Gene Siskel Programming Director Rebecca Fons Named Chicago Tribune's 2022 Chicagoan of the Year in Film

Rebecca Fons stands in a dark movie theater room in the middle of rows of red movie theater chairs. On the screen behind her plays black-and-white film, which shows a still of a woman wearing white clothes.

Image courtesy of the Chicago Tribune.

Image courtesy of the Chicago Tribune.

Rebecca Fons, the Gene Siskel Film Center’s director of programming, was recently named by the Chicago Tribune as their 2022 Chicagoan of the Year in Film. Each year, the Tribune’s critics and columnists announce a list of Chicagoans who have made an impact on the city’s art scene and spotlight them in their Chicagoans of the Year in the Arts photo collection. 

Described in an accompanying profile as having “a populist curatorial knack for gathering challenging or unexpected titles in disarming packages,” Fons has served as the Film Center’s programming director since January 2021, and over the last year she has implemented changes in the Film Center’s screening calendar that have resulted in increased engagement from younger audiences. 

“I’m programming for anyone, of any age, who’s discerning,” Fons told the Tribune, “and curious.”

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