John Gavin Malkovich is an American actor. He is the recipient of several accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards.
Back to the Future Part II is a 1989 American science fiction film directed by Robert Zemeckis from a screenplay by Bob Gale; both wrote the story. It is the sequel to the 1985 film Back to the Future and the second installment in the Back to the Future franchise. The film stars Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, and Thomas F. Wilson with Elisabeth Shue, and Jeffrey Weissman in supporting roles. It follows Marty McFly (Fox) and his friend Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown (Lloyd) as they travel from 1985 to 2015 to prevent Marty's son from sabotaging the McFly family's future. When their arch-nemesis Biff Tannen (Wilson) steals Doc's DeLorean time machine and uses it to alter history for his benefit, the duo must return to 1955 to restore the timeline.
William Louis Petersen is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Gil Grissom in the CBS drama thriller series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000–2015), for which he won a Screen Actors Guild Award and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award; he was further nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards as a producer of the show. He reprised his role as Gil Grissom in the sequel CSI: Vegas, which premiered on October 6, 2021.
Steppenwolf Theatre Company is a Chicago theater company founded in 1974 by Terry Kinney, Jeff Perry, and Gary Sinise in the Immaculate Conception grade school in Highland Park, Illinois and is now located in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood on Halsted Street. The theatre's name comes from Hermann Hesse's novel Steppenwolf, which original member Rick Argosh was reading during the company's inaugural production of Paul Zindel's play, And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little, in 1974. After occupying several theatres in Chicago, in 1991, it moved into its own purpose-built complex with three performing spaces, the largest seating 550.
Miles from Home is a 1988 American action thriller film starring Richard Gere and Kevin Anderson. It is about two brothers who, after being forced off their farm in the debt stricken Midwestern United States, become folk heroes when they begin robbing the banks that have been foreclosing on farmers. The movie was directed by Gary Sinise and written by Chris Gerolmo. The film uses many members of Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company of which Sinise is a co-founder.
Francis V. Guinan Jr. is an American film, television and stage actor who is perhaps best known for his role as Edgar Teller the patriarch in the short-lived series Eerie, Indiana.
The Grapes of Wrath is a 1988 play adapted by Frank Galati from the classic 1939 John Steinbeck novel of the same name, with incidental music by Michael Smith. The play debuted at the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago, followed by a May 1989 production at the La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego and a June 1989 production at the Royal National Theatre in London. After eleven previews, the Broadway production, directed by Galati, opened on March 22, 1990 at the Cort Theatre, where it ran for 188 performances. The cast included Gary Sinise, Kathryn Erbe, Terry Kinney, Jeff Perry, Lois Smith, Francis Guinan, and Stephen Bogardus. The play was adapted for television in 1990 for the PBS series American Playhouse.
Tracy S. Letts is an American actor, playwright, and screenwriter. He started his career at the Steppenwolf Theatre before making his Broadway debut as a playwright for August: Osage County (2007), for which he received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play. As an actor, he won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for the Broadway revival of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (2013).
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.
Benji is a 1974 American family film written, produced and directed by Joe Camp. It is the first in a series of five films about the golden mixed breed dog named Benji. Filmed in and around McKinney and Denton in Texas, the story follows Benji, a stray but friendly dog, who is adored by some of the townspeople, including two children named Cindy and Paul. The children fail to convince their father, Dr. Chapman, to allow Benji to stay at their home. When the children are kidnapped by a band of robbers as part of a ransom, Benji attempts to rescue them. The film grossed $45 million on a budget of $500,000, and its theme song received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song. The film was turned down by every studio in Hollywood; Camp had to form his own film company to distribute the film worldwide. This film was Frances Bavier's and Edgar Buchanan's last on-screen acting appearances before they retired and died in 1989 and 1979 respectively.
Anne B. Real is a 2003 coming-of-age drama film directed by Lisa France and starring Janice Richardson, Carlos Leon, Ernie Hudson, and Sherri Saum. The film follows an aspiring rapper in Spanish Harlem who finds inspiration in reading The Diary Of Anne Frank. The film won a Black Reel Award for Outstanding Independent Film.
The Beloit International Film Festival (BIFF) is an annual film festival in Beloit, Wisconsin, usually held in mid-February. The first edition of the festival took place in 2006. BIFF has evolved from a single weekend to now span 10 days and seven venues. Most venues are in downtown Beloit and within easy walking distance between each. With more than 300 volunteers, it is a community-wide effort, welcoming filmmakers from across the nation and around the world.
Wendy Robie is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Nadine Hurley in David Lynch's television series Twin Peaks (1990–1991) and the prequel film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992). She also starred in two of Wes Craven's films: The People Under the Stairs (1991) and Vampire in Brooklyn (1995). In 2017, Robie reprised her role as Nadine in David Lynch's revival series Twin Peaks: The Return.
Gasparilla International Film Festival is an annual independent film festival that takes place in Tampa Bay, Florida. The festival is run by the Tampa Film Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing film education and supporting filmmakers in the Tampa Bay area. The first Gasparilla Film Festival took place in 2007.
Benji: The True Story of a Dream Cut Short is a 2012 American documentary film about Chicago South Side basketball player Ben Wilson, a star athlete with promising career prospects who played for Simeon Career Academy and was shot and killed. The film debuted at the Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival on April 20, 2012. The Tribeca viewing was a world premiere.
Christopher Denham is an American actor, screenwriter and director. He is known for supporting roles in Oppenheimer, Shutter Island, Argo, Being the Ricardos, Charlie Wilson's War and Sound of My Voice. His television credits include Billions, The Gilded Age, Shining Girls, opposite Elisabeth Moss and Amazon Prime's Utopia, created by Gillian Flynn. Denham has appeared on Broadway in Master Harold...and the Boys, Martin McDonagh's The Lieutenant of Inishmore and David Mamet's China Doll, opposite Al Pacino.
Carrie Alexandra Coon is an American actress. On television, she has starred in the HBO drama series The Leftovers (2014–2017) and played Gloria Burgle in the third season of the FX anthology series Fargo (2017). She won a Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actress for The Leftovers and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress for Fargo. She also starred in the second season of the anthology drama series The Sinner (2018), and has played an aspiring socialite in the HBO period drama series The Gilded Age since 2022. For the latter, she received another Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress.
Mercury in Retrograde is a 2017 American drama film written and directed by Michael Glover Smith, and starring French actress Roxane Mesquida. The film follows three couples from Chicago as they navigate personal challenges while vacationing together for a weekend in southwestern Michigan. The film premiered at the 2017 Full Bloom Film Festival in Statesville, North Carolina where it won the Best Narrative Feature award.
Rendezvous in Chicago is a 2018 American romantic comedy film written and directed by Michael Glover Smith. The film consists of three vignettes that examine Chicago couples at different stages in their relationships. The film premiered at the 2018 Adirondack Film Festival in Glens Falls, New York where it won second place in Audience Choice voting. It is notable for containing a cameo by French actress Haydée Politoff, her first screen appearance in 37 years.
Catherine Caylee Cowan is an American actress. She is best known for her roles in Sunrise in Heaven (2019), Willy's Wonderland (2021), Spinning Gold (2022), and Frank and Penelope (2022).
