Cinepocalypse — Chicago’s premiere annual genre festival, produced and presented by the Music Box Theatre — is proud to bring in the New Year with the announcement of Katie Rife as new Senior Programmer of the festival.
Rife, a Senior Writer for The A.V. Club who previously helmed the festival’s shorts programming, joins ahead of the festival’s 4th edition, of which she will begin overseeing feature programming as well.
“Genre festivals have been my home as a critic for many years,” says Rife. “It’s thrilling to get the opportunity to be more deeply involved as a festival programmer.”
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Cinepocalypse details
The four-day Cinepocalypse celebration returns to the Music Box Theatre June 4th-7th, promising a potent slate of fresh and exciting genre movies from around the world and related special events.
Submissions for shorts and features are now open via FilmFreeway. Full-Festival Badges to attend are available on the official website for the event named a top genre festival in the world by MovieMaker Magazine; or directly from the Music Box Theatre.
Cinepocalypse tradition
Since 2017, Cinepocalypse has presented Music Box audiences with a slate of dynamic features, shorts, guests, and a variety of other surprises. The festival has played host to prestigious filmmakers from around the globe, including:
Lana Wachowski, co-creator of cult-hit The Matrix trilogy;
Scott Derrickson, director of Sinister and Doctor Strange;
Ernest Dickerson, celebrated director and cinematographer known for his frequent collaborations with Spike Lee and directorial works such as Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight and Juice;
Larry Cohen, late cult exploitation filmmaker;
Barbara Crampton horror actress from the cult-hits Re-Animator and From Beyond;
Stephen Hopkins, director of Judgment Night and A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child.
Cinepocalypse 2019
Featured in Entertainment Weekly, People Magazine, and The AV Club, 2019 proved to be the festival’s most explosive edition yet, shattering attendance records and featuring the buzzed-about world premiere of rock legend Glenn Danzig’s Verotika; a lifetime achievement award for actor Michael Ironside; a career retrospective of the band GWAR; our jury president Joel Schumacher; film critic/commentator Joe Bob Briggs’ notorious lecture ‘How Rednecks Saved Hollywood’; a 25th anniversary celebration of Airheads, with director Michael Lehmann; the first-ever public screening of the original, uncut, R-rated, gore-filled lost “classic” Tammy and the T-Rex; and so much more!
Cinepocalypse promises to showcase even more thrills, chills, special guests, and exciting premieres in 2020.
Regular events produced, presented and hosted at Music Box Theatre include the 70mm Film Festival; the annual 24-hour horror-movie marathon Music Box of Horrors; and Noir City: Chicago, co-presented by the Film Noir Foundation.
Photo Katie Rife
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