Pages tagged “chicago international film festival”

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Wesley Willis DVD Coming Out Next Week

Wesley Willis wrote songs to fight off his demons. And not in the typical, heart-on-sleeve, singer-songwriter sort of way. No, these demons weren’t ex-lovers or repressed memories. They were actual demons. With horns. The diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic wrote purposefully outlandish tunes (“Casper the Homosexual Friendly Ghost,” “My Mother Smokes Crack Rocks”) as an escape from what he described as “torturous hell rides.” Willis spent much of his life selling detailed ink drawings on the streets of Chicago and furiously recording albums; he once recorded four in 36 days. He liked to greet people with a friendly head butt....  read more

Wesley Willis's Joyrides shines light on dark life of Chicago icon

[Above: Still from Wesley Willis's Joyride]A riff on Daniel Bitton's 2003 documentary The Daddy Of Rock 'n' Roll, released a few months before Wesley Willis’s death from leukemia at age 40, Wesley Willis' Joyrides is a second look at the iconic Chicago artist and musician. Strung together from more than five years of footage by directors Chris Bagley and Kim Shively, the film will be featured at this week’s 44th Chicago International Film Festival.  ...  read more