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Chicago – The mercurial genius of filmmaker Stanley Kubrick is a cinephile’s dream, and his films continue to influence. A new documentary, “Kubrick by Kubrick,” directed by Gregory Monro, uses Kubrick’s actual words from past interviews.

The film is available to download during the virtual and online 56th Chicago International Film Festival through October 25th.

Stanley Kubrick remains one of the most audacious and misunderstood directors in film history, mostly because of his perceived reclusiveness. Through an amazing cache of interview tapes from film scholar Michel Ciment, Kubrick himself goes over his career, and illuminates many of the thought processes and filmmaker methods that have thrilled and challenged audiences for three generations. Director Monro has created a visual symphony to go along with Kubrick’s own words, in a remarkable 75 minute package. (click here).

The 56th Chicago International Film Festival Celebrates Day Eight of the movie extravaganza, with films available for 2020 virtually and online.

Chicago – One of the prime Chicago-centric documentaries at the 56th Chicago International Film Festival is “For Madmen Only: Stories of Del Close.” Del Close was a legendary instructor in the Chicago comedy improv scene, and director Heather Ross created this multi-layered doc of his comic force.

This is the feature documentary debut for Ms. Ross as director, after working as a producer and creator of short documentaries. This lifeline of Del Close starts with his childhood in Kansas (and the legends therein), through his initial work as a performer in New York City and Chicago, to his status as an iconic instructor in Chicago-style improv at both The Second City and Improv Olympics (iO). His first generation of students included John Belushi, Bill Murray and Gilda Radner, the second had Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and Chris Farley, and subsequently it has been the continued instruction of his techniques that are...

Chicago – The 56th Chicago International Film Festival (Ciff) is virtual and online Right Now, so go download some movies! This is your last chance for Industry Days (through October 18th), where you can rub virtual elbows with some of the movers and shakers in the film industry here in Chicago.

..and nationally/internationally. All the information to “sit in” on the events is available by clicking here.

The 56th Chicago International Film Festival Celebrates The Weekend. On Saturday, October 17th, the Drive In is showing “Ammonite” (click here). On Sunday, October 18th, the Drive in showing “The Road Up” (click here).

Appearances Of The Day:

Friday, October 16th 7:00pm: “For Madmen Only” … Livestream Q&a with actor James Urbaniak and director Heather Ross. Suggested streaming start time, 5:20pm. 9:00pm: “Finding Yingying” … Livestream Q&a with director Jiayan “Jenny” Shi, producer Brent E. Huffman and cinematographer Shilin Sun.

Exclusive: Utopia Distribution has acquired worldwide distribution rights to the documentary For Madmen Only: The Stories of Del Close directed by Heather Ross (Girls on the Wall). The film chronicles the titular comedy trailblazer who became an improv comedy legend. The film is slated for a digital release in 2021.

The film will feature interviews with Bob Odenkirk and Jason Sudeikis as well as never-before-seen interviews with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. For Mad Men Only made its debut at SXSW earlier this year and spotlights Close’s journey from his “human torch” sideshow act to his influential and contentious rise at The Second City, mentoring such greats as Bill Murray, John Candy, and the aformentioned Fey, as well as the founders of the Upright Citizens Brigade (Ucb), among many others.

Inspired by his semi-autobiographical DC Comics anthology Wasteland, the docu delves into the inner workings of Close’s eccentric mind...

“This was going to a transformative event, and with the cancellation, the filmmakers were left stranded and scrambling.”

SXSW film head Janet Pierson said on Friday (13) that despite the cancellation of the physical festival, staff will ensure all of this year’s competition sections can be judged via screener links.

At time of writing Screen understands almost every filmmaker in every section including the 10 narrative feature and 10 documentary feature competition categories had opted into the plan. Only one filmmaker of a short had not opted in and at time of writing organisers were waiting to hear back from the teams behind two high school shorts.

Carrie Fisher may no longer be with us, but her legacy in Hollywood continues to inspire. Fisher’s friend, television producer and director Heather Ross, is one of the many women revealing her own experiences with sexual assault in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal. She told Tucson radio program “The Morning Mix” that after an unnamed “Oscar-winning” producer at Sony assaulted her, Fisher went on a revenge mission of her own to defend her friend by hand delivering a cow tongue to her assaulter.

