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April 1999, Week 3

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From:
Chicago Underground Film Festival <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Mon, 19 Apr 1999 16:27:20 -0500
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FOR      IMMEDIATE      RELEASE

IN AN ERA OF "COOKIE CUTTER INDIES"
CHICAGO UNDERGROUND BREAKS THE MOLD

ENTRY DEADLINE CLOSING IN FOR DEFIANTLY INDEPENDENT EVENT
GOOSE ISLAND FUNDS CHICAGO FILMMAKER PRIZE

As the May 15th entry deadline approaches for the Sixth Annual Chicago
Underground Film Festival, Chicago prepares itself for another cinematic
barrage from below.  New for the 1999 festival is the Goose Island "Brewed
in Chicago" Award-a special prize funded by the local brewery and presented
to the best Chicago-produced film in the festival. Festival Director Bryan
Wendorf said, "Chicago filmmakers have been an important part of CUFF since
its inception. The creation of the "Brewed in Chicago"  award reinforces our
commitment to the local filmmaking community".

At a time when once-provocative festivals are offering up what the Village
Voice calls "cookie-cutter indies" and critics denounce the mainstreaming of
independent film - CUFF continues to offer up uncompromising, challenging,
and truly original fare.  For this reason, CUFF remains a haven for
visionary and maverick filmmakers and a focal point for the underground.

Now in its sixth year, CUFF long ago established itself as a showcase for
uncompromising cinema. CUFF has presented local and world premieres of such
groundbreaking work as Sonic Outlaws, Craig Baldwin's experimental
documentary about the band Negativeland, The Decline of Western Civilization
Part 3, Penelope Spheeris' self-financed, thought-provoking glimpse into the
world of street punks, Charlie's Family, Jim Van Bebber's ten-years-in the
making dramatization of Manson's followers, and Mary Jane's Not a Virgin
Anymore, Sarah Jacobson's unabashed look at teenage sexuality. Moreover,
CUFF has paid its respects to the history of the underground, honoring such
celluloid renegades as John Waters, Jack Smith, and Richard Kern.  As Roger
Ebert has said, CUFF is populated with films "grittier, more anarchic, less
eager to please, and more willing to outrage" than your average film
festival ­ a sensibility ever more important in the wake of indie
mainstreaming.

CUFF is not just an underground event, but a locus point for the underground
scene.  Filmmakers like Peter Hall (Delinquent) and John Michael McCarthy
(The Sore Losers) cite the festival as the spawning ground for creative
collaborations and future projects. Hall recently stated "At CUFF, I have
communed with filmmakers I merely encountered at (other festivals)." The
result of this kind of interchange between filmmakers makes CUFF a ground
zero for the radical visions of tomorrow, provoking George Kuchar to say
"CUFF gave me hope for the future."

It is in this spirit that CUFF invites the subversive, maverick, and radical
new visions to Chicago for it's annual festival of uncompromising cinema.
The 6th Annual Chicago Underground Film Festival runs August 13-19, 1999 at
the four-screen Village Theater, 1548 North Clark Street.

For further information or festival entry forms contact:
Bryan Wendorf, 773-327-3456
[log in to unmask], http://www.cuff.org

----
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http://www.tcf.ua.edu/ScreenSite

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