Chicago Underground Film Festival Ends with the Announcement of a New Home, Following a Weekend of Screenings, Underground Raves and Performances
The film festival will make its move to another iconic Chicago Theater while moving its weekend to the summer.
The Gene Siskel Film Center in Downtown Chicago finds itself full of film fanatics and filmmakers as they come together for this year’s Underground Film Festival.
A Chicago Underground Film Festival, popularly known as CUFF, photo backdrop stands prominently in the lobby as many converse amongst each other. On the other side of the lobby, a couple of tables have various CUFF merch strewn on top – notably posters and t-shirts. Not only is there merch for this year’s festival, there are “vintage” merch from years’ past.
As some figure out which merch they want to buy, others are standing in the concessions line in hopes of getting some drinks and popcorn before the opening film. After some time, the crowd begins to file into theater one.
Upon entering theater one, Ben Wendorf, the festival’s co-founder and Assistant Director, introduces the opening film – Nova ‘78. With a run time of a little of an hour, the documentary features archival footage of the 1978 Nova Convention. The film centered around William Burroughs, and featured major players like Pattie Smith, Frank Zappa and Philip Glass.
Aaron Brookner, one of the film’s directors, detailed the process of recovering the footage, which had been initially filmed by his uncle, Howard Brookner.
“It was really, really hard – not just raising money to digitize it, sync it, all that stuff,” Aaron said during a question and answer session after the screening. “I really thought I was done. And then, in 2022, 44 more negative rolls (of film) appeared.”
He figured that some of the footage was either lost or missing prior to those 44 additional rolls of film showing up. Brookner stated that he was intrigued about what the footage could become. He also spoke to the origin story of the footage, mentioning his uncle’s time at New York University.
“This whole journey for Howard began his senior year at NYU film school. He and Jim Jarmucsh were best friends in film school, and they used to be a two-man crew. The very first thing they shot was that stuff in Colorado,” Aaron explained.
In Nova ‘78, Burroughs spent some time in Colorado prior to the convention. The moment was initially captured as part of Howard’s expansive thesis, which became a feature-length documentary titled Burroughs: The Movie.
Following the question and answer session, which included several questions from audience members, festival goers made their way to Broken Shaker, a bar situated in River North. Festival goers, CUFF staff, and filmmakers socialized over drinks and various CUFF program books.
The vibe was completed by a DJ spinning vinyls from Bric-A-Brac Records, a vinyl record store in the Avondale/Logan Square neighborhood. As vinyl records played, Everyone’s Type had a performance of her own. Real name Lisa Maria Farver, the writer writes poetry using a typewriter – usually on the spot.
Day Two, Sept. 24, featured a sold out screening of Ponderosa. The Rob Rice film featured a young boy finding himself in the inner-circle of an older man who has an obsession with family and masculinity. The young boy attempts to find his footing after the closing of the restaurant his mother worked at.
A short film, titled Brain Rot, preceded the Rob Rice flick. Brain Rot is a 13-minute short film that follows a college student who can’t fall asleep without doomscrolling. The film follows him as he leaves what’s presumed to be a hookup, after which he wonders if the young woman is judging. The audience watches as he traverses through Chicago at night while encountering various aspects of the city.
Following the sold out screening, festival goers made their way to Falcon Inn for the Experimental Filmmaker Karaoke. As the name suggests, filmmakers took a turn singing their hearts out as a projector plasters videos and words onto a white sheet.
Filmmakers took a front seat this year, more than usual, with Day Three beginning with two filmmaker-focused events: the Filmmaker Brunch and the Gerald Mast Film Archive Tour.
The Filmmaker Brunch took place at Reggie’s, a South Loop music venue that doubles as a bar and restaurant. Not only could filmmakers enjoy brunch, they could network and socialize with one another. Filmmakers also had the chance to take Reggie’s iconic school bus as a shuttle to Harper Theater.
The Gerald Mast Film Archive Tour was open to festival pass holders, though priority was given to filmmakers. Guests were given a tour of the Film Studies Center at the University of Chicago, during which they walked around the center’s climate-controlled film vault. More than 2,500 prints in 33mm, 16mm, and small-gauge formats are housed in the center.
Following another day of brunch, film tours, and screenings, festival goers and filmmakers alike can find themselves at Connect Gallery for performances from Ira Glass, Laundry, and Facing. The show featured thrown silverware, jazz improvisation, post-punk grunge, and art-pop.
The three bands were brought together by The Apartment Chicago, a music collective that puts together shows such as this one. Just like a regular concert, audience members also had the chance to buy band merch.
