Ruth L Ratny presents REEL CHICAGO

JON SISKEL AND GREG JACOBS’ award-winning feature doc, “Louder Than a Bomb,” was selected to screen for a week July 30-Aug. 5 at the International Documentary Association's 14th Annual DocuWeeks Theatrical Documentary Showcase, at the IFC center in Manhattan.

It then plays for another week, August 6-12, at the ArcLight Hollywood in L.A.

The doc follows four Chicago-area high school poetry teams as they prepare for and compete in the world's largest youth slam. The film premiered in March 2010 at the Cleveland International Film Festival, where it won two top awards.

Ricardo Islas makes a cameo appearance in his film “Una y Otra Vez”

RICARDO ISLAS premieres his latest film “Una y Otra Vez” (“Over and Over Again”) in Columbia, South America on Aug. 20. Islas adapted the script from executive producer Fabio Herrera’s memoir “Cuando el Abuso se Vuelve Adicción” (“When Abuse Becomes Addiction.”)

Islas produced with Mark Harris. Fernando Patiño, Paola Valdes, and Jenny Sánchez star. Islas filmed in Chicago and Columbia from January through May.

Herrera “was abused by a priest a child, and as a consequence of this abuse he developed an obsessive compulsive disorder that turned his and his family's life into hell on earth,” Islas says.

He expects to have a local premiere soon. See www.alphaflicks.com.

Jay Sukow

JAY SUKOW of Group Mind Films plans an eight-day shoot this November for the ensemble restaurant comedy “Dijon’s,” the second feature for Group Mind Films after last year’s “American Legacy,” which was directed by Andrew Stegmeyer.

Sukow wrote the script for “Dijon’s” with his producing partners and co-stars John Berka and Todd Wojcik.

Featuring Jyo Minakawa, Bill Boehler, Shad Kunkle and Jay Paul Deratany, many of them returning from “American Legacy.” Kevin King is DP. Music by The SDS Trio. See groupmindfilms.com.

Chris Carroll

CYNTHIA CASTILLO-HILL is producing the web series “Dearwolfe,” a comedy about the Chicago rock scene, for Village Media, Inc. New York-based Crendall Miller of Whitehouse Post is director. Michael Johnson and Chris Carroll are writer/producers.

Johnson and Carroll star with Mark Hanley, Don Markus, Christine Navarro, Tony Pompoleo and Christian Breecher. They were scheduled to complete filming a 9-10 minute pilot on July 19

Their plan is to raise funds to shoot five more episodes for the first season. See tiny.cc/dearwolfe.

Stacia Allen

STACIA ALLEN shoots a short segment of her Sundance Screenwriter’s Lab semifinalist “Farmer” Aug. 5-8 in Clare, Iowa. An Iowa native who grew up on a farm, Allen wrote the script, about a farmer with two young children fighting to save his land during the farm-debt crisis of the ‘80s.

A Columbia College grad who lives in L.A., Allen was production designer of Jeff Lipsky’s “Twelve Thirty,” prop master of Brian Caunter’s “Chicago Overcoat,” and costume designer of Scott Prestin’s “The Devil’s Dominoes.”

“Farmer” Producer is Rachel Stratman, who was assistant producer of “Chicago Overcoat” and director of industry relations for that film’s production company Beverly Ridge Pictures. Quentin Larou is DP. See thefarmermovie.com.

David Dewes

DAVID DEWES, writer/producer/director of Collateral Damage Productions, shoots the 30-40-minute musical comedy “Rigamortis: A Zombie Love Story” this October in Madison. It’s in the style of “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog,” “but is a far more classic musical in nature,” Dewes says.

“It also delves into questions of what it means to be human.” DP Jenny Stolte, Matthew Olson and Marcia Stolte are also producing. Music and lyrics by Greg Szydlowski. See rigamortismovie.com.

Ed M. Koziarski is co-director of the feature film “The First Breath of Tengan Rei”. Email: