The 4th Annual Oakton Pop-Up Film Festival!

I am excited to announce that, after the success of the last three Oakton Pop-Up Film Festivals, I have programmed and will be hosting P.U.F.F. for the fourth consecutive year. The screenings of these acclaimed independent American films (three features and three shorts), spanning various genres and styles, will all take place at Oakton Community College’s Footlik Theater in Des Plaines, Illinois, from Tuesday, November 28 through Friday, December 1. The entire festival is FREE and open to the public and ALL screenings will be followed by Q&A sessions with the filmmakers. Any of my students who attend a screening will receive extra credit points towards his or her final grade (see the extra credit page of your course website for more information). Don’t you dare miss it!

Oakton Community College’s 4th Annual Pop-Up Film Festival!
Footlik Theatre, 1600 E. Golf Road, Des Plaines
Tuesday, Nov. 28 – Friday, Dec.1 – FREE admission

SIGNATURE MOVE (80 min, 2017) – Tuesday, November 28 at 2pm
Followed by a Q&A w/ director Jennifer Reeder moderated by Kristin McCartney
In this hilarious and heartfelt look at modern love, Zaynab (Fawzia Mirza) is a 30-something Pakistani Muslim lesbian lawyer in Chicago who begins a new romance with Alma, a confident Mexican-American woman. Zaynab tries to keep both her love life and her interest in lucha-style wrestling a secret from her conservative mother, who knows more than she lets on. World premiered at the SxSW Film Festival.

PORTO (86 min, 2016) – Wednesday, November 29 at 12:30pm
Followed by a Q&A w/ director Gabe Klinger moderated by Laurence Knapp
Jake (Star Trek’s Anton Yelchin) and Mati (Lucie Lucas) are two outsiders in Porto, Portugal, who once experienced a connection. A mystery remains about the moments they shared, and in searching through memories, they relive the depths of a night uninhibited by the consequences of time. This award-winning drama was executive produced by Jim Jarmusch (Paterson).

MERCURY IN RETROGRADE (105 min, 2017) – Thursday, November 30 at 2:00pm
Followed by a Q&A w/ cast members Najarra Townsend, Alana Arenas, Jack C. Newell, Shane Simmons and Kevin Wehby, and director Michael Smith moderated by film critic Pam Powell
Three couples from Chicago vacation together for a weekend at a lakeside cabin in Michigan. Isabelle (Roxane Mesquida) and Richard have been together for five years and are deeply unhappy; Jack and Golda have been happily married for 10 years; and Peggy (Najarra Townsend) and Wyatt just started dating and don’t yet know each other well. Hidden tensions and secrets slowly come to the surface in this comedy/drama that won the Best Narrative Feature award at the Full Bloom Film Festival.

SHORT FILMS PROGRAM: WOMEN IN DANGER (31 min, 2017) – Friday, December 1 at 12:30pm
Followed by a Q&A w/ directors Sadie Rogers, Clare Cooney, Layne Marie Williams and Lonnie Edwards moderated by Michael Smith
These entertaining and provocative short films, all written and directed (or co-directed) by women, show in wildly different ways how their young female protagonists find themselves in harm’s way while attempting to navigate public spaces. The films screening are CHIP V.2 (Sadie Rogers), RUNNER (Clare Cooney) and AN ATRAMENTOUS MIND (Layne Marie Williams and Lonnie Edwards).