Chicago's Own Connections Chicago Filmmakers

Tonight?s program features several resent works by local filmmakers which explore various kinds of connections, real or imagines. Heather McAdam?s A Pussy (1997, 3 min.) was shot in a Paris pet cemetery with a broken Bolex camera.


9/6/1997 - 9/6/1997


Tonight?s program features several resent works by local filmmakers which explore various kinds of connections, real or imagined.

Heather McAdam?s A Pussy (1997, 3 min.) was shot in a Paris pet cemetery with a broken Bolex camera. Cornered (1997, 12 min.) by April Simmons, retells an old Southern ghost story that has been handed down from generation to generation. The narrative concerns the daughter of a rural family who keeps the ghost alive by feeding it all night ? until she is caught by her father. The Last Days (1997, 15 min.) by Shaz Kerr. The story of two eleven year old boys in two turbulent periods of history. Yummy is a Chicago gang member in 1997; Sacha is a reconnaissance fighter in 1941 Eastern Europe. Both boys are on the run, fighting to belong in an adult world where the axis has been shifted by war, where all the attributes of childhood have gone forever. Red shoe (1997, 9 min.), by Ines Sommer. A dance film about motherhood, movement, children, and household noises run amok. The imagery revolves around an improvisation by modern dance Gabriel Oechsle and three young children dressed as street urchins. Balvinder Dhenjan?s The Pyre (1997, 4 min.) is a double edged exposure of the Devan girls in Little India parading themselves behind the glitter of the glass. Parachute (1997, 18 min.), by Laura Heit, is a multi-plane cut-out animation which uses paper, color, and perspective to construct a world where time and space can fluidly shift and narratives can reflect and overlap. The film allows the viewer to follow an unusual path in which a young woman overcomes solitude nad adversity in an attempt to find a safe and comfortable way through a city filled with strangers. Dima El Horr?s The Street (1997, 21 min.) is a beautifully realized tale about a young boy and his bike. Filmed in stunning black and white, this film is reminiscent of the Italian neorealist classics of the 1940?s. ?After seventeen years of war, my home, the Lebanese capital, Beirut, is going though a revitalization campaign in which some traditional parts of the city are being demolished to be replaced by ?modern? surroundings. This film uses the present day to create a mirage of a past time.? (DE) All 16 mm.

Director
Heather McAdams, April Simmons, Shaz Kerr, Ines Sommer, Balvinder Dhenjan, Laura Heit, Dim El Horr

Tags: Film, American, 1997