Talking Screens, A Week In Chicago Film, July 28-August 3, 2023
With the gleefully entertaining “Afire,” Christian Petzold may have finally arrived as an American art-house presence, a maker of movies that can get reluctant moviegoers into seats and get talked about afterwards. In a nearly thirty-year career, with features beginning with “The State I Am In” (2000) and including “Jerichow” (2008); “Barbara” (2012); “Phoenix” (2014); “Transit” (2018) and “Undine” (2020), he’s been one of Germany’s most consistently fascinating directors. Petzold relates that during lockdown, he rediscovered the talkative films of Éric Rohmer, when the head of Les Films du Losange, his French distributor, gave him a Rohmer box set. Petzold mingled summery sensation from that filmmaker with a Chekhov short story he had recently read, as well as French and American “summer films,” which he summarizes as “movies about young people coming of age during eventful summers that offer the promise of a bright future but that also spell the end of carefree innocence.” The result is funny, strange, filled with eccentric but recognizable behavior, kind of a thriller, and unfolding by the water near a forest tempted by wildlife. “Afire” is probably the most accessible picture yet (to American audiences, at least), while being both the most characteristic (and maybe best) of his movies. (Darkness follows, ja.)
“Petzold is one of a nearly lost tribe: European filmmakers with a signature both specific and elusive who were once counted on to deliver films every year or two that fit both the marketplace and their own recognizable concerns,” I wrote of the prolific director when “Undine” came out. “Filmmakers such as Almodóvar, Bergman and Chabrol and Varda had runs like that, as have, in briefer spans, filmmakers like Wenders and Herzog and many others we could name. These European authors (not ‘auteurs’) were supported by financing schemes within their own countries, from European broadcasting entities and larger European Union cultural and economic initiatives. Plus, they had stories to tell, and lyricism would leak through, just because specificity in personal observation will almost always suggest universality without having to lean upon stark proclamations or brutally obvious themes. European directors continue the struggle to capture the modern world as it enfolds us. In 2000, when his first feature was released, ‘The State I Am In,’ he didn’t necessarily seem like he would first nestle, then burrow into his role as a poet of unease, a painter of the so-specific and yet-so-elusive. His movies transfix beyond his elemental way with plot and metaphor. His cool complexity suggests a familiar world with ease as simple as breath, with the oneiric ease that only moving pictures can provide.” “Afire” only heightens that admiring approximation: it’s a blaze of glory.
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem,” an animated “TMNT” is upon us; its estimable creative partners include screenwriter-producers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, and director-co-screenwriter Jeff Rowe who directed the fantastic “The Mitchells vs. the Machines” (2021). Opens in theaters Wednesday, August 2.
“Inspired by” the theme park ride and directed by Justin Simien (“Dear White People”), “Haunted Mansion” features LaKeith Stanfield, Tiffany Haddish, Owen Wilson, Danny DeVito, Rosario Dawson, Chase W. Dillon, Dan Levy, Jamie Lee Curtis and Jared Leto as The Hatbox Ghost. Opens in theaters, Friday, July 28.
“Ghosts in the Void”
The Midwest Film Festival presents horror premiere, Jason Miller’s “Ghosts Of The Void,” described as “the gripping tale of a newly-homeless woman, plagued by exhaustion, a crumbling marriage, and the enigmatic presence of masked strangers, challenging the very essence of the American dream while exploring the fears and struggles that haunt those who strive to fulfill their aspirations.” A Q&A follows; a reception precedes. MFF, Siskel, July 31, 630pm.
The Chicago Underground Film Festival, the oldest underground fest in the word, turns thirty in Hyde Park, with a new autumn berth, kicking off the 2023 fall film festival season. (More at the end of the column.)
The Chicago International Film Festival returns for the fifty-ninth year, October 11-22. Festival selections will show across the city, including the Gene Siskel Film Center, Music Box, Chicago Historical Museum, select Chicago Park District venues, and at its new hub theater, the AMC Newcity 14 in Lincoln Park. More to come here.
