Technology0Film 50 2022: SELECTORS—Programmers & Festival Producers

For this year’s list, we kept our overall ranking numbers but organized everything by category.

Film 50 2022: PROJECTORS—Exhibitors & Archivists
Film 50 2022: MEDIA—Publishers, Critics and Publicists
Film 50 2022: MAKERS—Producers, Crew & Production Services
Film 50 2022: CHANGEMAKERS—Advocates & Educators
PLUS: Film Leaders of the Moment: Music Box Theatre and Music Box Films

Here are Chicago’s SELECTORS—Programmers & Festival Producers

48
Emily Eddy
Director, Nightingale Cinema/Lecturer, Contemporary Practices, SAIC/Instructor, ChiArts

Emily Eddy, director of Nightingale Cinema, programmer and lecturer, says that the range of her work and “jobs” range widely. She describes her work as “creating opportunities for the Chicago community to see interesting, challenging, unique film and video while facilitating space for the Chicago film community to be together, discuss each other’s work and build friendships.” Work, she says, is about relationships between films as well as curating screenings where up-and-coming and established artists can share the screen. She’s recently begun teaching at SAIC and the Chicago high school ChiArts, “which has brought me so much joy. I love it, honestly, much more than I ever thought I would, and it’s given me another perspective of how I can best serve my community.” The Nightingale nested in one location for fourteen years, on Milwaukee in Noble Square. (The landlord decided to sell the building.) “Since inheriting the space from founding director Christy LeMaster, I have felt unbelievably lucky to facilitate and program the space.” Nightingale has “an interesting problem, or opportunity. We have a new chance to reform our idea of what Nightingale can and should be. My major problem has been finding sustainable modes of funding. As an artist-run space that has never gone for non-profit or for-profit business status, we aren’t able to apply for grant funding or make money like other institutions, but I believe our non-traditional approach has allowed us a lot of flexibility over our operations that we would have to sacrifice as a non-profit.” The programming will be itinerant for now: “We have excellent partnerships with other organizations to present screenings, and there are more exciting screening partnerships coming in 2023.” That’s integral to her belief in community: “I firmly believe resources should never be gate-kept, and the sharing of information and resources sustains a healthy industry. I’m most passionate about my film and art community. It’s cheesy, but I’m a cheesy person, and I really don’t think I would be doing any of the work I do without them. I’ve always been a social person, here to make friends! It only feels natural to me to share what knowledge and resources I have with my community, as they have done exactly the same for me.”

43
J. Michael Eugenio
Programmer and Founder/Curator, Solidarity Cinema 

Programmer and Solidarity Cinema organizer J. Michael Eugenio began volunteer work as a film programmer in 2019. “I was frustrated by how much cool programming was going on in New York City that wasn’t coming to Chicago, so I decided to do something about it. I wanted—and still want—to see more movies by radicals, queers, sex workers, Black people, Indigenous peoples, women, poor people, and people the industry has traditionally ignored.” Eugenio has programmed two series at Doc Films since 2020, including the first Tsai Ming-liang retrospective in Chicago and a series of films by Black women across the diaspora that they co-programmed with Erisa J. Apantaku. “When I reached out to Tsai Ming-liang about visiting for the retrospective, it developed into a plan for the director to tour the U. S., which happened after being postponed by the pandemic. This involved coordinating events across the city in partnership with the Block Museum, Siskel, SAIC and Doc Films.” During the pandemic, Solidarity Cinema began as a twice-weekly leftist film video-discussion group and grew to regular outdoor screenings at political actions, to a streamable archive of over 4,000 films. “These films about struggle and solidarity are used by leftists around the world,” they say. “It’s still growing and we’re figuring out how to build solidarity and a radical film culture, internationally and here in Chicago. Film and cinema workers—like all workers—need jobs that don’t drain them of their dignity, hours that are sustainable, and to be paid a living wage. As someone who has heard about union-busting and workplace issues in Chicago’s film scene, I strongly believe we need to build stronger and more militant solidarity as film workers and film lovers. Culture isn’t neutral, so we shouldn’t be either.” The past is there to laugh with and to learn from, they say. “Movies are entertaining, but there is a promise that they can change and shape us and how we act in the world. This is something that the right deeply understands—just look at the deep military involvement in Hollywood. But it’s also something that liberals understand—look at how many politically tepid anti-rich films do well at festivals.” Any advice for others? “Be skeptical of institutions and the canon! Watch things with only a handful of reviews on Letterboxd! Use interlibrary loan! Be curious! Support what other people are doing! Share cool and weird shit with friends. Have fun! When I finally got to Chicago, I started going to friends’ screenings at Doc Films and got a taste for cinema beyond AFI and BFI lists. And if it weren’t for the Chicago Film Society screening a rare 35mm print of ‘The River,’ I probably wouldn’t have ever gotten a kiss on the cheek from Tsai himself.” Aside from finding a way to pay rent in the coming year, Eugenio’s film-related schemes and ambitions include finding a museum to collaborate on a 2024 Edward Yang exhibition to show alongside a retrospective; working toward a community space and microcinema with proper COVID precautions and laughing at the movies. “Chicago has a beautiful film community,” they say. “The programming at Chicago Film Society, Block, Doc Films, Siskel, Nightingale, Facets, ChiTown Movies and elsewhere are so inspiring. But we should have better ventilation and masking requirements for COVID safety, better conditions and wages for workers, more diverse programming, and even more of a sense of community. I hope to play a role in this, and especially in showing film politically—and not just showing political films—to crib from Godard. This means connecting film to action—not just showing the problems of the world but doing our part to change it. It means—through solidarity—learning and failing, and demanding and winning. I have a lot to learn and hope to do so alongside y’all.”

