Hometown Premiere Set for Chicago Indie ‘Loafers’

‘Loafers’, a feature film hailed by Film Threat as marking “a generational shift in the depiction of 20-something[s]”, will hold its hometown premiere at the Chicago Critics Film Festival on May 6th at 7pm. After having its world premiere at Dances with Films New York, it’s a massive honor to have ‘Loafers’ screen at the legendary Music Box Theater alongside films starring people like Seth Rogen, Willem Dafoe, and Penelope Cruz.

Tickets to ‘Loafers’ can be found here.

‘Loafers’ is the story of Isaac and Cameron, two best friends living together after graduating from college, who feel stuck. They work boring jobs, waste time, and smoke weed with their universe of friends. This universe expands, though, when Isaac’s old friend Cyrus crashes on his couch and keeps extending his stay. As Cyrus ingratiates himself with the friend group and Cameron makes some bad decisions, the pressures of adulthood come screaming into focus as everyone must suddenly decide who they want to be when they grow up. The cast of Loafers includes rising Chicago stars like Zach Schnitzer, Dan Haller, Melissa Marie, and Beck Nolan, alongside mainstays like Ryan Kitley, Charin Alvarez, and Joe Swanberg.

Filmed in and around the Chicago neighborhoods where its cast and crew live, ‘Loafers’ was shot over 11 days with a budget of $6,000 and a tiny crew of mostly DePaul graduates. Deeply inspired by the films of Joe Swanberg, John Cassavetes, Andrew Bujalski, and the Duplass Brothers, ‘Loafers’ is a testament to the power and vitality of low-budget filmmaking. Who needs expensive lights and fancy cameras when you have incredible actors and a moving story?

‘Loafers,’ in the words of director/star Zach Schnitzer, was made to “look at what it feels like to be young right now and represent it as only someone our age, with our lack of resources, could. It’s a film made with money scraped together from menial jobs, with whatever equipment we could get our hands on, and with all of our favors cashed in, but this is exactly what makes ‘Loafers’ so special. It’s DIY filmmaking at its best: rough around the edges and full of life.” 

Writer/director/star Zach Schnitzer & Producer/editor Nate Simon are scheduled to attend.

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