Philip Michael Ondaatje is a Sri Lankan-born Canadian poet, fiction writer, essayist, novelist, editor, and filmmaker.
The English Patient is a 1996 epic romantic war drama directed by Anthony Minghella from his own script based on the 1992 novel of the same name by Michael Ondaatje, and produced by Saul Zaentz. The film starred Ralph Fiennes and Kristin Scott Thomas alongside Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe and Colin Firth in supporting roles.
Winesburg, Ohio is a 1919 short story cycle by the American author Sherwood Anderson. The work is structured around the life of protagonist George Willard, from the time he was a child to his growing independence and ultimate abandonment of Winesburg as a young man. It is set in the fictional town of Winesburg, Ohio, which is loosely based on Anderson's childhood memories of Clyde, Ohio.
Hoop Dreams is a 1994 American documentary film directed by Steve James, and produced by Frederick Marx, James, and Peter Gilbert, with Kartemquin Films. It follows the story of two African-American high school students, William Gates and Arthur Agee, in Chicago and their dream of becoming professional basketball players.
Eugene Kal Siskel was an American film critic and journalist for the Chicago Tribune. He is best known for co-hosting various movie review television series with colleague Roger Ebert.
Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, collectively known as Siskel & Ebert, were American film critics known for their partnership on television lasting from 1975 to Siskel's death in 1999.
The Chicago Film Critics Association (CFCA) is an association of professional film critics, who work in print, broadcast and online media, based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. The organization was founded in 1990 by film critics Sharon LeMaire and Sue Kiner, following the success of the first Chicago Film Critics Awards given out in 1988. The association comprises 60 members.
Robin Spry was a Canadian film director, producer and writer. He was perhaps best known for his documentary films Action: The October Crisis of 1970 and Reaction: A Portrait of a Society in Crisis about Quebec's October Crisis. His 1970 film Prologue won the BAFTA Award for Best Documentary.
ChicagoFest was a Chicago music festival established in 1978 by Mayor Michael Bilandic. It was a two-week event held annually at Navy Pier that featured sixteen separate stages, each sponsored by a national retail brand and a media sponsor compatible to the stage's format, e.g. Rock WLUP, Chicago Tribune Jazz, Miller Brewing Company Blues and WXRT, that broadcast live from the festival. The stages were: Rock, Classic Rock, Country, Blues, Comedy, Roller Disco, Pin Ball Arcade, Jazz, Children's, Variety, Ethnic, as well as a Main stage seating 30,000. There were approximately 600 concert performances by headline artists produced each year.
Benjamin Frederick Mankiewicz is an American television personality, progressive political commentator, and film critic. He is a host on Turner Classic Movies and has been a commentator on The Young Turks and What the Flick?!
Donna Deitch is an American film and television director, producer, screenwriter, and actor best known for her 1985 film Desert Hearts. The movie was the first feature film to "de-sensationalize lesbianism" by presenting a lesbian romance story with positive and respectful themes.
Michael Dattilo Rubbo is an Australian documentarian/filmmaker.
Don Owen was a Canadian film director, writer and producer who spent most of his career with the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). His films Nobody Waved Good-bye and The Ernie Game are regarded as two of the most significant English Canadian films of the 1960s.
Jean de Segonzac is an American director, screenwriter and cinematographer who has worked in documentaries and television programs. Most of his work has been in gritty, cinéma vérité-style law enforcement TV dramas.
The Midwest Film Festival is the USA's only film festival solely dedicated to Midwest films. Only films from the eight-state Midwest region of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin are considered for screening.
Chicago Heights is a 2009 film written and directed by Daniel Nearing. This experimental, non-linear film is an ambitious adaptation of Sherwood Anderson’s short story cycle, Winesburg, Ohio. Noted film critic Roger Ebert included Chicago Heights in his list of the Top Art Films of 2010.
Hogtown is a multi-racial, multilingual "period-less" 2015 independent film. Set against the backdrop of the 1919 Chicago race riots, the story revolves around the mysterious disappearance of a millionaire theater owner during a snowstorm. Bill Stamets of the Chicago Sun-Times acknowledged Hogtown as "the most original film made in Chicago about Chicago to date". It was named one of the 10 Best Films of 2016 by Ben Kenigsberg, who reviewed the film for The New York Times, and JR Jones of The Chicago Reader named it the best film about Chicago and the best film made in Chicago, "period," for 2015. The film won Best Picture awards at the 30th Black International Cinema Berlin, the 2015 International Black Film Festival (Nashville), the 2015 Los Angeles Black Film Festival, and the 2015 Independent Film Playoff. It is the second of three films in an unnamed trilogy, following the 2010 film Chicago Heights and preceding Sister Carrie (2023).
Michael Harvey is an American author, journalist, and documentary filmmaker.
Eric Weinrib is a filmmaker and TV producer from Plainview, New York, United States.
American Anarchist is a 2016 American documentary film written and directed by Charlie Siskel. The film centers on interviews with William Powell, author of the controversial 1971 book The Anarchist Cookbook. The film premiered out of competition at the 73rd edition of the Venice Film Festival.