34
Michael Metzger and Malia Haines-Stewart
Pick-Laudati Curator of Media Arts and Associate Film Programmer, Northwestern University Block Museum of Art

As the Curator of Media Arts at the Block, Michael Metzger organizes gallery exhibitions, works with the Block’s collections, and directs the Block Cinema screening series. Block Cinema organizes fifty or so unique film events every academic year, including in-person appearances by guest filmmakers and scholars. Metzger and associate film programmer Malia Haines-Stewart watch, research and discuss films, often in partnership with Northwestern students and faculty; track down the best available materials from archival film prints to digital restorations; develop resources and campus involvement for in-person visits of filmmakers, researchers and curators; and host conversations that generate insight into the films they screen. “Before I became a curator, I was an academic; before I was an academic, I was a teacher; before I was a teacher, I was a video store clerk. The work I do at Block Cinema draws equally on those experiences, Metzger says. “Our upcoming programs reflect the capacious model of film history that I absorbed at the video store. We’re very conscious of the valuable role that university cinemas like ours can play in the ecosystem of non-theatrical film. We look for opportunities to support and showcase the work of distributors who are expanding access to adventurous cinema, archives that are preserving endangered cinematic legacies and scholars and filmmakers who are promoting a more inclusive film culture. We try to act as a conduit between that international community of passionate cinema workers, and diverse local communities at Northwestern and beyond, who see cinema as a way to encounter the world and exchange ideas,” Metzger says. “I love teaching with film, and if Block Cinema can feel like a classroom sometimes, I’m glad! The accessibility and immediacy of cinema can make it a powerful tool for generating knowledge, because it’s a way of learning through sensation. We’re lucky to work with diverse educators, students, and audiences who share our passion for cinema and its teaching potential, whether in examining the enduring effects of colonial violence, conveying the lived experience of climate emergency, or affirming histories of struggle and practices of joy in the face of these realities. Since Block Cinema programs are free and open to the public, it’s great that we can share some of Northwestern’s resources for teaching and learning with the larger community; equally importantly, our emphasis on audience discussion puts us in a better position to learn from the community as well.” He sees the exhibition community as strong. “Chicago exhibitors support the work of local filmmakers, who are able to show their work across town at festivals, art-houses, colleges and microcinemas. Rather than being proprietary, exhibitors recognize that it’s in everyone’s best interest to foster and elevate great filmmaking in the region, because it’s such a powerful driver of audience interest and enthusiasm for film. That was the spirit of solidarity when the Chicago Cinema Workers Fund came together during the lockdowns—individuals and institutions across Chicago collectively working to reaffirm the importance of cinema as a social experience. The Block may not technically be in Chicago, but we’re definitely playing a part in that united effort.” Associate film programmer Malia Haines-Stewart works on free film screenings for the university and wider community of moviegoers in Chicago and Evanston. “Together with my colleagues and collaborators, we seek to create a space for encounters for our audience, with highly varied moving image works, as well as artists, filmmakers and scholars, so conversation and the ways in which the films are exhibited are very important to us,” she says. “We are especially eager to leverage the structure of our screenings to platform working artists and facilitate intergenerational dialogues. Another area we focus on is recent and past work that imagine pathways of resilience in film as well as works that have been de-centered historically. Whenever possible, we work with colleagues, community members, Northwestern students and faculty to realize moving image events that engage with and support their scholarship and interests.” Filmmakers are important to the mission, too, as the Block finds ways “to support the ecosystem of independent moving image arts in Chicago and beyond by working directly with artists and filmmakers whose living is tied to university and museum screenings, as well as booking films from small distributors and organizations doing the work of recuperation through the restoration and digitization.” Before the Block, her cinema work in Chicago was programming and organizing filmfront, a microcinema in Pilsen, that was also committed to free, community-oriented, discussion-driven screenings. “That feels like a relevant but somewhat unexpected lineage to a position at a university-museum film venue, but the values that go into the work are connected. We will continue to look to create more sustainable pathways within film programming by sharing film prints and coordinating with other organizations to share filmmakers and guests.”

