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The First School of the Art Institute of Chicago Queer Film and Video Festival presents eight diverse film and video works made by Queer film and video makers from across the world.  The festival, curated and coordinated by students at the School, begins Thursday, April 23, and continues through Friday, May 2.  Additional programming will take place at the University of Chicago on Thursday, May 8, and at the Hart/Gerber Library, 1127 W. Granville, on Saturday, May 10.  The Lesbian Gay Bi Transgendered Student Union at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago presents this festival with support from the School’s Student Government.  Admission is free, except for the presentation at the Hart/Gerber Library.  For more information call the School’s Department of Exhibitions and Events at 312.443.3703 or e-mail Kit Hung at whung@artic.edu.

The Queer Film and Video Festival features the Chicago premiere of James Wentzy's documentary, "Fight Back, Fight AIDS: 15 Years of ACT UP" (2002, USA, 75:00), the 35mm US premiere of Yau Ching's Ho Yuk (Let's Love Hong Kong), three scheduled presentations originate from various Asian cities and provide a glimpse into today’s Asian queer culture.  Ultimately, festival organizers aim to bring queer students together, promote and encourage awareness, and provide a forum for cultural discourse that allows, through experimental media, a greater social understanding.

Program Schedule

Wednesday, April 23, 6:30 p.m.

Program 1:“Take Me Home, International Shorts Competition”

School Auditorium, 280 South Columbus Drive, 2^nd floor

Thursday, April 24, 5 p.m.

Program 2: “Oriental DIVA”

Curated by Hong Kong Art Center

School Auditorium, 280 South Columbus Drive, 2^nd floor

Thursday, April 24, 7 p.m.

Program 3: “Poem, Symphony, Shadows and Rainbow”

Curated by Taiwan National University of Arts

School Auditorium, 280 South Columbus Drive, 2^nd floor

Thursday, May 1, 4:30 p.m.

Program 4:“Korean New Queer Cinema”

3 of the works during this presentation do not have English subtitles

Curated by Seoul Queer Achieve, Korea

112 S. Michigan Ave., Room 1307

Thursday, May 1, 7 p.m.

Program 5:“Blackstar:  Autobiography of a Friend”

112 S. Michigan Ave., Room 1307

Friday, May 2, 8 p.m.

Program 6:“Fight Back, Fight AIDS: 15 Years of ACT UP”

Hosted by Queer to the Left

112 S. Michigan Ave, Room 1307

Thursday, May 8, 6:30 p.m.

Program 7: “Ho Yok” (“Let’s Love Hong Kong”)

Co-presented with “Queerly Chinese Cinemas” organized by the Univ. of Chicago Lesbian & Gay Studies Project and the Workshop on Genders & Sexualities in Asia

University of Chicago-Cobb Hall

Film Studies Center Auditorium

5811 S. Ellis Ave., Room 307

Saturday, May 10, 4:30 p.m.

Program 8: “Best of the Fest”

Hart/Gerber Library

1127 W. Granville Ave. (Located near Granville station on CTA Red Line)

$2 donation to Hart/Gerber Library

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An innovator in the arts for over 130 years, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, which has been consistently ranked the number one graduate school of fine arts in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in the visual and related arts.  In a recent survey conducted by the National Arts Journalism Program at Columbia University, the School was named the “most influential art school” by art critics at general interest news publications from across the United States.  Visit the School’s web site at www.artic.edu/saic.