Watch Around the Loop
By Rob Christopher in Arts & Entertainment on May 4, 2007 2:10PM
Is it 2007 or 1927?
Lately we've had the peculiar feeling that somehow we've magically time-travelled back to the Roaring Twenties: an era of flagpole sitting, dance marathons and other tests of human endurance. Movieside's Sci-Fi movie marathon will be give everyone's stamina a workout starting tomorrow. And later in the month the Siskel will be screening Jacques Rivette's legendary OUT 1, a 12-hour-and-forty-minute endurance test for cinephiles which has never been shown in Chicago (it was made in 1971). Lest you scoff, when the film was shown last December at MOMI in New York most of its screenings were sold out. It's the film equivalent of reading Proust.
Probably more acessable is next Friday's round-the-clock extravagaza Looptopia. We're unashamedly enthusiastic. It brings back memories of that time in junior high when we stayed up for 48 hours straight, just to see if we could. Of course this time around we'll be lucky to make it very much past midnight; but with a dazzling array of activities scheduled for well past sunrise, there's going to plenty to chase away Mister Sandman.
In addition to their usual cool stuff (including an extended run of Syndromes and a Century), the Siskel has two special free programs scheduled for Looptopia. At 6 p.m. and then again at 10 is a collection of Oscar-nominated and Oscar-qualifying short fillms from 2006, consisting of both live-action and animation. At 8 p.m. is a selection of work by School of the Art Institute undergrad and graduate students. The great thing about watching a bunch of short films? If you don't like the one you're watching, there'll be another one in a few minutes.
Local non-profit filmmaking collective Split Pillow's Chicago 360 unspools at midnight and then again at 3 a.m. at Harold Washington College, 30 E. Lake St. This exciting and innovative documentary series is produced "tag team" style, with multiple filmmakers working on segments and then handing off the work to each other. It's a mosaic technique which perfectly captures Chicago's variety and vibrancy.
There are plenty of other film events scheduled; the exact 411 seems to be flux so be sure to check back at the full schedule listings page often.