33
Brian Tallerico and Erik Childress
Managing Editor, RogerEbert.com/President and Events Director, Chicago Film Critics Association/Producers, Chicago Critics Film Festival

“I came up through the ranks doing movie reviews on radio shows like Jonathon Brandmeier and Nick Digilio, which led to becoming a writer and editor at eFilmCritic and Rotten Tomatoes,” says Chicago Critics Film Festival producer Erik Childress. “After years of covering film festivals, I imagined what it would be like to curate the best films from all of them, without the guesswork of scheduling and the regret of missing out on so many choices. That was the birth of the Chicago Critics Film Festival.” That festival is looking toward its tenth-anniversary milestone. “With a festival that has roughly twenty-five time slots for features and shorts, it’s important to maximize the variety for the audiences who trust us.” Childress hopes for films that audiences will talk about for days or even years after their light hits the screen. “It may sound corny and I don’t care if it does, but decency and happiness are two things that I search for and thrive on. Decency in everyday life. Happiness there and through art. Be decent to someone else and maybe it will inspire them to be decent to another. Inspire someone to do anything in a positive and uplifting light and maybe we can start to put back together everything that is broken inside us. The movies can do that. Show someone a great movie and you can see that light go on.” Brian Tallerico, managing editor of RogerEbert.com, is also a producer of the Chicago Critics Film Festival and president of the Chicago Film Critics Association. The website and the festival, he says, are “very distinct entities.” RogerEbert.com “allows me access to festivals from which we program most of our line-up, like Toronto, Sundance and South by Southwest.” The Chicago Critics Film Festival is a little like the Festival of Festivals in Toronto, which was the first incarnation of the Toronto International Film Festival: “The concept is to bring films we like to Chicago from festivals instead of just writing about them,” so his role as a critic and editor affects programming in that sense. “Programming a micro-budget film festival like ours has challenges but it’s a worthwhile pursuit to be surrounded by so many collaborators and attendees who are really only involved for the love of film. It’s not about business or profit but purely about love for the form, and that’s been in increasingly short supply in the decade since this event started. I’d like to think we’re doing our part to keep that passion alive in Chicago.” And attending to collaboration, too. “Collaboration is the first thing that comes to mind. I’m lucky to have a wonderful network of colleagues and a family who keeps me afloat. Without my wife and kids nothing would be possible and nothing would be worthwhile. Nothing in art happens alone. It takes multiple hands to build an industry and multiple voices to amplify it. I also think we’re in a time of increased urgency when it comes to action. The cycle of art turns so fast that people expect more from a community than they did before because it’s so hard to rise above the noise. So I guess I would say that it takes committed people who are willing and able to act quickly and passionately. It can’t be a group of unconnected loners who sit around and talk. We need active participants who are willing to do the actual work to stay vibrant. The community will be sustainable as long as it remains connected and supportive. The minute that too many people jump ship or don’t do their part to keep it afloat, it sinks.”

