Editor

The second annual Chicago International Movies and Music Festival is gunning for its 2010 premiere, and returning bigger and better than ever. We have many announcements for this coming year, particularly our new partnership. To bring an even more international scope to the festival this year, CIMMfest has joined with the Filmer la Musique festival of Paris and is proud to host its representatives as our guests to introduce their films.

Just as enthusiastically, we announce this coming year's judges:

IVAN KRAL

A prolific songwriter, Grammy winner Ivan Král has collaborated with David Bowie, Patti Smith, Iggy Pop and other great artists. When not producing his own solo work, Král also composes film soundtracks and original scores including underground greats such as The Foreigner and the more mainstream Diner.

Král will introduce a special screening of his films The Blank Generation and Patti Smith Group: Dancing Barefoot.

MARIE LOSIER

Experimental filmmaker Marie Losier is curator at the French Institute Alliance Française in New York City. Losier's film The Ontological Cowboy was featured in the 2006 Whitney Biennial. Her works have been shown at P.S. 1 (NYC), Tribeca, and many other film festivals and institutions.

Losier will also be introducing her short films Slap the Gondola!, Papal Golden-Dance and Tony Conrad: DreaMinimalist.

MARTIN ATKINS

CIMMfest is pleased to welcome back Martin Atkins, winner of the 2009 Best Documentary Feature award for his film 16 Days in China. A professional drummer, Atkins got his start with Public Image Ltd. before forming the group Pigface and later Murder Inc. When not recording, Atkins teaches at Columbia College in Chicago, IL as well as giving guest lectures on the business of touring, the subject of his book Tour:Smart.

GRANT HART

Drummer and songwriter, formerly of Hüsker Dü and fresh off his Hot Wax tour, Grant Hart will be performing live for our Chicago audience and joining the festival as the fourth and final jury member.

In addition to these special guests, this year we are glad to include director Jonathan Walls to introduce his documentary, Playing for Change. John Edginton will also be introducing the Chicago premiere of his film, Robin Hitchcock: I Often Dream of Trains, A Concert Film.

As always, music is at the heart of CIMMfest, so we have a number of live performances to go along with the screenings. In addition to Grant Hart, CIMMfest will host a performance by the inimitable ROBYN HITCHCOCK in conjunction with a screening of Robyn Hitchcock: I Often Dream of Trains, A Concert Film. Director John Edginton will introduce the film at its exclusive Chicago premiere, only here at CIMMfest.

In conjunction with the a screening of Eileen Yaghoobian's Died Young Stayed Pretty, CIMMfest will host a rock art show featuring poster art curated by Steve Walters of Screwball Press.

Keep watching at cimmfest.org for an updated list of live performances--more to come soon!