Chicago, IL – CHILDREN OF INVENTION, a critically acclaimed independent feature film written and directed by Tze Chun, who was born in Chicago, will have its Chicago theatrical premiere on Friday, May 14th. The film will run as an exclusive one-week engagement at Facets Cinémathèque.
CHILDREN OF INVENTION had its world premiere at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, played over 45 film festivals, and won 16 festival awards, 7 of which were Grand Jury or Best Narrative Feature prizes, including the top prize at the Independent Film Festival Boston and Newport International Film Festival. The film was named one of the "Top 13 Films of 2009" by Hammer to Nail and made several "Best Undistributed Films of 2009" lists.
In CHILDREN OF INVENTION, two young children living outside Boston are left to fend for themselves when their hardworking mother gets embroiled in a pyramid scheme and disappears. The film is Chun's debut feature and is loosely based on his own Sundance 2007 short film, WINDOWBREAKER, which earned him a spot on Filmmaker Magazine's annual "25 New Faces of Independent Film" list.
Though born in Chicago, Chun grew up primarily in Boston's suburbs, and the film takes inspiration from his childhood there. Says Chun, “When I was little, my sister and I followed my mother to countless pyramid seminars. The film is a personal story about th! e world I grew up in – a subculture of immigrant and working class Americans trying to get-rich-quick in order to get themselves out of a financial hole. I didn't foresee the current financial crisis. But with the economy the way it is now, it seems like everyone's living through some version of what the family in the film goes through.”
CHILDREN OF INVENTION features breakthrough performances by Cindy Cheung (LADY IN THE WATER) and newcomers Michael Chen, age 10, and Crystal Chiu, age 8. It was produced by Mynette! Louie (MUTUAL APPRECIATION), shot by Chris Teague (MAN, THE SECO ND LINE, SALT KISS), edited by Anna Boden (HALF NELSON, SUGAR); scored by T. Griffin (A WALK INTO THE SEA), cast by Susan Shopmaker (AFTERSCHOOL, GREAT WORLD OF SOUND, SHORTBUS), co-produced by Trevor Sagan, Dave Saltzman, and Sheila Dvorak, and executive produced by Dan Cogan of Impact Partners (BORN INTO BROTHELS, GHOSTS OF ABU GHRAIB, NO IMPACT MAN, THE GARDEN).
Since March 2010, the film has been playing theatrically to rave reviews in select cities, including Boston, New York, Los Angeles, and Vancouver. It will continue to play in additional cities throughout the summer.
Producer Mynette Louie will be in attendance for a Q&A after the 7pm and 9pm screenings at Facets on Saturday, 5/15. For showtimes and to purchase tickets, click here.
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About CHILDREN OF INVENTION
One of Filmmaker Magazine’s "25 New Faces of Independent Film," writer-director Tze Chun makes "a fine feature debut" (Manohla Dargis, New York Times) with one of the most-awarded and best-reviewed films of the year. CHILDREN OF INVENTION is by turns humorous and heartbreaking, an "urgent, artful...austerely poetic" (Variety) "edge-of-your-seat family drama" (Spout) that’s both “powerfully moving and rigorously intelligent."(Boston Phoenix).
After being evicted, hardworking single mom Elaine Cheng (Cindy Cheung, Lady in the Water) tries to maintain a normal life for her children, Raymond and Tina. Elaine juggles a number of jobs, including working for a questionable pyramid scheme. When Elaine doesn’t return home one night, nobody knows the kids are home alone, and they are left to fend for themselves. As the days pass, Raymond, a budding inventor, realizes he needs to come up with a plan to take care of his little sister.
Referencing both the mortgage meltdown and suburban Ponzi schemes, “the film finds delicate moments of beauty and grace as its child heroes are forced to make their way” (Filmmaker Magazine). Featuring “gifted child actors--off-the-charts cute, refreshingly free of Hollywood precociousness” (LA Weekly), CHILDREN OF INVENTION is "as close to cinematic purity as one is likely to see this year" (Film Society of Lincoln Center), "a rueful homage to American dreams both wonderful and warped" (Village Voice).
CHILDREN OF INVENTION made its world premiere at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, played over 45 film festivals, and won 16 festival awards incuding 7 Grand Jury or Best Narrative Feature prizes.
For more information, visit
www.childrenofinvention.com
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About FACETS CINEMATHEQUE
Facets Multi-Media, founded in 1975, is a non-profit organization, and a leading national media arts organization. Its mission is to preserve, present, distribute, and educate about film. Facets Cinemateque is located at 1517 W. Fullerton Ave, Chicago IL. For more information, call
(773) 281-4114 or visit www.facets.org.
