The 6pm and 8:15pm premiere screenings the Friday at The Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago have sold out. But an additional 10:15pm late screening has been added, tickets are only available at the Siskel box office Friday.

A few photos from MoMA’s compact but very well done “50 Years of Helvetica” exhibit, to which I’m honored to have contributed. I finally got to see it over the weekend. It features a five-minute loop from the film, a few of the materials I’ve picked up along the way during the filming process, and of course specimens from MoMA’s Swiss poster collection. It’s up through April 2008, so check it out if you’re in New York City.

Last week was another hectic one, with screenings in Boston for the Society of Environmental Graphic Designers conference, two AIGA screenings in Nashville, and three sold-out shows at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. I hadn’t visited the Walker before, and I was really impressed by their art, film, and media programs. And the restaurant there is excellent! Note to self: need to hang out in Minneapolis in the springtime more. Special thanks to Andrew Blauvelt and the design department at the Walker for inviting me.

The Walker has a film program with Michel Gondry in attendance this week, and they were screening some of his short films while I was there. I liked the very sweet La Lettre, one of his first film attempts. But I literally fell asleep when I watched The Science of Sleep… but maybe that was the point? Je ne sais pas.

On to Copenhagen…

Three C’s: Cologne, Cleveland, and the Corcoran. See the screening schedule for more.

Tickets for the second San Francisco screening on June 13 at 10pm are now sold out. There may be stand-by tickets available at the door for both the 7pm and 10pm screenings at Embarcadero Cinemas. Arrive early… no guarantees.

Ahhhhh… Paris in the springtime. The quaint outdoor cafes, the wine, the romance, the Eiffel Tower, and the Helvetica. I rolled into Paris for two sold-out screenings at the Palais de Tokyo, a sprawling contemporary art gallery and performance space overlooking the Seine. Just before the first screening it started raining so hard that the PDT started to flood, and they had to close the galleries! There was an installation that consisted of large blocks of sugar laid out on the floor, and it was a sight to see all the PDT curators frantically trying to move the giant sugar cubes before they got wet. Luckily the rain subsided and the first screening was only delayed a few minutes.

The Experimental Jetset were in town on business and came to the screening, it was the first time they’d seen the film. Brigid also came over for the weekend, and the next night we all went out for burgers and then to see Battles at a small underground club, packed to the gills with 300 feverish French kids. Awesome.

Another exciting French development is that I’ll be curating a Helvetica exhibit at the Colette Paris gallery, September 3 to 29. The exhibit will feature prints and posters from designers in the film, historical materials related to the typeface, new work from French designers, and lots more. And the exhibit will close with an exclusive advance release of the DVD… stay tuned for details.

Merci beaucoup to Mark Alizart and everyone at PDT, and to Alex and Veronique at F7. Also, when in Paris, stay at the Hotel Le Quartier Bastille, Le Faubourg. Sleek little rooms, cheap, good location, free wi-fi, and 60’s French pop in the elevator.

“By popular demand” the AFI Silverdocs Festival has added a second screening, Sunday June 17, 9:15pm. Tickets are available here.