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February 9, 2022

50 Films for 50 Years at Gene Siskel Film Center

City Cast Chicago

50 Films for 50 Years at Gene Siskel Film Center

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In 1972, Camille Cook started the Film Center at the School of the Art Institute Chicago to screen auteur, independent, and international films. What started in a room at Tribune Tower, then a basement at the MCA, then an auditorium at the Art Institute is now Gene Siskel Film Center on State Street. In addition to screening films, it features director Q&As and lecture series. For its 50th anniversary, the Gene Siskel Film Center is weekly screening a film from each year it’s been open. We talk to the executive director and director of programming about the history, running a theater during a pandemic, and how to narrow it down to just 50 films.


Guests: Jean de St. Aubin — Executive Director, Gene Siskel Film Center

Rebecca Fons — Director of Programming, Gene Siskel Film Center


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