film descriptions
Kyriakos Katzourakis in person!
THE WAY TO THE WEST
2003, Kyriakos Katzourakis, Greece, 79 min.
With Katia Gerou
Winner of the FIPRESCI Prize at the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, THE WAY TO THE WEST is a fresh look at a crucial subject covered in such films as DIRTY PRETTY THINGS and IN THIS WORLD: the plight of economic and political refugees. A member of the New Greek Realists painting movement, director Katzourakis boldly mixes fiction and documentary. Centered on the fictionalized story of a Russian refugee (Gerou) entangled in the sex trade, the film incorporates interviews and news footage of emigrants who flock to Greece as a way station on their westward trek. In Greek, English, and Kurdish with English subtitles. 35mm. (MR)
Friday, November 4, 8:15 pm;
Monday, November 7, 8:00 pm
World premiere!
Gerard Jamroz in person!
CHICAGO POEMS
2005, Gerard Jamroz, USA, 105 min.
With Laura Donnelly, Tera Dunlap, Phil Wasik
Made in Chicago with a large and dynamic cast of local actors, CHICAGO POEMS blends three interconnected stories set in the North Side neighborhood where Carl Sandburg once lived and worked. The plot galvanizes around would-be boxer Carl (Jamroz) and his sometimes-violent relationship with girlfriend Anna. The quirky director of a storefront theater piques the interest of his lonely landlady, while the war in Iraq casts a shadow in the single-girl life of Virginia, who left her fiancé behind in Indiana. Shot in black-and-white for a moody feel that underlines the film’s Chicago locations, CHICAGO POEMS blends realism with urban lyricism. DV-CAM video. (BS)
Director Jamroz and members of the cast and crew will be present for audience discussion.
