Overview
Save the date: AbelCine and IFA Chicago are partnering on a special evening panel event on August 29 as part of Filmscape 2021! In our theater, we’ll be featuring a panel of Chicago creatives who will discuss a range of topics, from their different roles and career experiences, to what inspires them in their career and beyond. Audience Q&A is encouraged. This panel will be livestreamed on Filmscape Chicago's official YouTube channel!
Panelists
Jennifer Reeder
Jennifer Reeder was recently named by Bong Joon Ho as a filmmaker to watch in the 2020s. She constructs personal fiction films about relationships, trauma and coping. Her award-winning narratives are innovative and borrow from a range of forms including after school specials, amateur music videos and magical realism. These films have shown consistently around the world, including the Sundance Film Festival, The Berlin Film Festival, The Tribeca Film Festival, The Rotterdam Film Festival, The London Film Festival, SXSW, The Venice Biennale and The Whitney Biennial. Her most recent film, Knives and Skin, was theatrically released in France in November 2019 through UFO and in the US in December 2019 through IFC Midnight. She wrote and directed a section of the 2021 horror anthology, VHS94 from Shudder. She is currently in pre-production for a new feature length film called Perpetrator which is being produced by 30West, Divide&Conquer and WTFilms. To learn more about her work, visit thejenniferreeder.com.
Christopher Rejano
Christopher Rejano was born and raised in the shadows of Detroit and versed in early MTV, skateboard videos, and American independent cinema. Now based in Chicago, he has forged a career in feature film, commercials, and television. A mentorship under Laszlo Kovacs, ASC made a major impact on Rejano and solidified his aims toward being the best person for every job. Rejano's approach to aesthetic is one influenced by the necessity of proper storytelling and not by the pitfalls of following the latest trends. Often cited for a hearty midwestern work ethic has resulted in his work being featured at the Sundance Film Festival, SXSW Film Festival, Berlinale, and Tribeca Film Festival among others. Rejano is a member of International Cinematographers Guild Local 600. To learn more about his work, visit www.chrisrejano.com.
Jim Vendiola
Jim is an award-winning writer/director, development executive, and three-time Newcity FILM 50 honoree. His work has been described as “highly stylized and casually transgressive,” and frequently explores ideas of heartache, longing, liminality, eros, and pathos. As a Filipino-American with immigrant parents, his work also ponders themes of identity, otherness, and alienation.
His psychological horror short, VIOLETS, which reframes the genre's more common predator/prey dynamic, received the 22nd Chicago Underground Film Festival's Audience Award. His kink-positive follow-up, LIBRARY HOURS, is a reimagined approach to vintage erotica nominated for Best Short Film by NewFilmmakers LA.
Jim’s debut feature—a supernatural thriller called HOMESICK—is currently in late development with Chicago Film Project. To learn more about his work, visit www.jimvendiola.com.
Betsy Peoples
Bio coming soon!
Panel will be moderated by Angie Gaffney, Co-Founder and Executive Director of IFA Chicago.
Important Note:
As we continue to navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic, the well-being of our clients and staff is of primary importance. After careful consideration and extensive review of the latest CDC guidelines, face coverings are required for everyone on the AbelCine premises, regardless of vaccination status. For more details, please visit our dedicated COVID Updates page.