“It was a cow tongue from Jerry’s Famous Deli with a note that said, ‘If you ever touch my darling Heather or any other woman again, the next delivery will be something of yours in a much smaller box,'” Ross said. “It felt validating to know that this woman, who I love as a friend, was not just a fake Hollywood friend.

As more stories begin to go public following Hollywood's scandal on Harvey Weinstein, here's another good one of Carrie Fisher sticking up for a friend way back before all this happened. Comicbook reports a friend of Fishers, Heather Ross, was sexually assualted by an unnamed Oscar winning producer in Hollywood all the way back in 2000, and Princess Leia was having none of it. 

According to Ross, Fisher arrived at the producer's office and delivered a severed cow tongue in a Tiffany box and informed the producer that next time he did something like that to anyone, she would be delivering something of his in a much smaller box.

That's pretty damn awesome of Fisher to do, and not the least bit surprising either! If it wasn't obvious after her passing, let it be known now that we need more actresses like her in Hollywood. ...

The late, great Carrie Fisher certainly knew how to get tongues wagging! The iconic actress made movie magic when she fought foes who'd gone to the Dark Side, and in real life it turns out that when it came to defending her friends, the pop culture princess pretty much did the same thing. Emmy-winning director and producer Heather Ross, a longtime friend of the actress, spoke to an Arizona radio station 94.9 MixFM about the prevalence of sexual assault in Hollywood and talked about a time when says that her famous friend came to her defense after she was sexually assaulted by an unnamed Oscar-winning producer (who amazingly enough wasn't Harvey Weinstein). Ross explained that she had attempted to go...

On screen she fought bad guys from a galaxy far, far away, but during her time on Earth, Carrie Fisher fought bad guys a lot closer to home.

The Star Wars actress’ longtime friend, Heather Ross, opened up to a Tucson, Arizona, radio station 94.9 MixFM about her own experiences with sexual assault and harassment in Hollywood, in the wake of the allegations leveled at producer Harvey Weinstein.

Ross revealed that an unnamed Oscar-winning producer (not Weinstein) had invited her for dinner and, when he picked her up, he pulled the car over and climbed in top of her, pinning her seat.

Carrie Fisher’s friend Heather Ross said Monday that the “Star Wars” princess had no tolerance for sexual misconduct in Hollywood.

Speaking on local Tucson, Arizona, station 94.9’s “Morning Mix” show, Ross said that Fisher once sent a cow tongue to a producer who she said had harassed her.

“It was a cow tongue from Jerry’s Famous Deli with a note that said, ‘If you ever touch my darling Heather or any other woman again, the next delivery will be something of yours in a much smaller box.,'” Ross said on the show.

Carrie Fisher knew exactly how to stand up to Hollywood producers who mistreated women. On a radio morning show in Tucson, Ariz., Fisher’s friend Heather Ross told a story about how the late actress delivered a cow tongue with a note to an “Oscar-winning producer” who had assaulted Ross. “He picked me up in Westwood […]...

The story goes… written and directed by Heather Ross, Girls On The Wall is about a group of incarcerated teenage girls who get a shot at redemption in the most unlikely form: a musical based on their lives. As they write and stage their play, the girls must re-live their crimes, reclaim their humanity, and take a first step toward breaking free of the prison system.

The film will have its theatrical premiere at the Egyptian Theatre, in Los Angeles, next week Wednesday, the 13th, at 7:30Pm. It will also broadcast on PBS stations throughout the first half of 2010.

Check out the film’s website for more info.

Here’s its trailer:...

Tina Mabry's "Mississippi Damned," an independent American production, won the Gold Hugo as the best film in the 2009 Chicago International Film Festival, and added Gold Plaques for best supporting actress (Jossie Thacker) and best screenplay (Mabry). It tells the harrowing story of three black children growing up in rural Mississippi in circumstances of violence and addiction. The film's trailer and an interview with Mabry are linked at the bottom.

Kylee Russell in "Mississippi Damned"

The win came over a crowed field of competitors from all over the world, many of them with much larger budgets. The other big winner at the Pump Room of the Ambassador East awards ceremony Saturday evening was by veteran master Marco Bellocchio of Italy, who won the Silver Hugo as best director for "Vincere," the story of Mussolini's younger brother. Giovanna Mezzogiorno and Filippo Timi won Silver Hugos as best actress and actor,...