True Life, Asian, Horror Films

By Scott Smith in Arts & Entertainment on Mar 30, 2005 12:55PM

Last night Chicagoist was on the phone with a producer of an upcoming short film festival and she was lamenting how difficult it is to mount a new festival since there’s already so many. Gee, we hadn’t noticed.

Seriously though, this week is just ridiculous. First up is the Chicago Horror Film Festival, which takes over the Three Penny Cinema starting tomorrow night through April 3rd. In its fifth year, the fest will feature 35 short and feature-length films. Special appearances include Ari Lehman, the original Jason Voohrees from Friday the 13th, and SFX artist Kristoffer Neumann who’ll be running the Experience The Horror booth for anyone who ever wanted to look disfigured on purpose. Tickets are $8 at the door but $25 gets you a four-day pass.

Documentaries used to be likened to the slow, boring kid who sat in the back of the class. But thanks to guys like Michael Moore and Morgan Spurlock, they’re now the irritating kids who shot spitballs at the teacher. Most of the films at the ten-day Chicago International Documentary Festival will fall somewhere in the middle. The opening night film is The Real Dirt on Farmer John, the story of Illinois farmer John Peterson and the creation of Angelic Organics, a farming and artist community. Sounds boring? Well, the dude wears a bee costume. Now who’s boring, smarty? Ticket and venue information can be found here with an excellent printable schedule available as well.

Finally, the 10th Annual Chicago Asian American Showcase sets up a two-week residency at The Gene starting this Friday. Three of the over 60 foreign and domestic works (After The Apocalypse, Blue Hour, Slow Jam King) will feature appearances by their respective directors. Plus, the Siskel Center gallery will display works by several local artists. And local actress/vocal artist Lauren Tom (Kim Possible, Batman Beyond) will be feted in an event on April 10th. We couldn’t be happier for her as her dues invoice was marked paid after she played a character named Mrs. Ho in the movie North (we know it's a common name but outside of context it just doesn't look so great on the CV).

Image: Chicago International Documentary Festival