Melvin Van News

An expanded live music component with concerts by Lydia Loveless, Corey Harris, Pontiak and a Funk Rock Soul triple bill with the funky METERS, Greyboy Allstars and JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound; CIMMpathy for The Stones, celebrating The Rolling Stones' 50 years of music on film; a special film section, award ceremony and concert with maverick filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles; an evening of music and movies with the legendary Van Dyke Parks and his filmmaker son, Richard; a Blues film section; 11 World Premiere screenings; and much more highlight the 5th annual Chicago International Movies & Music Festival (CIMMfest No. 5). The four-day festival annually brings together filmmakers, musicians and devotees from around the world for a celebration of movies and music at various venues centered around Chicago's Wicker Park and Logan Square neighborhoods, with a satellite location at the Music Box Theatre, Thursday, April 18 - Sunday, April 21.

Harry Belafonte, Gay Talese, Michael Shannon and Ellen Burstyn have joined Christine Vachon, Fred Schneider, Sofia Coppola, Todd Solondz, Barbara Kopple, Scott Foundas, Eric Kohn, Emily Russo, Jenny Lumet, Darren Aronofsky, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Hal Hartley, Peter Saraf, Nancy Savoca, Amy Ryan and Martin Scorsese as participants in First Time Fest.

Harry Belafonte, Gay Talese, Michael Shannon and Ellen Burstyn have joined Christine Vachon, Fred Schneider, Sofia Coppola, Todd Solondz, Barbara Kopple, Scott Foundas, Eric Kohn, Emily Russo, Jenny Lumet, Darren Aronofsky, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Hal Hartley, Peter Saraf, Nancy Savoca, Amy Ryan and Martin Scorsese as participants in First Time Fest.

The Chicago International Movies & Music Festival, CIMMfest No. 5, the annual four-day showcase celebrating the inseparable connection between music and movies, will feature international film premieres, live concerts, visually stunning DJ/VJ sets, lively Q&A's, daring live score performances, exhibits, and more, in numerous venues centered around Chicago's Wicker Park and Logan Square neighborhoods, Thursday, April 18 - Sunday, April 21, 2013.

Christine Vachon, Fred Schneider, Sofia Coppola, Todd Solondz, Barbara Kopple, Scott Foundas, John Anderson, Eric Kohn, Emily Russo, Jenny Lumet and Martin Scorsese have signed on to join the previously announced Darren Aronofsky, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Hal Hartley, Peter Saraf, Nancy Savoca and Amy Ryan at First Time Fest.

Korner Theatricals in association with the Negro Ensemble Company, Freedome Bailey and the Hip Hop Theater Festival have announced that TV and film veteran Khalil Kain and Obie award-winning actor and producer J. Kyle Manzay are joining to play the roles of Scag and The Great MacDaddy in the first major revival in 35 years of the Obie award-winning play THE GREAT MACDADDY. Award-winning director Alfred Preisser helms the production, which opens November 29th at 8:00 PM. The Great MacDaddy is the first production at the new 777 Theater in the Broadway theatre district, at 777 Eighth Avenue in New York City. Further casting will be announced at a later date.

The RRazz Room, San Francisco's premier nightclub, presents the debut engagement of stage and screen star ANA GASTEYER from "Suburgatory", "Saturday Night Live," and Broadway's Wicked. For her show "Elegant Songs from a Handsome Woman," Ana brings her unique comic wit and style to the stage in her new show of songs and stories, hot off engagements in New York, Toronto, Florida, Provincetown, and Los Angeles.

The RRazz Room, San Francisco's premier nightclub, presents the debut engagement of stage and screen star ANA GASTEYER from "Suburgatory", "Saturday Night Live," and Broadway's Wicked. For her show "Elegant Songs from a Handsome Woman," Ana brings her unique comic wit and style to the stage in her new show of songs and stories, hot off engagements in New York, Toronto, Florida, Provincetown, and Los Angeles.

The National Theatre Conference (NTC), an organization founded in 1925 that meets annually in New York to discuss relevant issues in today's theatre community and to celebrate outstanding achievement in the American theatre, has named the recipients of its 2012 awards. Broadway producer Elizabeth McCann has been named Person of the Year; the New Federal Theatre, under the direction of its founder, Woodie King, Jr., is the recipient of the Theatre of the Year Award; and playwright Dominique Morisseau has been selected as the winner of the Barrie and Bernice Stavis Playwright Award. All three will be presented with their awards and honored at the Players and at Signature Theatre during NTC's annual conference in New York October 26-28, 2012.

Sugar Valley Theatricals, Bryan Webster, artistic director, in association with Isaac H. Suggs, Jr., presents a special staged reading performance of MUNCHED by Kim Porter, directed by Petronia Paley, as a benefit for Women on the Rise Telling HerStory (WORTH).

Sugar Valley Theatricals, Bryan Webster, artistic director, in association with Isaac H. Suggs, Jr., presents a special staged reading performance of MUNCHED by Kim Porter, directed by Petronia Paley, as a benefit for Women on the Rise Telling HerStory (WORTH).

XLrator Media proudly announces the VOD and DVD release of WE THE PARTY. Written and directed by Mario Van Peebles, WE THE PARTY takes a close look at today's youth culture. The film was available on VOD on all providers on July 19, 2012, and in stores today, July 31, 2012 at an SRP of $20.99 for the DVD and $26.99 for the DVD/Blu-Ray combo.

Laurence Kardish, Senior Curator in the Department of Film at The Museum of Modern Art, will retire on October 15, after a 44-year career at MoMA. Mr. Kardish joined the Museum as Curatorial Assistant in the Department of Film in 1968, and was promoted to Assistant Curator in 1971, Associate Curator in 1977, Curator in 1984, and Senior Curator in 1999. During his career at MoMA, he organized hundreds of film exhibitions and special screenings, established a number of important annual film series, and was responsible for coordinating more than 60 film exhibitions each year in the Museum's Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters.

Aiming to become a community anchor with the capacity to unite theater professionals, students and local residents of all ages, New Haarlem Arts Theatre, the professional theater company of City College of New York (CCNY), presents its first play for young audiences, 'Flying Fables,' adapted by Obie-winner Stephanie Berry, directed by John-Martin Green with choreography and staging by Bruce Hawkins, and original music by Patricia Ju from tonight, July 14 to July 27 at Aaron Davis Hall, 135th Street and Convent Avenue.

To accommodate emergency repairs in Theatre C of Aaron Davis Hall, New Haarlem Arts Theatre has relocated all performances of 'Flying Fables' (July 14 to 27), a new play for family audiences adapted by Stephanie Berry and directed by John-Martin Green, to CCNY's Compton/Goethals Studio Theatre, located at 140th Street and Amsterdam Avenue (3rd floor).

XLrator Media proudly announces the VOD and DVD release of WE THE PARTY. Written and directed by Mario Van Peebles, WE THE PARTY takes a close look at today's youth culture. The film is available on VOD on all providers on July 19, 2012, and in stores on July 31, 2012 at an SRP of $20.99 for the DVD and $26.99 for the DVD/Blu-Ray combo.

Aiming to become a community anchor with the capacity to unite theater professionals, students and local residents of all ages, New Haarlem Arts Theatre, the professional theater company of City College of New York (CCNY), will present its first play for young audiences, 'Flying Fables,' adapted by Obie-winner Stephanie Berry, directed by John-Martin Green with choreography and staging by Bruce Hawkins, and original music by Patricia Ju from July 14 to 27 at Aaron Davis Hall, 135th Street and Convent Avenue.