16
Erica Duffy 
Executive Director, Midwest FIlm Festival and Owner, Camera Ambassador

“I provide filmmakers with the tools they need to create,” says Erica Duffy, owner of Camera Ambassador and executive director of the Midwest FIlm Festival. “At the surface, this looks like equipment rentals, but it is so much more and why I really love my work. There is so much that contributes to a successful rental, and this is the organizational aspect that my left brain really thrives on. Having a polished inventory system, streamlined communication, clear policies, elevated tech procedures… But once you pull back the curtain, my work of providing filmmakers with tools can include crew recommendations, production mentorship, tax-credit consulting, hosting a community calendar, creative safe spaces for underrepresented filmmakers, film investing, cheerleading, providing feedback on works-in-progress, and attending screenings and events. I’m really grateful for my most recent endeavor as the executive director at The Midwest Film Festival, another platform that provides filmmakers with tools they need.” And those filmmakers then comprise a community. “Relationships are the core ingredient of a sustainable industry and community. No matter who I am dealing with, I always remember that I don’t know what they’re going through, who they might introduce you to, or what the future holds for either of us. Since I founded my company in 2014 our slogan is: If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together,” Duffy says. “I am most passionate about living a life, and being a part of a community that I truly love. I didn’t plan any part of what my life and work currently look like, but I was open to opportunities and a journey. The Midwestern film community bleeds into every aspect of my professional and personal life, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love being a part of the film industry.” Hard work and not being afraid to fail are two elements she sees as key. “It has been a difficult journey, especially being a female in a historically male-dominated industry. I’ve had my moments where I feel completely defeated and unsure about where I’m going, but in these moments when you are able to push through them is where the magic happens.” Duffy’s collaborations have grown over time. “There’s a magazine collaboration with Cinema Femme, The Call Sheet, a film grant with The Future is Female, and Midwest Film Festival becoming Oscar-qualifying.” Chicago and the Midwest, Duffy says, are “different from other regions in that it’s not already determined and decided who’s who. There is a vast amount of opportunity here. I do not think I could have done what I have done, at my age and with the limited resources I had, in any other city. I’ve only been in the industry here for nine years, but the amount of growth I’ve seen for both big organizations and individuals is incredible.”

15
Tom Colley
Director, Video Data Bank, School of the Art Institute

“I moved to Chicago right out of college, and engulfed myself in the art, music and film scenes of the day,” says Video Data Bank director Tom Colley. “I was one of the folks running the ButcherShop, a warehouse DIY gallery that was a prominent underground exhibition place for art, music, performance and film/video. I was eventually the manager for Earwax Video, the premiere indie video rental store in nineties Wicker Park after Bryan Wendorf of Chicago Underground left the position. Eventually I was hired as a part-time VHS dubber at Video Data Bank and stuck around in a variety of roles until now. Along the way, I went back to grad school for library science, and really threw myself into the world of moving image preservation and archiving. As Video Data Bank has grown and evolved, I have filled different positions and adapted my roles along with those changes,” he says. “I’m super-excited and honored to have assumed the position of director this year. The past couple of years have been challenging in the ways that they have been for most everyone: lockdowns, staffing changes, budget cuts… But now we have a great team in place, and we are poised to launch some exciting projects in the next year: our educational streaming platform is in production; we are working with compelling new artists and important historical collections; and we are pursuing new partnerships and collaborations.” Video Data Bank’s primary role, Colley says, “is one of service. Service to the exhibitors and educators to whom we provide work; service to the artists whose work we promote and to whom we pay royalties; and service more broadly to the field of experimental moving image the history of which we are preserving and making available to future generations. Day-to-day, the job is like many others at small, not-for-profit arts organizations. Everyone on the team pitches in to keep this amazing forty-five-plus-year-old organization running and relevant.” What does that look like? “We seek out new as well as historic work to add to the collection; we sell and rent work to museums, film festivals, universities and other exhibiting institutions; we preserve and migrate material from legacy formats; we host students and researchers in our screening room; we promote and contextualize the work in the collection; and we do all of the administrative tasks necessary to make this happen.” Other things are necessary, too: “To sustain community there needs to be an environment that encourages and does not stifle art-making and the creative exhibition of film and video. There has to be a whole ecosystem with different levels of support. My roots are in DIY spaces and scenes, and things like microcinemas and non-traditional exhibition spaces are foundational for fostering the makers and exhibitors who may later go on to run the more traditional institutions. Fundamentally, I am most passionate about honest people creating art and community in contexts where commercialism and capitalism are nowhere near the top priorities. Finding that work and helping bring it to people’s attention is what drives me to do the work I do and engage with similarly minded people and organizations.”

