Intermission
By Scott Smith in Arts & Entertainment on Oct 14, 2004 4:52PM
Today marks the halfway point of the Chicago International Film Festival. So now’s as good a time as any to catch up with what’s playing in the next week and how you can catch all the films you want to see. If you haven’t seen anything yet, consider this your wake-up call.
First, start with the official site. Under Films and Events, you can search for films by category, date or even country. As you’re browsing, you can add films to your own personal list so you don’t miss, say, the one Kazakhstanian film that’s playing or that prizewinning Senegalian feminist work. Tickets are likely to sell out so hit one of the advance ticket locations instead of buying on-site.
Michael Wilmington has been listing his own daily must-sees in the Chicago Tribune’s Tempo section while Rosenbaum over at the Reader is posting plot synopses for every film on the schedule (look for an update on Friday). This will prevent you from getting stuck watching a film about one man’s quest for sheep.
The Finding Neverland screening is sold out tonight (told ya!) 
so consider seeing the French film The Tenth District Court instead. Johnny Depp isn’t in that movie but um…he lives in France. So there you go. The classic documentary Sound and Fury is also on tap for tonight featuring an appearance by the director. Both films are showing at the Landmark. Friday brings the Israeli film Campfire at AMC River East and Arakimentari, the story of Japanese photographer Nobuyoshi Araki, again at the Landmark. There’ll be a panel discussion at Northwestern’s Thorne Auditorium on Saturday afternoon about the role film criticism plays in this country and abroad featuring local (Wilmington and Anthony Kaufman from Indiewire) and overseas (Argentina! Turkey!) critics. A significant portion of the discussion will revolve around the effect criticism has on commerce so this might be a good time to ask if any of the panelists has ever actually met Earl Dittman from Wireless Magazine.
What have you seen so far that you’ve liked? Is the AMC working out better than 600 N. Michigan as a venue this year? Seen anyone famous?