Two Chicago festivals bring you the past, present and future of film
Over the next few weeks, two Chicago film festivals will showcase the past, present and future of the medium with local flavor and global reach.
CineYouth Festival
Let's begin with the future. Sixty-five shorts from filmmakers ages 22 and younger will be screened Friday through Sunday, April 21-23, at Facets, 1517 W. Fullerton Ave., Chicago, as part of the 2023 CineYouth Festival. The 65 films are divided into 10 screening blocks beginning at 7 p.m. Friday with a Chicagoland Shorts Program featuring the work of local directors, including students from Glenbard East High School, Northwestern, Columbia and DePaul. This local block of films will also play at 7 p.m. Sunday.
Other programs include Late Night Thrills (9 p.m. Friday), Humor Me (8 p.m. Saturday) and an all-ages block of films named Playtime: Family Fun! (1 p.m. Sunday). The docket also includes filmmaker Q&A sessions and workshops.
Admission is free and can be reserved online at chicagofilmfestival.com/cineyouth, where you can also find the full schedule. (And from Monday, April 24, to Sunday, April 30, you can also watch the CineYouth lineup online.)
Chicago Film Critics Festival
Exciting films of today are paired with classic revivals at the 10th Chicago Film Critics Festival, running Friday, May 5, through Thursday, May 11, at Chicago's premier movie palace, the Music Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport Ave.
Highlights include "Master Gardener" (2:15 p.m. May 7), the latest from "Taxi Driver" scribe Paul Schrader, starring Joel Edgerton as the title character with a dark past - and what happens when a troubled teen crosses paths with that past. Sigourney Weaver co-stars.
The festival opens with "BlackBerry" (7 p.m. May 5), a comedic chronicle of the tech device's invention starring funnymen Jay Baruchel ("How to Train Your Dragon") and Glenn Howerton ("It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia").
Younger viewers can enjoy the French-language animated sequel "Ernest & Celestine: A Trip to Gibberitia" (noon May 7), whose 2012 hand-drawn precursor was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Oscars.
The revivals include 1998's "Dark City" (midnight May 5), a sci-fi noir so beloved by Roger Ebert that he recorded a DVD commentary track for it, and Philip Kaufman's 1983 epic "The Right Stuff" (7 p.m. May 8), about the real-life American test pilots who revolutionized air and space travel.
Buy tickets and see the full schedule online at chicagocriticsfilmfestival.com.
• Sean Stangland is an assistant news editor who greatly enjoyed seeing "Back to the Future" with 700 enthusiastic, respectful moviegoers last weekend at the Music Box.