7
Vivian Teng and Sam Flancher 
Managing Director and Programmer, Cinema | Chicago/Chicago International Film Festival

Vivian Teng, managing director of Cinema/Chicago and the Chicago International Film Festival, has been with the organization for seventeen years. Along with artistic director Mimi Plauché, she’s one of the co-heads of the organization, responsible for overseeing operations, finances, partnerships and logistics for year-round programs, including the festival in October, summer screenings, the Chicago Industry Exchange (CIX), Community Cinema, CineYouth Festival and education programs. “I love being a part of a dedicated creative team that showcases extraordinary films from around the world, supporting emerging filmmakers and just bringing communities together through the power of cinema storytelling.” Doing work with impact, Teng says, is about understanding your role and being intentional about that work, then connecting with communities, whether it’s audience members, filmmakers or industry members. Then there are meaningful collaborations and partnerships with other organizations and individuals, all of whom share a common mission: “serve the communities through exhibition, production, discussion and events…key to making us all stronger.” The power is rooted in movies, she says. “I love the power that cinema has to connect people from different backgrounds. It’s a medium that everyone can connect with and it has the power to introduce us to different perspectives and insights as entertainment and as art.” Prior to Chicago, Teng lived in Toronto for over a decade. “I was exposed to a strong and exciting film culture,” she says. “The Toronto International Film Festival brought people from across the city and the world together. I remember waiting in lines at the festival and talking to people about what we’ve seen and what to see next and being so excited to hear from the directors or cast during the intros and Q&As. The energy was contagious. You wanted to be a part of it, discover something new, and experience the excitement. I hope to bring these experiences to every event and screening we do, as well as each collaboration.” “I was lucky to get connected with the Festival when I was in film school,” programmer Sam Flancher says of the Chicago International Film Festival, where he’s worked for a decade. “I volunteered as a part of the short film pre-screening committee, interned with the programming team, worked part time, and then started working full time—I was really passionate about the Festival’s cause, loved movies, and wanted to be around the action as much as I could.” A familiar moderator at festival screenings, during the year Flancher watches and ultimately selects non-United State features, specializing in Eastern European and Asian films. “In the off-season, which is November to January, it’s a lot of other things: writing grant applications, setting up the open call for entries for the next year, assisting with programming our Summer Screenings series. Festival programming is really a year-round effort, though, since we open for entries in January and I attend other fests to scout for films, starting in February with the Berlinale.” He believes that a filmgoing community needs “a certain amount of trust between the festival and the audience. As programmers, we need to program with the confidence that if we go out on a limb and decide to show something that’s a little more off the beaten path, that our audience will show up and take a chance on it. That two-way trust is what really keeps the filmgoing community here strong, and not just for us, but for the other great festivals and exhibitors in the city like the Music Box, Siskel, Doc Films, CUFF, Onion City.” A programmer, Flancher says, needs to keep an open mind and trust gut instinct. “We watch so many films throughout the year, you just have to know that the work that makes an impression or lingers in your mind after viewing is doing so for a reason. Chances are if you find something interesting, exciting, or affecting, an audience will, too.”

