No Landmark Century for CIFF This Year

By Rob Christopher in Arts & Entertainment on May 29, 2008 2:17PM

For the past several years, the bulk of screenings for the Chicago International Film Festival have been divided up between the AMC River East and the Landmark Century. No more. This autumn's festival will use screens at the AMC River East and 600 N. Michigan for the majority of the program. “We’re not going to be working with Landmark this year,” says Ryan Jewell, the festival’s managing director. “We liked the idea of everything being in walking distance of everything else.” We like it too. Although we'll miss being able to walk to the Century from our apartment, perhaps the fact that the festival will be more centralized will encourage more people to turn out.

There are a few other changes this year. The festival runs October 16-29, a week later than usual, so as not to coincide with Yom Kippur (and the Chicago Marathon). And instead of having the Opening and Closing Night festivities at the Chicago Theater, as in years past, they'll instead be at the swanky Harris Theatre in Millennium Park.

While we're on the subject, starting June 4, the foks behind CIFF at Cinema/Chicago will present a summer-long series of free screenings at the Chicago Cultural Center. It's the fifth year of the International Connections program. The series of fifteen films will screen consecutively every Wednesday, at 6:30pm, at the Claudia Cassidy Theatre, 77 E. Randolph.

Image of the 1983 festival poster via Cinema Arts