Friday, May 12, 1:30 PM, Charles Theatre 4
Sunday, May 14, 2:00 PM, Rotunda Cinematheque 2

Director: Joe Swanberg

Cast: Kevin Bewersdorf, Joe Swanberg, C. Mason Wells, Tipper Newton, Brigid Reagan

Country: USA
Year: 2006
Running Time: 81:00 minutes
Format: Beta SP

We have never been more connected and plugged in than we are now. We can check our email on the run, get in touch with someone just about wherever they are, and send pictures on our phones. The irony is that sometimes the very mechanisms designed to keep us in touch with each other is the same technology that can get in the way of one on one personal relationships.

Alex, Tom, and Chris are three men trying to make sense of romantic relationships in the technological age. Alex spends his time pursuing relationships with internet fantasy women. Tim is in a long term relationship, but is constantly distracted by his laptop and cell phone. Chris is spending a few months away from his girlfriend leaving the cell phone as his only intimacy and connection to her.

The improvisational style of the film perfectly catches the tempo of the modern age where people are constantly multi-tasking in all aspects of their life and rarely giving their full undivided attention to any one thing. LOL is more than just a movie about life in the internet age; it is a movie that uses the language and milieu of the internet to tell its story.

-- Dan Krovich

Presented By: Joe Swanberg, Kevin Bewersdorf, Tipper Newton

Joe Swanberg studied film production at Southern Illinois University, where he developed an interest in emerging video technologies. After graduating in 2003, he has worked for two installments of the Chicago International Film Festival and part-time as a web designer. His first feature film, Kissing on the Mouth, has played at several film festivals. LOL is his second feature.

Kevin Bewersdorf was raised in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois and has lived in Berlin and Rome. He graduated in 2004 from the Rhode Island School of Design with a BFA in painting and is currently working on various projects involving music, digital photos, electronic instruments, and writing.

Tipper Newton is currently a student at Columbia College Chicago majoring in film. LOL is her feature film debut.