Surya Gupta

Sign outside United Center (my photo!) In October of 1974, a 24 year old Bruce Springsteen played Chicago for the first time. They opened for a band called the Persuasion, at The Quiet Knight off West Belmont. Springsteen told us this story during a break during Chicago show of his 'Land of Hopes and Dreams American Tour' this past Wednesday (4/29/2026) now in the United Center, stacked with tens of thousands of people. Full of protest songs and rousing speeches from the Boss himself,...

Jean Luc Godard (Left) and Francois Truffaut (Right) Everyone who has a vague idea of film history knows the French New Wave, or at least that's how I see it, the French New Wave is a gateway drug to cinephilia. Anyways I want to talk about my favs from the era, and their following careers, and a bit about their peers, a bit of everything if you will. I'm going to start with a bit of background info, the French New Wave era began with a group of young fresh directors, who often hailed from...

Still from Lav Diaz's The Halt This might be a very basic list, but that's because deep down I am a very basic man. Anyways, here are 3 Asian film director I love for APIDA month! Satyajit Ray In my personal opinion, one of the most prolific film directors to come from the Indian Subcontinent. His work focuses more on the mundane and lives of people, counter to the mainstream glitz and glamour of Bollywood. My favorite work of his is Devi, a film about a young girl who is pedestalize as a...