The Chicago Underground Film Festival presents the Midwest Premiere of Julian Goldbergerıs Trans Exploration of youth and escape kicks off CUFFıs 99-2000 screening season ³You had to stray all the way to the Frontier section to which ³experimentalı work is banished, to find the real thing - THE BEST INDEPENDENT FILM AT SUNDANCE.² -Gavin Smith, Film Comment ³Julian Goldbergerıs depiction of a 16-year-old Florida kid with nowhere to run is THE 400 BLOWS OF THE 90ıs.² -Amy Taubin, Village Voice ³Without a doubt, IT IS ONE THE BEST DEBUT NARRATIVE FEATURES THAT IıVE SEEN IN A LONG TIME, Its solid improvisational scenes are enhanced by stylish, yet experimental camerawork and soundtrack.² -Eugene Hernandez, indieWIRE On November 19th, The Chicago Underground Film Festival, in cooperation with the Film and Video Department of Columbia College, will present the Midwest premiere of Trans, Julian Goldbergerıs mesmerizing debut feature. The film chronicles the experiences of a teenage boy from his escape from a Florida detention center until his eventual capture. Trans won The Readerıs Jury Prize for Best Feature at the Berlin Film Festivalıs International Forum of New Cinema and was an official selection at Sundance, Toronto and New Directors/New Films. Trans will screen at 7 and 8:30pm at Columbia Collegeıs Ferguson Hall, 600 South Michigan Ave. Admission is $6.00, $3.00 with valid Columbia College ID. Free to CUFF.ORG members. Trans, follows the story of Ryan Kazinsky, a 16-year-old who escapes from a chain gang at a juvenile detention center in Southern Florida. After negotiating his way through alligator infested swamps, majestic woods draped with Spanish moss and redneck inquisitions, Ryan hitches a ride back to his hometown where he hides from the police, reckons with hostile gang members and has an uneasy reunion with his brother who is unsure whether to berate or hug him. Inevitably, Ryanıs own frailty is his undoing - but not before securing one last definitive moment of solace. Combining lush, atmospheric imagery with daringly expressive camerawork, Trans defies the generic conventions of ³prison break² and ³road² movies. Instead, director Julian Goldberger rigorously sticks with his anti-hero (an extraordinary performance from first-time actor Ryan Daugherty) and his inexorable journey, mental and physical - often surreal but always credible. Trans launches The Chicago Underground Film Festivalıs new season of underground film screenings, organized to ensure the presence of uncompromising film and video in Chicago. In the last year the festival has presented a night of experimental mischief with tENTATIVELY a cONVIENIENCE, a special screening of Dave Sarno, Seth Henrickson and Rob Shieldıs award winning documentary Goreville USA, a book launch and screening with underground chronicler Jack Sargeant, and the midwest premiere of digital superstar Todd Verowıs Shucking The Curve. ³The Chicago Underground Film Festival will continue its mission to promote new visions in film and video into the next millenium² says Festival Director Bryan Wendorf, ³We will remain proudly defiant as we continue to bring you the best in rule-breaking, cutting-edge and sometimes subversive cinema being created today.² ____________________________________________________________________________ Chicago Underground Film Festival 3109 North Western Ave. Chicago, IL 60618 Phone 773/327-FILM Fax 773/327-3464 Web http://www.cuff.org Email [log in to unmask] ---- For past messages, visit the Screen-L Archives: http://bama.ua.edu/archives/screen-l.html