Michigan Avenue - Niche Media - Michigan Avenue magazine is a luxury lifestyle magazine centered around Chicago’s finest people, events, fashion, health & beauty, fine dining & more!
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/85092
PHOTOGRAPHY BY CLAYTON HAUCK Superlatives VIEW FROM THE TOP michael kutza PROJECTORS FOR YEAR 48. BY J.P. ANDERSON I THE FOUNDER OF THE CHICAGO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL WARMS UP THE t's an October tradition that's as anticipated as fall foliage and Bears short football: the Chicago International Film Festival, which cues up 150 films, documentaries, and features from around the world during two star-studded weeks of packed screenings and red-carpet premieres. The man behind it all is Michael Kutza, who estab- lished the festival in 1964 at age 23 and, still at the helm 48 years later, has built it into one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world. Considering Kutza's upbringing, it's a wonder the film festival happened at all. A West Side native, Kutza was born into a family of doctors and was duly Inadvertently, expected to become one. though, his mother turned him into a filmmaker. "My mother traveled the world, and she always had a 16mm camera with her. She'd bring these films back and say to me, 'Make it into something,' and I said okay. I think I was continued on page 50 Michael Kutza in his Cinema/ Chicago office, home of the Chicago International Film Festival. PEOPLE, CULTURE, STYLE MICHIGANAVEMAG.COM 49