4
Rebecca Fons
Director of Programming, Gene Siskel Film Center

“As director of programming for the Gene Siskel Film Center, I’m responsible for the majority of what you see on our screens, which means I spend my days (and nights) curating new releases, auteur and thematic programs and special events, and working with curatorial partners to support their programming,” Rebecca Fons says. “Each film we present at the Film Center, whether it is something I program directly or we present in partnership, includes many hours of thoughtful work: watching, writing, coordinating, scheduling, solving for ‘x,’ evaluating.” 2022 was the fiftieth year for the Film Center. “Through the decades we have gone through many evolutions. We reopened after our pandemic closure as a new release cinema, meaning we present new films when they are released in Chicago, alongside repertory and specialty programming. I spearheaded this evolution because I wanted us to meet the audience at that moment of anticipation for a new film and I predicted we’d want to be more nimble in what is still a recovering industry. Pre-pandemic, our showtimes were locked four or more weeks in advance.” This new model, she says, “allows us to hold films over if they are pulling audiences, pull back if the response is less enthusiastic, add a title or program when we see a timely opportunity or a release date changes. We held ‘Drive My Car’ for twelve weeks, and we presented a snapshot of Godard’s filmography after he passed away.” This model, she says, “has also allowed us to welcome new programmatic partners to the Film Center, including Doc10, the Chicago International Film Festival, and those partnerships are a great fit for our audience and theirs.” Fifteen years of experience brought Fons to this stage. “All of my professional experiences have built me up, brick-by-brick, to my role at the Film Center. I’ve taught CPS students how to make documentaries in a sweltering high school classroom. During my tenure as education director at the Chicago International Film Festival, I wrote discussion guides for films and calmed audiences of over 400 high school students at 10am!” Fons also has serious experience as a film exhibitor: “Through rehabilitating the Iowa Theater in my hometown of Winterset, Iowa, I learned how to operate the projection booth, picked out carpet and paint and a point-of-sale system, hired staff and raised money. At FilmScene in Iowa City, I learned how to collaborate programmatically, how to negotiate with distributors and how to push myself as a curator all while commuting a six-hour round trip, weekly. At a very young age, I knew I wanted to work in film exhibition, movie theaters are where I’ve always felt most at home.” She brings contacts to Siskel:: “My work in Iowa meant that I joined the Film Center team with that enthusiasm for flexibility and responsiveness, and I came with a Rolodex of distributor relationships in my back pocket, who already knew my communication styles (I email, a lot), my inclination to thread the programming needle, and how much I fight for films to be exclusive to the Film Center.” In more than fifteen years in Chicago, Fons says she’s found “that the film community here is deeply loyal and supportive.. We come out for one another and we support the great film programming and media making that runs through the entire city, in cinemas and community spaces.” Today’s audiences fascinate her: “Older audiences are not entirely back to pre-lockdown levels, while younger audiences are turning up for everything. Historically, in my experience, that was reversed, and film programmers would sit around and muse on how we could ‘get the younger audiences.’ I introduced a film the other day and I was, without a doubt, the oldest person in the room (I’m forty). I’m here for the ride, because it means experimenting and listening, it means using our mission and our programmatic values as our North Star while also pivoting and responding to our audiences, and that makes my job very exciting.” There’s more beyond the transaction of buying a ticket, she says. “A packed theater with an engaged crowd can translate to a feeling of community and connectedness, a film that makes people feel seen by the story or the storyteller can translate to love for a cinema space, a filmmaker in conversation that invites questions and engagement from an audience can transform a showtime to a treasured memory. I don’t think less of the anonymous multiplex experience—I frequent them often—but it can be hollow and faceless. At the Film Center, and at art-house and independent cinemas across the country: we know your name, we program for your likes and to challenge you, our front-of-house team knows where folks like to sit, our booth knows how to make a film look and sound spectacular. That is the kind of engagement and attention I value as a moviegoer, that builds a community that I want to be a part of.”

Hall of Fame
SELECTORS—Programmers & Festival Producers

* new this year

Julian Antos, Becca Hall and Kyle Westphal
Co-Founders, Chicago Film Society

*Raul Benitez
Film Programmer, Full Spectrum Features, Comfort Station, Nightingale Cinema

*Charles Coleman
Film Program Director, Facets Cinema

*Anthony Kaufman and * Mimi Plauché
Senior Film Programmer, Chicago International Film Festival/Co-Founder, Film Programmer, DOC10 and Artistic Director, Chicago International Film Festival

*Michael W. Phillips Jr.
Founder, Executive Director, South Side Projections

*Pepe Vargas
Founder, Executive Director, Chicago Latino Film Festival

*Bryan Wendorf
Artistic Director and Programmer, Chicago Underground Film Festival