CHICAGO– From March 3rd to the 30th, the 20th Chicago European Union Film Festival (CEUFF) of 2017 will unfurl at the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago. The Opening Night Film is from Malta – and their emerging film industry – and it’s entitled “20,000 Reasons,” directed by Jameson Cucciardi. For more information, including a complete schedule of films, click here.
This is the largest festival in the nation showcasing films of the European Union nations, and this edition of CEUFF presents Chicago premieres of 62 new feature films, representing all 28 European Union nations. Included in the festival are new and daring work by some of Europe’s most renowned directors, including: Olivier Assayas (“Personal Shopper”); the Dardennes brothers (“The Unknown Girl”); Doris Dörrie (“Greetings from Fukushima”); Bruno Dumont (“Slack Bay”); Eugène Green (“The Son of Joseph”); Szabolcs Hajdu (“It’s Not the Time of My Life”); Joachim Lafosse (“After Love”); Sergei Loznitsa (“Austerlitz”); François Ozon (“Frantz”); and João Pedro Rodrigues (“The Ornithologist”).
The Chicago European Union Film Festival Opens with ‘20,000 Reasons’
Photo credit: SiskelCenter.org
Since 1972, the Gene Siskel Film Center of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago has presented cutting edge cinema, as vital part of the school’s offerings, and as a continuous celebration of the cinema for the general public. The Film Center’s programming includes specialized film festivals, trailblazing work by today’s independent filmmakers, restorations and revivals of essential films from cinema history, and discussions with filmmakers and media artists. The Film Center was renamed the Gene Siskel Film Center in 2000 after the late, nationally celebrated film critic, Gene Siskel.
 | By PATRICK McDONALD |