Another Shot Of Whiskey

Photo from the Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival website.

The Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival returns to Palatine for its second year tomorrow and runs through July 24th. Founded by Michael P. Noens and J. Spencer Greene, the BWiFF will screen 29 films from across the globe at Cutting Hall (150 E. Wood Street), ranging in length from two minutes to 108 minutes. Virtually every genre will be represented, including Mike Flanagan’s horror film, Absentia; Travis Betz’s The Dead Inside, which is a musical horror film; Enrico Natale’s sitcom pilot No Names; Kire Paputts’s drama Animal Control; Jared Varava’s comedy The Fourth; Adrien Merigeau’s animated short, Old Fangs; and Andrew Wonder’s documentary, Undercity. See the Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival website for the full schedule and film descriptions.

The festival kicks off with a free opening night ceremony at 7:00 PM Tuesday, featuring Dennis Florine, a singer-guitarist who grew up in Palatine. Florine recently released his second CD, Oh World, What A Beautiful Tragedy. The Palatine-based Theatre Nebula is sponsoring Florine’s performance. Singer-guitarist Chris Petlak, who performed at last year’s Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival, has a gig as part of the new “On The Patio” feature, at Cutting Hall on Friday 6:00 PM.

Opening night will also feature specially chosen music videos by artists like Turin Brakes; Lykke Li; Ben Folds (doing a song with lyrics by High Fidelity author Nick Hornby); The Bell Beat; The Material; Gypsyblood; Walk The Moon; and Jackie Daum. The Blue Whiskey Film Festival has worked with an assortment of international musicians on a Festival Soundtrack. More information about the various artists will be available in the lobby of Cutting Hall.

The films will be shown from 7:00 PM to 11:30 PM Wednesday through Friday, with two separate blocks of screenings (12:30 PM to 4:30 PM and 7:00 PM to 11:30 PM) on Saturday. There will also be a Dinner With The Filmmakers at Emmetts Restaurant, at 110 N. Brockway Street, from 4:45 to 6:30 on Saturday, while on Sunday, an Awards Brunch will be held from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM at Hotel Bollero, 920 E. Northwest Highway in Palatine. Three judges, John Oak Dalton, David B. Grelk, and Pete Guither, will confer on which filmmakers receive the honors.