11, 12, 13, 15, and 19. The audience is invited to a reception sponsored by Kartemquin Films following the show on November 10. The Wednesday, November 15 screening is a Gene Siskel Film Center Movie Club event (see below). Presented in DCP digital. http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/queenshorses
Chicago premiere! Filmmakers and special guests in person! Requiem for a Running Back (November 10-16): Director Rebecca Carpenter, daughter of former NFL running back Lew Carpenter, delves into football’s shocking history of players whose lives were cut short as a result of blunt force head trauma. Director Rebecca Carpenter and producer Sara Dee will introduce the film on November 10. Sara Dee, Dr. Julian Bailes (tentatively), Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Maraniss, and former San Francisco 49er Chris Borland are scheduled to appear for audience discussion on November 11. Presented in DCP digital. http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/runningback
Back by popular demand! Dolores (November 10-15) profiles the tumultuous life and groundbreaking work of Dolores Huerta, one of the most important yet least known activists in American history, as chronicled in this compelling glimpse of history in the making. Presented as part of Panorama Latinx. Presented in DCP digital. http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/dolores
Newly restored! Daughter of the Nile (November 10-16): A 19-year-old KFC worker becomes involved in the Taipei underworld through her gangster brother in this neglected and long hard-to-see film by the Taiwanese master Hou Hsiao-hsien. Presented in DCP digital. http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/daughterofthenile
Chicago premiere! Directed by Petra Volpe, The Divine Order (November 17-30) is men against the women in 1971 in the Swiss Alps, where women are still denied the vote, in this cheering story that delivers winsome comedy with a timely ironic bite and a hint of nostalgia. Presented in DCP digital widescreen. http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/divineorder
Chicago premiere! Brimstone & Glory (November 17-22): Tultepec, Mexico, where three-quarters of the residents are employed in the manufacturing of handmade fireworks, stages a gloriously explosive fireworks festival in this eye-popping documentary. Presented as part of Panorama Latinx. Presented in DCP digital. http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/brimstone
Chicago premiere! In Paradise (November 17-22), the forces of history close in on three individuals whose fates are linked by the Holocaust. Presented in DCP digital. http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/paradise
Chicago premiere! The affectionate documentary Rebels on Pointe (November 24-29) tells the inside story of Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo—the gay, all-male, New York-based dance troupe that for 40 years has slyly satirized ballet classics. Presented in DCP digital. http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/rebelsonpointe
Chicago premiere! The entertaining documentary Bill Nye: Science Guy (November 24-30) traces Nye’s story from the development of his beloved PBS show to his present-day stands on climate change, evolution, and space exploration. Presented in DCP digital. http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/billnye
Chicago premiere! Gilbert Gottfried via Skype! Gilbert (November 24-30) goes behind the screechy-voiced persona, director Neil Berkeley captures the complexity of raucous, raunchy comedian Gilbert Gottfried. On November 26, Gottfried is scheduled to appear via Skype for audience discussion, moderated by Steve Prokopy, Film Critic for Third Coast Review. Presented in DCP digital. http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/gilbert
Special events
Chicago premiere! Barry Gifford and Dan Simon in person! Nelson Algren Live (November 5) commemorates the centenary of Chicago novelist Nelson Algren’s birth, as a distinguished group of actors and writers gather at Steppenwolf Theatre for an onstage reading from the author’s powerful work. Author/actor Barry Gifford and publisher/producer Dan Simon are scheduled to appear for audience discussion moderated by critic Rob Christopher. Presented in DCP digital. http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/nelson-algren-live
First Chicago engagement! Aida’s Secrets (November 10, 12, 13): An attempt to reunite a family scattered by the Holocaust—and the mysteries created by that terrible time—lie at the heart of this haunting, powerful documentary. Presented in DCP digital. http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/aidassecrets
Gene Siskel Movie Club presents All the Queen’s Horses (November 15) featuring a post-screening discussion facilitated by director Kelly Richmond Pope. All ticket holders receive a complimentary beverage. Presented in DCP digital. http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/movieclub
National Theatre Live presents Yerma (November 18) which concerns a young woman who is driven to the unthinkable by her desperate desire to have a child in Simon Stone’s radical production of Federico García Lorca’s achingly powerful masterpiece. National Theatre Live tickets are $14/general admission and $8/Film Center members and students. Presented in DCP digital. http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/yerma
The Gene Siskel Film Center’s holiday tradition is the ever-popular cult documentary Antonio Gaudí (November 24, 25), inspired by the wild, undulating, joyously erupting forms of the Barcelona architect. Presented in 35mm. http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/antoniogaudi
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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. 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 on www.siskelfilmcenter.org. There is a surcharge 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 THE FOLLOWING SPECIAL TICKET PRICES / PASSES:
Gene Siskel Film Center members pay $5 per ticket to any screening in the Making ‘Em Move: A History of Animation.
Tickets to National Theatre Live’s Salomé (November 18) are $14/general admission and $8/Film Center members and students.
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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 visitwww.siskelfilmcenter.org/content/membership.
Discounted parking is available for $18 for 16 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.
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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 85,000. 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 200 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 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 ranked number two 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, and LeRoy Neiman. Learn more at saic.edu.
