Indie Comedy
The Christopher Wetzel Award for Independent Film Comedy
The biennial Christopher Wetzel Award for Independent Film Comedy was created at the Gene Siskel Film Center to support independent filmmakers in their efforts to explore the art of comedy on film. The many entries we received this year, including nine features, revealed a wealth of new talent. We wish they all could win, but since that’s not possible we’ve programmed an exciting selection of films entered in the competition to play throughout the month in the series Indie Comedy. Don’t miss this chance to sample the newest comedy talent on the independent scene, with films ranging from the comically serious to the seriously wacky.
The guest juror for this year’s award was screenwriter Dana Olsen, who will host the awards night celebration on Saturday, June 16. A Chicago native who became a staff writer for the ABC sitcom Laverne and Shirley following his graduation from Northwestern University, Olsen is best known for INSPECTOR GADGET and GEORGE OF THE JUNGLE.
The Christopher Wetzel Award for Independent Film Comedy was established through the generosity of the family and friends of Christopher Wetzel. The untimely death of this young filmmaker inspired those who knew him to initiate a memorial that would provide encouragement to other filmmakers, especially those in the early stages of their careers.
The Onion is Exclusive Print Media Sponsor of Indie Comedy.
--Barbara Scharres
Filmmakers in person!
Free admission!
Christopher Wetzel Award for Independent Film Comedy
With Screenwriter Dana Olsen
Wetzel competition juror Dana Olsen, writer of films including INSPECTOR GADGET, GEORGE OF THE JUNGLE, and THE ‘BURBS, presents the Christopher Wetzel Award to four 2007 winners and hosts an evening celebrating independent comedy. Enjoy an enticing program of clips from the winning films, and meet the filmmakers: Oren Rudavsky, First Place Feature winner of $5,000 for THE TREATMENT; Ishai Setton, Second Place Feature winner of $2,500 for THE BIG BAD SWIM; Bill Oliver, First Place Short winner of $2,500 for GUILT; and Peter Craig, Second Place Short winner of $1,000 for NEVEL IS THE DEVIL. See film descriptions elsewhere in this section.
The audience is invited to congratulate the winners and special guests in a reception in our Gallery/Café following the screening.
Saturday, June 16, 8:00 pm
Indie Comedy
THE BIG BAD SWIM
2006, Ishai Setton, USA, 93 min.
With Paget Brewster, Jeff Branson
THE BOHEMIAN
2006, Bruno Borello, USA, 10 min.
With Bill Burman, Beverly Elkan
THE BIG BAD SWIM boasts an ensemble cast as sparkling as the turquoise waters at the health club where trepidatious aquaphobes face a hunky failed Olympian for an adult swim class that includes a stripper, a soon-to-be-divorced calculus teacher, and an Asian American princess on the make. Just add H20 to this unlikely meet market for invigorating laps around the pool of romantic possibilities. Variety called it “a real comic find.” Second Place Feature winner of the 2007 Christopher Wetzel Award for Independent Film Comedy. DigiBeta video.
Preceded by THE BOHEMIAN, in which an aspiring novelist finds the price of his obsession higher than expected. Mini-DV video. (BS)
Friday, June 8, 6:00 pm
Monday, June 11, 8:00 pm
Filmmakers in person!
We Like Short Shorts
2005-2007, Various directors, USA/Canada/Australia, 104 min.
Talented directors strut their shorts in a don’t-miss program highlighting two Christopher Wetzel Award winners. GUILT by Bill Oliver (15 min.), First Place Short, questions whether a boy’s heart really belongs to his mother. Conniving employees in a consumer products testing lab are the focus of Second Place Short NEVEL IS THE DEVIL by Peter Craig (13 min.) The program also includes: ORIGASMI by Jill Rosenberg (4 min); ARCHER HOUSE by Dina Gachman (17 min.); THE ECSTASY OF GARY GREEN by Jack Feldstein (15 min.); AVAILABLE MEN by David Dean Bottrell (15 min.) and LEFT OF CENTER by Alex Mangen and Jason Hardwick (25 min.). Various video formats. (BS)
Directors Bill Oliver, Peter Craig, and Dina Gachman will be present for audience discussion.
Friday, June 15, 7:45 pm
Monday, June 18, 6:00 pm
Sneak preview!
FULL GROWN MEN
2006, David Munro, USA, 80 min.
With Matt McGrath, Judah Friedlander
I AM LLOYD HAMLIN
2005, Mark Roush, USA, 12 min.
With Jim Sanborn, Haley Talbot
On track with Gen X obsessions, FULL GROWN MEN follows the progress of 35-year-old Alby (McGrath), who walks out on his wife and toddler for the more silent succor of his prized collection of 12-inch action figures and the companionship of his boyhood buddy, on a revealing visit to “Diggityland,” their Holy Grail of theme parks. The LA Weekly cited FULL GROWN MEN as “a road trip (and a belated ‘coming of age’) as entertaining as the wine tour in SIDEWAYS.” Alan Cumming, Amy Sedaris, and Deborah Harry create memorable cameo roles. Preview courtesy of Grottofilms. 35mm.
Preceded by I AM LLOYD HAMLIN. Is that guy in a spandex suit a superhero, or just a delusional comic book-store owner? Mini-DV video. (BS)
Friday, June 22, 8:15 pm
Monday, June 25, 6:00 pm
Sneak preview!
THE TREATMENT
2006, Oren Rudavsky, USA, 85 min.
With Chris Eigeman, Ian Holm, Famke Janssen
ATONEMENT TONIGHT
2006, Anny Slater, Australia, 5 min.
“Side-splitting, sexy, moving, witty and focused from start to end, THE TREATMENT is a winner.”--Marc Kandel, efilmcritic.com
A handsome but nerdy prep school teacher (Eigeman) entrenched in perpetual loserdom, is hauled up short when a chic wealthy widow (Janssen) signals a come-on. Happiness won’t come easily if his curmudgeon shrink (Holm), described in Daniel Menaker’s source novel as an “insane, bodybuilding, blackbearded Cuban Catholic,” has anything to do with it. Named Best Film Made in New York, 2006, and First Place Feature winner of the 2007 Christopher Wetzel Award for Independent Film Comedy. THE TREATMENT opens Friday, June 29 at Landmark Century Centre Cinema. Preview courtesy of New Yorker Films. 35mm.
Preceded by ATONEMENT TONIGHT, a politically incorrect satire. Beta SP video. (BS)
Saturday, June 23, 8:00 pm
Sneak preview!
CARBUNCLE
2006, T. Arthur Cottam, USA, 89 min.
With Kyra Lin, Jenna Harris
FILTHY FOOD
2006, T. Arthur Cottam, USA, 5 min.
In CARBUNCLE’s film-within-a-film, an arch comedy in which a nastily eccentric director alienates his co-workers is the framing device for the serious drama the cast and crew are shooting in a trailer park. Director T. Arthur Cottam, winner of a 2003 Wetzel Award for the short PORNOGRAPHIC APATHETIC, deftly intercuts the troubling fiction of a mentally challenged girl conned by a ruthless social worker with the mean-spirited shenanigans of the film set. Preview of CARBUNCLE courtesy of Misfit Films.
Preceded by FILTHY FOOD: fruit will never look the same. Banned in Italy, the director reports. Mini-DV video. (BS)
Actor Greg Ellery will be present for audience discussion at Friday's screening.