Gen Art Film Festival

It's always nice when Chicago gets recognized for how awesome it is. So it's no surprise that the Gen Art Film Festival, after spending 12 years in NYC, would choose Chicago as its newest location -- before the likes of L.A., Miami and San Francisco. The festival will be in town for five days (June 26-30) of independent film premieres by up-and-coming directors. Chicago-Made Cinema will feature local films Wednesday night, June 27, so you can catch movies that were filmed right around the corner. With premieres come, of course, afterparties. While the chances of running into the likes of Paris Hilton at these shindigs is slim (jail till Tuesday, remember?), you just might get the chance to rub elbows with the likes of Heather Graham, who will be in town June 26 for her film Broken, or Alan Cumming, whose directing debut A Suffering Man's Charity will be screened June 29. It's $20 per night or $75 for a five-night festival pass. For the complete schedule, visit genart.org. -Dani Garcia