City Of Lights Film Festival Returns For 4th Year: See The Lineup

AURORA, IL — The fourth annual City of Lights Film Festival will bring a full slate of films, both critically acclaimed and made by students, to Aurora Sept. 18-19.

This year's movie extravaganza will take place exclusively at The Venue, 21 S. Broadway in downtown Aurora.

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Opening night of the festival will feature "Adult Children," a 2025 film by Rich Newey that tells a coming-of-age story of a 17-year-old girl struggling to define who she is for her college entrance essay. Plus, it's set in Chicago.

The movie begins at 6:30 p.m. and will be followed a question-and-answer session with producer Mark Glassgow. From there, each ticket holder will get access to an after party from 8:30-10 p.m. at Craft Urban. Each opening night ticket also includes a complimentary cocktail.

Take a look at Saturday's festival schedule:

11 a.m. — "How to Build A Library," a documentary feature (110 minutes)

1:30 p.m. — Student film presentation, featuring six short films by high school and college filmmakers (69 minutes)

4 p.m. — 25th anniversary screening of "Moulin Rouge," Baz Luhrmann's hit 2001 jukebox musical (127 minutes)

6:45 p.m. — Short film presentation of eight pieces (95 minutes)

Most short and student filmmakers will be in attendance for post-screening Q&As Saturday.

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