Music Box Theatre's COMPUTER CHESS Hosts Post-Show Talks This Weekend

Music Box Theatre welcomes the filmmakers and local stars of the new '80s-set comedy Computer Chess for the film's opening weekend in Chicago. Writer-director Andrew Bujalski (Funny Ha Ha), local stars Gordon Kindlmann and Anne Dodge, Chicago-born producer Alex Lipschultz and pioneering chess programmer David Slate will conduct post-show discussions on Friday and Saturday. Ray Pride, film editor of Newcity, facilitates post-screening Q&As tonight and Saturday, Sept 27 and 28, 7:15 p.m. at Music Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport.

Computer Chess - an official selection of the 2013 South By Southwest and Sundance film festivals - is "an artificially intelligent comedy" about computer chess programmers set in an Austin hotel over one weekend in the '80s during a tournament for chess software programmers. The film transports viewers to a nostalgic moment when the contest between technology and the human spirit seemed a little more up for grabs.

Gordon Kindlmann, who makes his acting debut as Professor Tom Schoesser in Computer Chess, is a real-life assistant professor in the Computation Institute and the Computer Science Department at the University of Chicago. He lives not far from the Music Box with his wife Anne Dodge, a documentarian (66 Motels) and urban planner, who also plays his wife in the movie.

David J. Slate, joining in Saturday night's post-show conversation, is a computer scientist and pioneering chess programmer who served as an informal consultant on the film. Slate began chess programming in 1968 as a physics graduate student at Northwestern University and, with Larry Gatlent and Keith Gordon, developed Chess 2.0 in 1969.

Chicago-born producer Alex Lipschultz, currently executive producer of Richard Linklater's Hulu series "Up to Speed," will also join the conversation both nights.

Bujalski also wrote and directed the films Funny Ha Ha, Mutual Appreciation and Beeswax, which all appeared on New York Times critics' "Top Ten of the Year" lists. Funny Ha Ha was also identified by A.O. Scott as one of the Ten Most Influential Films of the '00s. The Boston Globe describes him as "unerringly polite and somewhat dishevelled."

Computer Chess (Andrew Bujalski, 2013, 92 min.)

Friday, Sept 27, 7:15 p.m.

Saturday, Sept 28, 7:15 p.m.

Tickets, $9.25, available in advance at www.musicboxtheatre.com/events/computer-chess-with-special-guests-2013-sep-27-fri-0715pm or at the door.

About the Music Box Theatre: For 30 years the Music Box Theatre has been the premier venue in Chicago for independent and foreign films, festivals and some of the greatest cinematic events in Chicago. It currently has the largest cinema space operated full time in the city. The Music Box Theatre is independently owned and operated by the Southport Music Box Corporation. SMBC, through its Music Box Films division, also distributes foreign and independent films in the theatrical, DVD and television markets throughout the United States. For additional information, visit www.musicboxtheatre.com.

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