4 docs launch New Science + Cinema showcase Oct. 21

TIMELY DOC HEAD GAMES, about the epidemic of concussions in football and other sports produced by Steve James (The Interrupters, and Columbia College film department chair Bruce Sheridan, will screen Oct. 21 at Science + Cinema: New Screen Frontiers, the Chicago International Film Festival initiative that will get its own section in the 2015 festival.

The other docs showcasing are Maria Finitzos Terra Incognita, about Northwestern neurologist Jack Kesslers experiments with stem cells to treat his daughter’s paralysis; and Clayton Brown and Monica RossThe Believers, about the scandal over cold fusion and ongoing research in its aftermath.

Clips from each film will screen, accompanied by a panel discussion with the filmmakers, their scientific advisors and subject experts. 

Science + Cinema will screen at Columbia College’s Film Row Cinema, 1104 S. Wabash, from 6-8:30 p.m., also presented by the Chicago Council on Science and Technology, University of Chicago, Northwestern University and the law firm of Mayer Brown.

BULLETPROOF FILM HOSTS a Writers and Filmmakers Meetup in celebration of Chicago Artists Month, Saturday, Oct. 5 at its Bloomingdale Artists Building space in Wicker Park, to “bring together the community to meet, take shop, make each other available for advice, support or simply as a sounding board for ideas, scripts, casting and so on,” says president Ilko Davidov

The Meetup starts at 5 p.m., following a sound design and music demo at 4 p.m. and doors opening at 3 p.m.  Music by DJ Dan Mahail. BYO, some refreshments available. 

Open studio tours also will be held Oct. 18-19 4-7 p.m. at 2418 W. Bloomingdale, suite C4.

GABE POLSKY’S feature documentary Red Army, executive produced by writer/director Werner Herzog, about the Soviet national hockey team he calls “the greatest sports dynasty in history,” screens in the Chicago International Film Festival Oct. 14. 

Polsky, a producer of Herzog’s Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, grew up in Chicago, the child of Russian immigrants, and had an inspirational former Soviet hockey coach as a teen. 

Red Army focuses on Slava Fetisov, the Soviet team captain who joined the New Jersey Devils in 1989. 

Red Army screens at AMC River West, 322 E. Illinois at 8:30 p.m. Polsky will attend.

RICHARD DIAZ’s short Nose Hair and Peanuts premieres Oct. 3 in the SoCal Film Festival, followed by a screening at the Orlando Film Festival, Oct. 22-26.  Diaz’s producing partner, writer Mike Pusateri (Guys Book Club), stars as a family man on a business trip faced with temptation when he finds himself alone in a hotel room with a beautiful woman.  Diaz directed the feature Distortion.

THE POLISH FILM FESTIVAL IN AMERICA presents a selection of films by Polish master Andrzej Bukowinski, as well as Andrzej Bart’s documentary about Bukowinski, Maestro.  Bukowinski will attend and sign copies of his biography, A Long Journey in a Very Short Time.  It’s Oct. 11 at 8 p.m. at the Society for the Arts, 1112 N. Milwaukee Ave.  The Polish Film Festival runs Nov. 7-23.

Send news of your latest film project to  edmkoz@gmail.com.