Special Events
Eric Simonson in person!
Rare Academy Award-Winning Short Films
1971-2005, Various directors, USA, 98 min.
The Gene Siskel Film Center in cooperation with the Short Subjects branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presents a special program of three Oscar-winning shorts in prints from the Academy archive: CHERNOBYL HEART by Maryanne De Leo (2003, 39 min.); INTERVIEW WITH MAI LAI VETERANS by Joseph Strick (1971, 20 min.); A NOTE OF TRIUMPH: THE GOLDEN AGE OF NORMAN CORWIN by Eric Simonson (2005, 39 min.) 35mm and 16mm. (BS)
Eric Simonson, director of A NOTE OF TRIUMPH: THE GOLDEN AGE OF NORMAN CORWIN, will be present for audience discussion.
Friday, April 4, 6:00
Chicago premiere!
THE SINGING REVOLUTION
2007, James Tusty and Maureen Castle Tusty, USA, 96 min.
Narrated by Linda Hunt
“Imagine the scene in CASABLANCA in which French patrons sing ‘La Marseillaise’ in defiance of the Germans, then multiply it by a factor of thousands, and you’ve only begun to imagine the force of THE SINGING REVOLUTION.”--Matt Zoeller Seitz, The New York Times
This stirring documentary tells the amazing true story of Estonia’s fight for independence, and the way that culture changed a nation. The small Baltic country of Estonia has for centuries been overrun by conquerors, most recently the Soviet Union. Estonia has an extraordinarily strong musical tradition, and the flame of freedom was kept burning at the quinquennial Laulupidu Song Festival, where as many as 30,000 singers would take the stage to sing the unofficial national anthem, “Land of My Fathers, Land That I Love.” In the face of intensive “Russification,” Estonia’s cultural traditions preserved its national identity, enabling it to accomplish a bloodless revolution that harbingered the collapse of the Soviet Empire. In English, Estonian, and Russian with English subtitles. 35mm. (MR)
Co-director James Tusty will be present for audience discussion on Sunday.
THE SINGING REVOLUTION will return for a week-long engagement May 23-29! More details will be posted as they become available.
Sunday, April 6, 5:00 pm
Tuesday, April 8, 6:00
Free Admission!
35th Annual Student Academy Awards
Regional Winners
2007-2008, Various directors, USA, ca. 180 min.
Celebrate with us tonight as the regional winners in the 35th Student Academy Awards are announced. These winning films proceed to the national finals in Los Angeles next month, where an elite panel made up of members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will select national winners. Films in dramatic, documentary, animated, and alternative categories represent the best in student filmmaking at a college level in the U.S. Complete program notes will be distributed at the door. Various formats. (BS)
The public is invited to a pre-show reception in our lobby beginning at 5:45 pm, with Thai food from Sonny’s Deli.