Chicago Filmmakers, which also produces Reeling: The Chicago LGBTQ+ International Film Festival and Onion City Experimental Film Festival, begins its fiftieth anniversary with a kick-off event at Le Piano, Saturday, September 9. “We’ll be honoring those who have served the Chicago film community with distinction. The honorees include Sharon Zurek, Christine Dudley, Joe Chappelle, and Colleen Griffen, whose generous contributions and passion for building community have [helped build] the Chicago film scene.” Tickets and more here.
Also: the first complete retrospective of the films of Camille Billops and James Hatch: Black cultural life and storytelling are “on screen in six autobiographical works that innovated the documentary form and artfully weave together personal histories and social issues.” Complete listing for showings Friday, July 28 and Saturday, July 29 here.
“Iconic gay sex symbol Peter Berlin writes, directs, produces, edits, and stars in ‘That Boy‘ as Helmut, a German Adonis admired and desired by every person he comes in contact with—including members of the Cockettes—but who only loves the blind boy who can’t judge him for his looks and won’t see them fade with age. One of the more unusual and artistically ambitious films to come out of San Francisco’s gay underground film scene, ‘That Boy’ is a singular tribute to narcissism that has been newly restored in 2K by Vinegar Syndrome from the long-lost original 16mm camera negative.” (A rich Apartamento interview with Berlin is here.) Presented by Front Row and Henry Hanson at the Music Box, July 30, 9:30pm.
“Play It As It Lays”
Doc Film’s L.A. summer breathes its last with Frank Perry’s adaptation of Joan Didion’s “Play It As It Lays” (1972) in a rare showing, in 35mm, no less. “Maria, a restless actress brilliantly played by Tuesday Weld, finds herself in a loveless marriage and near constant mental turmoil as she travels back and forth between L.A. and Vegas. Expressing a distinct Didion brand of nihilism, Perry’s ‘Play It as It Lays’ is perhaps the only big screen adaptation to do the late writer’s work justice,” avers Doc Films’ capsule writer. Doc Films, Friday, July 28, 7pm; Saturday, July 29, 4pm.
CHICAGO SEEN
Chicago Underground Film Fest Will Turn Thirty In Hyde Park
The thirtieth edition of the Chicago Underground Film Festival, the longest-running underground film festival in the world, is moving to the South Side Harper Theater, September 13-17, with opening night held at The Gene Siskel Film Center. A global champion of the underground scene, CUFF “showcases and celebrates some of the most original films and video art being made today all supplemented through screenings, panels and nightly afterparties.” Highlights this year include three locally produced world premieres, an afterparty at The Promontory curated by Eric Williams of the Silver Room, and an underground art market at The Kulture Museum. Curated panels and parties, new films from festival alumni and other genre-bending features and shorts are on tap as well.
The move to the South Side and CUFF’s transition “into an independent 501(c)3 organization mark transformative milestones in our journey,” artistic director Bryan Wendorf says. “By embracing Hyde Park’s rich cultural mosaic, we ignite a vibrant tapestry of diversity, inviting artists and audiences from all walks of life to experience our boundary-pushing cinematic offerings. This pivotal moment empowers us to create a more inclusive festival where stories transcend boundaries, challenge perceptions, and empower underrepresented voices. As a nonprofit entity, we amplify our commitment to alternative filmmaking, cultivating a vibrant community of filmmakers, cinephiles, and artists who push boundaries and provoke meaningful dialogues. Together, we revolutionize the way we perceive the world, harnessing the power of underground cinema to inspire and foster artistic freedom.” Tickets and more here.
Ray Pride is Newcity’s Senior Editor and Film Critic. He is a contributing editor of Filmmaker magazine.
Ray’s history of Chicago Ghost Signs is planned for publication next year. Previews of the project are on Twitter and on Instagram. More photography on Instagram.
