Gen Art Film Festival

Gen Art has been on the arts scene for over fifteen years, building a name for itself as an organization dedicated to bringing emerging artists (filmmakers, fashion designers, musicians and visual artists) to hipsters everywhere. Despite its humble origin story that starts in an NYU law school dorm with a loan from the ‘rents, Gen Art has been criticized in more recent years for growing so big for its britches that, in fact, it had gone mainstream, but its latest event, the 2009 Gen Art Chicago Film Festival felt more indie than any other film festival I’ve been to.

Unlike most festivals, Gen Art only showcases eight films, which is great for the filmmakers because this practically guarantees an audience, but it definitely doesn’t allow for the fun festival-hunting you get at some of the other bigger festivals where you’re on a mission to find the best film no one’s buzzing about yet.

Usually, I hate when festivals trick you into watching the shorts – you’re not there to see them and most people who live outside the bubble of Hollywood career-climbing assistants don’t really care. And indeed, as I sat through Richard Gale’s short the first night, all I could think was how did they turn one joke into a ten minute movie – I laughed briefly in the beginning but really, the over indulgence on display was making it really difficult for me not to start writing emails in the theater. However, I was put to shame with Destin Cretton’s Short Term 12, which was the kind of movie that was aptly described by my friend when she turned to me during the credits and said “that just ruined my whole weekend” in the best possible way. It is a deeply disturbing, but touching look at children in a residential housing facility that stays with you long after you’ve seen it. It also deservedly won the audience favorite at Gen Art, not to mention the fact that it came to this festival having already won at Sundance this year. It was followed by the starring-Kevin Spacey film, Shrink, which I am officially not allowed to review for another three weeks – so unofficially, all I will say is that I cannot wait to tell you about!

The Gen Art film festivals also create a unique environment for its after-parties because the moviegoers have a chance to chat up the filmmakers and stars. It’s a welcome change from the rest of the festival circuit where the after-parties are more like corporate deal-brokering lunches with dim lighting. Chicago was out in full force grilling the actors on what it’s like to work with the likes of Kevin Spacey and Robin Williams and Zooey Deschanel and prying into how much time they were indeed going to spend enjoying Chciago’s sights. The directors and actors were cheerily eating up the opportunity to talk to newly created, fawning fans who don’t work in a one-industry town.

And that’s an awesome thing to see. New artists who never had fans before suddenly standing in a sea of flirty bottled blondes who can’t wait to sloppily congratulate them on their work. But honestly, it’s nice for a change to be witness to this when the artists actually deserve the attention. It’s seeing the fruits of an artist’s labor actually reach people. That’s when Gen Art thrives. These filmmakers have worked hard for years to make these projects come to fruition. One of the stars of one film, Dallas Roberts, told me he flew himself out to LA to make the film and stayed on a friend’s couch because he believed in the project. If that doesn’t merit a circle of sloppy fans, I don’t know what does.

Tamara Shayne Kagel is a writer living in Chicago and Los Angeles. Follow her on Twitter or email her at Tamara.Kagel@gmail.com.