A very full weekend: the CIFF had a full array of programming filled with celebrities, premieres, original foreign films, provocative works and entertaining film fare. On a couple of occasions it was difficult to choose between all of the competing offerings.

On Saturday, October 13, 2007, With the CIFF’s annual Black Perspectives’ Career Achievement Award presentation to Jeffrey Wright (Broken Flowers, Syriana, Angels in America, Basquiat) occurring at the same time as Juliette Binoche’s starring role in Hou Hsiao-hsien’s first French language film, Flight of the Red Balloon, hit the big screen at Landmark’s Century Cinema and the Italian subtitled, My Brother is an Only Child, directed by Daniel Luchetti played to a full house at AMC’s River East, I was conflicted in terms of where to go and what to watch.

Again, on Sunday, October 14, 2007, I encountered some similar overlaps. Slipstream, Hopkins’ writing\directing effort, a creative endeavor blurring the lines between reality and fantasy was scheduled to play at the historic Music Box Theatre on the north side of town while My Brother’s Wedding, the restored follow-up to Charles Burnett's acclaimed Killer of Sheep was playing near Navy Pier and The Man from London directed by Bela Tarr, a dramatic black\white Hungarian reflective work on crime and punishment, was to show on the screen at the city’s art Cinemaplex, Landmark.

All right, so my final selections seem relatively straightforward for they ultimately boiled down to choosing those both featuring heavy elements of flash and fanfare. On both Saturday and Sunday, I chose to attend those more notable celebrity-driven events on the schedule.

Saturday evening was the Black Perspectives’ Career Achievement with a compelling Q&A between hip hop notable\ on-screen film artist Mos Def and the man being honored, the incendiary, film actor Jeffrey Wright.

And, Sunday night, I checked out the special red carpet extravaganza for the Chicago premiere of Slipstream marking the writing\directorial debut by iconic film legend, Sir Anthony Hopkins who walked the red carpet prior to showcasing his film.

While I won’t bother to deny I enjoyed both of these events. There is a part of me that feels wimpy in not selecting more challenging film offerings represented by some of the more obscure foreign films as opposed to the less-celebrity-driven presentations.