Fashion photographer Victor Skrebneski’s posters have been a trademark of the Chicago International Film Festival for so long that it’s easy to forget what the mostly naked bodies in the posters have to do with the mostly heady films on the screens.
Monday night’s unveiling of this year’s two posters at the downtown Mashed Potato Club seemed an excellent occasion to reestablish the connection between the two.
One of the new posters features Victoria Silvstedt, a former Miss Sweden and Playboy “Playmate of the Year,” sandwiched between naked, blond surfer-boy star models Keith and Derek Brewer, a.k.a. The Brewer Twins. Silvstedt has just a white film-fest T-shirt draped across her chest, and she’s holding hands with each of the grinning 24-year-olds, strategically blocking views of their naughty bits. The other poster is a 6-foot shot of Silvstedt wrapped only in a large, dark, film-festival scarf that isn’t completely opaque.
Before we get to the photographer’s, models’ and party attendees’ interpretations of what these posters say about film, some background is in order.
“Back in the ’60s when I met Victor, I told him we had an international film festival that was serious, that had directors and films from all over the world, but it lacked something that Cannes and Venice and all the rest had,” said Michael Kutza, who founded the festival in 1965 and continues to run it. “I couldn’t put my finger on it, and he said right away, `It lacks sex appeal.’
“I left it to him to create an image that (has become) a tradition now, and it became a fundraising tool and a collector’s item. (The posters) made us sort of famous to the point that people mimic them all over the world for their outrageousness.”
Skrebneski’s first poster, for the 1966 festival, was a close-up of a dark-haired model’s face, with the festival’s now-familiar Theda Bara filmstrip logo emblazoned on sunglasses pulled down over her nose. Since then, some of the black-and-white posters’ subjects have been film figures — such as Orson Welles, Francois Truffaut and Sharon Stone — but most have been erotic shots of models, often nude.
The new posters follow a similar strategy, though Skrebneski has discarded his usual black backgrounds for a lighter look. Monday’s party had the feel of a glitzy art opening, so it seemed appropriate to ask: What do these posters say about film?
Skrebneski: “(With) this year’s poster we wanted completely to get away from everything and change the look. That’s why we chose the boys and Victoria. I think it’s a lighter version of the film festival poster. They’re very clean-looking, very fresh-looking and very young, and that’s what I think today is all about.”
Kutza: “It’s young, it’s dynamic, it has an independent spirit about it. That’s how it relates to today’s movies. This is the first youthful kind of thing he has shot for us. It is very white. It’s not the dark, steamy, black-and-white stuff of the past.”
Derek Brewer: “We knew it was going to be a little bit provocative, and that’s what it’s all about, to have something for the fans of the international film festival to look at — and have a smile on our face!”
Keith Brewer: “Basically, the international Chicago film festival has been a great place for new directors, artists, actors to come about. Martin Scorsese, Kevin Bacon have all been found through this, and it’s just something to spruce it all up. It’s really cool because she’s got a very sexy look on her face, but we’re kind of just giving it a lighter side with a nice laugh.”
Silvstedt: “Well, those posters . . . always have a very sexy, beautiful, classy look, and I think they kind of try to stick to that old, glamorous, Hollywood kind of style. You know, a woman and these two beautiful guys, and of course they like to have a lot of skin tone in it. They think it’s more interesting.”
Richard Roeper, Sun-Times columnist and event emcee, in introducing the posters: “It’s unbelievable. It’s a beautiful work of art.” Upon their unveiling: “Wow. Isn’t that great?”
Chris Corrigan, small business owner: “There’s nothing that relates that poster to any film. It’s just three very good-looking people. I particularly like the woman.”
Chris Keith, insurance agent and regular visitor to the twins’ Web sites: “It’s a little overpowering, just the expression of creativity and beauty. It doesn’t make me want to go out and see a movie, but it’s kind of a reflection of the glamor and beauty you get when you go to a movie.”
Liz Maurer, graphic designer: “Cheese. I just think it’s too plastic, and the smiles are total cheese.”
Jason Miller, sales representative for Gay Chicago magazine: “To me it says they’re being safer than in previous years because in other years they’ve shown the penis.”
Caron Pinkus, Northwestern University senior and sociology major: “That’s like any advertising for anything you’d see in a magazine. It’s good-looking people who are mostly naked, and that’s what you see in advertisements everywhere, and that has nothing to do with the movies.”
Melinda Herron, model: “I hadn’t even thought about what it says about movies. When you look at the other ones, this is kind of Victor’s G-rated poster.”
Dan McCollar, options exchange trader: “I’m just more into the posters. I don’t see them representing the movies. Generally sex sells, so it draws interest, I’m sure.”