The sun would rise on Day Four of the festival, which featured the Midwest premiere of Cramps! A Period Piece. The Brooke H. Cellars films had an 1980s-inspired setting and color grading. As drag queens and hyper feminine women dominate the screen, the main character experiences debilitating pain and discomfort due to her period.
Cramps! A Period Piece highlights the pains of menstrual cycles, specifically endometriosis. The credit scene featured such a message: “F–k endometriosis. Period.”
As the curtain closes on menstrual pains, festival goers were given the opportunity to attend an underground rave. In true underground fashion, the address was only released to ticketholders on the morning of the event.
Situated in a basement of an apartment in the Pilsen neighborhood, strobe lights and smoke machines covered the makeshift venue. During my time there, both Nolia and Miss Twink USA spun the night away.
As techno, house and electronic music play into the night, guests found themselves either outside in the front area or upstairs in a more lit up room. Guests also crowded around a makeshift bar by the front door.
The final day of the festival featured another round of premieres for various films. Uchronia: Parallel histories of queer revolt had its Midwest premiere as it followed the ghost of Arthur Rimbaud wandering through “a fractured counter history.”
The Fil Ieropoulos and Foivos Dousous film serves as “an ecstatic essay film” where revolutionaries, artists and queer visionaries came together to recount the history of liberation and revolution. Uchronia pairs 16mm film with digital imagery as Rimbaud is the center of “performance, poetry, ritual, and political imagination.”
With screenings wrapping up at Harper Theater, festival goers head back to Gene Siskel Film Center for the closing film – A Stranger Has No Eyes.
C.S. Nicholson's documentary follows Martine de Souza, a descendant of one of the notorious slave traders. A Stranger Has No Eyes followed Martine as she maneuvered the politics of her family and the descendants of slaves that her family once owned.
During the questions and answer session, Nicholson speaks to the process of creating such a documentary.
“There is no objective start point to start from,” Nicholson said. “The main task of a storyteller is to engage the audience … If you do documentary or nonfiction, it’s the responsibility to try to be as truthful as you can.”
After the lengthy questions and answer session, festival goers, filmmakers and CUFF staff headed to Brando’s Speakeasy, a bar located downtown. Everyone filled the private event area in the back, while some sat in the outdoor area to either smoke or take in the cool fall weather.
Ben Wendorf would take to a makeshift stage in the back corner of the private area, starting the award ceremony. Unfortunately, most of the filmmakers that received awards weren’t able to make it to the ceremony.
Best Documentary
A Stranger Has No Eyes
C.S Nicholson
A documentary that follows the direct descendant of Francisco Félix de Sacho as she handles the politics between her family history and the descendants of slaves.
Best Essay Film
Every Contact Leaves a Trace
Lynne Sachs
The filmmaker saved every business card she ever received, totaling up to 600. Sachs ultimately follows up on seven of those cards, and follows them back to the lives they represent.
Best Archival Exploration Film
Daria’s Night Flowers
Maryam Tafakory
This film features a young woman’s secret manuscript, which details falling in love with another woman. As suggested by the reward, Tafakory’s film strings together by archival footage and whispered testimony.
Every film’s description can be read in full on CUFF33’s event website, HERE.
Best Emotional Collapse Film
Placeholder
Jesse McLean
A woman falls into an elaborate fantasy as the pandemic rages on and a failing marriage closes in on her. The film is set in Antarctica with a movie star becoming the woman’s companion.
Best Environmental Collapse Film
Document With No End
Kym McDaniel
The film highlights the connection between chronic illness and ecological collapse as one with an autoimmune disease and the drying Great Salt Lake are the main focus.
Best Artistic Process Collapse Film
Domestic Weights
Paul Taragó
The short film serves as a diary of memory, domestic life, and the mysteries hidden in everyday rituals.
Made in Chicago in Chicago Award
Sistas in the Pit
Monet-Chanel Khanyahl
A short film that highlights Black femmes in the world of punk and alternative music.
Audience Award
Driven
Gabrielle Fitzpatrick, Max Fitzpatrick
A short film that centers around Tony Fitzpatrick, a Chicago artist, writer and actor who was a rideshare driver at the time.
Following the quick award ceremony, Wendorf announces new details for next year’s rendition of CUFF. The festival will take place during the summer, from June 9 to June 13, at the iconic Music Box Theatre. Wendorf ultimately gave praise and appreciation to Harper Theater.
“I do want to thank the Harper Theater for being our home for the past four years,” Wendorf said. “We’re making a move, and it’s going to be really good for us. But, I don’t want to dismiss the time we spent in Hyde Park and [the Harper Theater] and the Gene Siskle Film Center.”
As the festival is accepting film submissions for next year’s rendition, The Underground will continue into its second year. A tiered-subscription will allow members access to various levels of quarterly events and the digital archival program.
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