2nd Annual Gen Art Chicago Film Festival
2008 Gen Art Chicago Film Festival Slate
Opening Night: Bart Got a Room
Monday, 23rd @ Music Box Theater
Feature: Bart Got a Room directed by Bryan Hecker
Starring: William H. Macy ("Fargo"), Cheryl Hines ("Waitress"), Steven Kaplan ("Flutter Kick") & Alia Shawkat (television's "Arrested Development")
Short: Goldfish Party directed by Joe Wein
Party: Ravenswood Billboard Factory - 4043 North Ravenswood Avenue
Danny (Kaplan) has a problem. With only one month until prom he has yet to find a date, and his choices are dwindling down by the minute. With his best friend (Shawkat) as a guide they scour the pastel paradise of Hollywood, Florida for any and all contenders. Meanwhile, Danny's newly divorced father (Macy) has some unorthodox advice for his son that takes the birds and the bees to the next level, and his mother (Hines) just wants her son to be happy. Bart Got a Room packs in the heart and hilarity that we've grown to love, and reminds us that the best nights are the ones you can't plan.
The Last Word
Tuesday, 24th @ AMC Loews Pipers Alley
Feature: The Last Room directed by Geoffrey Haley
Starring: Wes Bentley ("American Beauty"), Winona Ryder ("Edward Scissorhands"), Ray Romano ("Ice Age"), Katherine Boecher & Brendan Miller
Short: The Art of Stalking Party directed by Amitabh Klemm
Party: Zed 451 - 739 North Clark Street
Evan Merck (Bentley) is a solitary, niche writer who makes his living composing other people’s suicide notes. His reclusive life, however, becomes upturned when he meets Charlotte (Ryder), the sister of one of his recently deceased clients at the funeral. A romance sparks between the couple despite Evan’s need to keep his business a secret from his new love. THE LAST WORD is a quirky, idiosyncratic dark comedy, confronting vanity, loss and redemption in a city of aimless souls in search of each other.
The Living Wake
Wednesday, 25th @ AMC Loews Pipers Alley
Feature: The Living Wake directed by Sol Tryon
Starring: Mike O'Connell , Jesse Eisenberg ("The Squid and the Whale"), Ann Dowd ("Garden State"), Eddie Pepitone & Jim Gaffigan ("Three Kings")
Short: The Art of Stalking Party directed by Amitabh Klemm
Party: Landmark - 1633 North Halsted
Self-proclaimed artist and genius, K. Roth Binew (O'Connell), has only one day to live. He has enlisted his best and only friend, Mills Joquin (Eisenberg), to take him around on a bicycle powered rickshaw. In a final attempt to probe life's deepest mysteries, Binew endures one ridiculous trial after the next. He concludes his day with a final performance, his living wake.
Dark Streets
Thursday, 26th @ AMC Loews Pipers Alley
Feature: Dark Streets directed by Rachel Samuels
Starring: Gabriel Mann ("The Bourne Identity"), Bijou Phillips ("Almost Famous") & Izabella Miko ("Coyote Ugly")
Short: Morning Fall directed by Edward McGinty
Party: Rockit Bar and Grill - 22 West Hubbard Street
Set in a visually dazzling fantasy of the early 1930's, DARK STREETS tells the story of Chaz Davenport (Mann), a dashing but naive playboy who owns the hottest new nightclub in town – “The Tower.” Surrounded by blues music and juggling two gorgeous singers, Chaz is the envy of every man. Yet he's up to his neck in bad debts and bad choices, and his father's unexpected suicide gets more mysterious the more Chaz looks into it. As he is drawn deeper into a web of lies and betrayal, Chaz no longer knows who to trust or who to fear.
Explicit Ills
Friday, 27th @ AMC Loews Pipers Alley
Feature: Explicit Ills directed by Mark Webber
Starring: Paul Dano ("Little Miss Sunshine"), Rosario Dawson ("Sin City"), Naomie Harris ("28 Days Later"), Tariq Trotter, Lou Taylor Pucci ("Thumbsucker"), Frankie Shaw, Francisco Burgos, Martin Cepeda Jr., Rebecca Comerford & Destini Edwards
Short: Whatever... directed by Mikael Zimmerman
Party: Enclave - 220 West Chicago Ave
Explicit Ills is actor turned helmer, Mark Webber's directorial debut. The film follows four inter-connecting stories revolving around love, drugs and poverty in Philadelphia. Babo (Burgos), an asthma ridden seven-year-old lives with his mother (Dawson) in the badlands of North Philly. His neighbor Demetri (Cepeda) transforms himself into a well-read "smart" boy in order to get the girl. Michelle (Shaw), a well-off art student is quick to fall into a drug induced love-affair with her dealer Jacob (Pucci). Kaleef and Jill's (Trotter and Harris) marriage is strained as they pursue their dreams of bringing "produce to the people" as their teenage son Heslin (McManus) focuses on competing in the World's Strongest Man competition. The lyrical and moving drama finds its core as all members come together in their fight for justice and self-discovery.
