South Loop Film Fest

our own little moondance

04/28/2011 11:59 PM

By Bonnie McGrath

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Another feather in the cap of the South Loop: a South Loop Film Festival tonight at the Roosevelt Icon, sponsored by Whole Foods South Loop. There were 18 shorts, all produced by young people, many shot in the South Loop. The ticket sales went to the South Chicago Art Center, to boot. And every ticket buyer got a huge (and heavy) swag bag from Whole Foods filled with healthy snacks and soft drinks.


What more can you ask for in a neighborhood? Live action, documentaries, a little music, a little animation. My favorite was Above the Sun, an ironic arctic climb by a duo who looked like they were scared and exhausted. While it looked like the climbers were atop Mt. Everest, when they landed they were actually on a huge pile of snow on a Chicago street, post-blizzard.

My daughter Molly liked Pillow Fight--a less-than-five minute film in which four buddies have a crazy pillow fight at the South Loop's Franklin Pointe.

The audience seemed to like You Will Like This, a three-minute feature narrated by a woman--who is supposedly a victim of just about everything, from anorexia to domestic abuse--while she's watching her childhood home movies. The audience got to ask all the filmmakers questions afterwards. Anna Krutzik, who made that film said she sees a lot of cathartic documentaries in her line of work and she decided to make her film to serve as a sort of testament to all of them.

There were votes for audience favorites: the winner was a five-minute documentary about a nerdy guy who drinks a lot of coffee because he likes to collect the phone numbers of the baristas. Other favorites included a five-minute flick with avant-garde overtones about Arab-American racism, as well as a three-minute documentary about the skate board park under the expressway at Western Ave. and Logan Boulevard.

I suspect next year's fest will have either a documentary or a feature film about yesterday's big neighborhood hoax--which had everyone in a complete tizzy--put on by Columbia College pranksters who concocted an elaborate scheme to make the neighbors think that a big and dirty coal-powered energy plant was going to be built at--get this--Franklin Pointe. In case you missed all the fun and games, you can catch up on the practical joke here, here, here, here and here.



2 Comments - Add Your Comment



By Solo from Motor Row
Posted: 04/29/2011 9:55 AM

SLFF 11' was another great event. This is the only one of its kind where all the films are Midwest focused and many filmed right in our neighborhood. The theatre was packed. I hope they get a larger theatre next year as this will become a staple in for the independent film industry. Whole Foods again comes through with a great goodie bag!


By Stephen Reginald from South Loop
Posted: 04/29/2011 7:20 AM

Good recap, Bonnie. I liked "Love is Like Life but Longer" about the young blind man and the nun. It was beautifully shot.