Chicago International Film Festival Makes Opening Splash With Press on Sept. 18

Now in its 43rd year and the longest-running film festival in North America, the Chicago International Film Festival held a press preview on Sept. 18 at La Pomme Rouge in Chicago.


The scene at the Chicago International Film Festival press
preview on Sept. 18, 2007 at La Pomme Rouge in Chicago.
Photo by Adam Fendelman/HollywoodChicago.com
The festival runs from Oct. 4 to 17. It features 360 performances and 160 movies from 44 countries and showcases both well-known and promising new filmmakers. Run by Cinema/Chicago, the 2007 festival is dedicated to film critic Roger Ebert.


Michael Kutza (right) is the founder and artistic director
of the Chicago International Film Festival.
Photo by Adam Fendelman/HollywoodChicago.com
Ben Affleck, Alison Eastwood, Anthony Hopkins, Laura Linney, Malcom McDowell and Jeffrey Wright are among those expected to walk the red carpet.

Films including “Gone Baby Gone” (Ben Affleck’s directorial debut), “Rails & Ties” (Alison Eastwood’s directorial debut), “Kite Runner” (from director Marc Forster), “Michael Clayton” and “Things We Lost in the Fire” are among the headliners.

Chicago filmmaker Darryl Roberts was also in attendance on Tuesday discussing his film “America the Beautiful”. I also noticed the partly animated Chicago documentary entitled “Chicago 10”.

The festival will screen films at AMC River East 21 (322 E. Illinois), Landmark Century Centre Cinema (2828 N. Clark), the Chicago Theatre (175 N. State), the Harris Theater for Music & Dance (205 E. Randolph) and the Music Box Theatre (3733 N. Southport).

Stay tuned for more coverage on HollywoodChicago.com.