Festival News 4 Documentaries You Need to See at BWiFF 20/21 The documentaries are sure to shine at the 20/21 Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival. We are very excited about the diverse, outstanding collection of short and feature-length documentary films in this year’s festival. The line-up includes films that delve behind-the-scenes for compelling insight into
Wrongfully Rotten Mission: Impossible II After rewatching "Mission: Impossible II," even I realized how wrong I was about this electric sequel, featuring a Tom Cruise with more attitude, an introduction to more daring stunts, and a harsh look at masculinity.
Cinema Cerebration Skip the Trailer for 'Words on Bathroom Walls' 'Words on Bathroom Walls' welcomes you into the mind of a teenager beginning with what will be a life-long struggle with paranoid schizophrenia. It’s terrifying. And beautiful.
Festival News BWiFF 2020 Will Be Postponed to 2021 Due to the ongoing global health crisis, the Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival (BWiFF) Board of Directors have made the decision to postpone the 10th annual festival until July 2021 at Chicago Filmmakers.
Editorials Our Favorite Independence Day Films in 2020 Earlier this week, festival staff were invited to share what their favorite Independence Day-themed film was and why their selection still resonates with them. Below is a collection of their reflections on Fourth of July films of the past today. Top Gun (1986) Therese Mlynarczyk, Development Director Probably one
Cinema Cerebration 'Keeper of the Flame' Remains Eerily Relevant in 2020 Many Hepburn and Tracy films are well known classics, so this one immediately aroused my curiosity. Why had I never heard of this movie before? Cue dramatic orchestra music...
Festival News BWiFF 2020 Postponed to September at Chicago Filmmakers The 10th Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival (BWiFF) was originally scheduled to be held at Chicago Filmmakers, located in the Edgewater neighborhood of Chicago’s North Side, in late July. Due to the current global health crisis, the festival will be postponed nearly eight weeks. “We’ve been fortunate to
Festival News Virtual Screening of "Phoenix, Oregon" This Saturday, April 11 In partnership with the independent streaming platform Theatrical At Home, Film Festival Alliance presents the inaugural Film Festival Day. Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival is thrilled to be participating in this special presentation event along with 29 other film festivals on Saturday, April 11 beginning at 5:00pm. When you
Festival News Cinema Centennial Confessional Now that BWiFF has successfully completed its first Cinema Centennial event, showcasing films from 1919, I think it’s about time for my first public confessional. So here it goes: I am not exactly what you would call a silent film aficionado. Prior to preparing for this year’s Cinema
Podcast Podcast | ‘The Dead Don't Die’ Episode Recap In this podcast episode, co-hosts Jonathan C. Legat, Tricia Legat, and Michael Noens discuss the 2019 horror comedy ‘The Dead Don't Die’ from director Jim Jarmusch.
Podcast Podcast | ‘Booksmart’ Episode Recap In this podcast episode, co-hosts Jonathan C. Legat, Tricia Legat, and Michael Noens discuss the 2019 teen comedy ‘Booksmart’ from director Olivia Wilde.
Festival News 1919 Cinema Centennial at Music Box Theatre on October 23 Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival will host the 1919 Cinema Centennial at Music Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport Avenue in Chicago, on Wednesday, October 23 at 7:00pm. The special program celebrating films released 100 years ago will feature a collection of shorts followed by a feature with contemporary music
Podcast Podcast | ‘Locke’ Episode Recap In this podcast episode, co-hosts Jonathan C. Legat, Tricia Legat, and Michael Noens discuss the 2014 dialogue-driven thriller ‘Locke’ from director Steven Knight.
Podcast Podcast | ‘Hearts Beat Loud’ Episode Recap In this podcast episode, co-hosts Jonathan C. Legat, Tricia Legat, and Michael Noens discuss the 2018 music-driven father-daughter comedy ‘Hearts Beat Loud’ from director Brett Haley.
Festival News 2020 Call for Entries Now Open on FilmFreeway Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival will host their 10th annual festival at Chicago Filmmakers, located at 5720 N. Ridge Avenue in the Edgewater neighborhood on Chicago’s North Side. Entries in a wide variety of categories are now being accepted online through April 10, 2020. Above all else, the
Podcast Podcast | ‘Ophelia’ Episode Recap In this podcast episode, co-hosts Jonathan C. Legat, Tricia Legat, and Michael Noens discuss the 2019 perspective shift Shakespeare drama ‘Ophelia’ from director Claire McCarthy.
Podcast Podcast | ‘Always Be My Maybe’ Episode Recap In this podcast episode, co-hosts Jonathan C. Legat, Tricia Legat, and Michael Noens discuss the 2019 romantic comedy ‘Always Be My Maybe’ from director Nahnatchka Khan.
Festival News Chicago Filmmakers to Host BWiFF 2020 The 10th Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival (BWiFF) will be held at Chicago Filmmakers in the Edgewater neighborhood on Chicago’s North Side from July 17-23, 2020. Call for entries will be accepted exclusively through FilmFreeway beginning September 3, 2019. Since 2010, the festival has been held annually over
Editorials Reflecting on the 25th Anniversary of “Speed” I woke up this morning and learned that Jan De Bont’s 1994 action-adventure “Speed” was released in theatres on this day 25 years ago. This information threw me a bit as I realized it has been 25 years since I began my obsession with the art of motion
Cinema Cerebration 'Booksmart' Gets Better After Multiple Views It’s silly. It’s foul. It’s nostalgic and moving. It’s also quite fittingly smart. Booksmart follows Amy (Kaitlyn Dever) and Molly (Beanie Feldstein) the day before their high school graduation — more specifically, the night before. The two best friends have chosen to pass up the opportunity to
Editorials Please Don't Spoil the Story Technology continues to connect humanity at an unprecedented rate, which is an incredible thing. Nearly anything we would want to learn about is right there at our fingertips and through social media we can communicate like never before. Storytellers are able to reach audiences they would have not otherwise through
Festival Alumni Mylissa Fitzsimmons Talks 'Everything in the End' Earlier this week, writer/producer/director Mylissa Fitzsimmons launched an Indiegogo campaign to raise funds for her first feature film, Everything in the End. Fitzsimmons has had two short narrative films exhibited at Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival; the coming of age drama That Party That One Night screened at
Cinema Cerebration We're Better Together – Just Like in 'Avengers: Endgame' I’ve never been a comic book reader. In fact, I can’t think of a time when I read one. I don’t mean to infer that I was ever opposed to reading comics; I just never got into it myself. So it wasn’t the established characters that
Film & TV Netflix Experimenting with a Play Random Episode Feature Imagine you have just reached the end of a long day and what seems like a mirage before you is in fact the couch you’ve been longing for since you left hours ago. You manage to carry your exhausted self just a few more steps and then let gravity
Festival News Complete List of 2018 Blue Glass Awards Winners Over 30 films were selected for exhibition and/or competition at the 2018 Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival held at Foxhole Creative in Chicago from August 3-9. Of those films, the top award-winners were narrative short The Immaculate Misconception with 3 awards and narrative feature Die Beste Aller
