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Michael Kutza

American filmmaker and the founder of the Chicago International Film Festival

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMay 31, 2026
Entity authorityQ6832004
Source-derived summary

Michael Kutza (born November 28, 1942) is a filmmaker, graphic designer and the founder of the Chicago International Film Festival. In addition, he has been involved in other film festivals internationally, in such diverse locations as Taormina, Tehran, Moscow, Manila, Bogota, Los Angeles, Cannes, Berlin and Jerusalem, and has served as an advisor to a number of other festivals, including the Berlin International Film Festival and the Locarno International Film Festival.

In 1977 he was a member of the jury at the 10th Moscow International Film Festival. From 1979 to 1991, he served Italian journal Il Tempo as its American film correspondent. He has received numerous honors for cultural achievements.

Early life and education

Kutza was born Michael Joseph Kutza Jr. on November 28, 1942, in Chicago, IL, son of Dr. Michael J. Kutza Sr. (born 1897) and Dr. Theresa Kutza (née Felicetti, born 1899), both medical doctors.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Michael Kutza” as american filmmaker and the founder of the Chicago International Film Festival. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA productive route into publication, performance and collection histories when the underlying object or edition remains clearly identified. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1942, 1977, 1979, 1991—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1942-01-01. The account is most persuasive where Michael, Kutza and American can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as american filmmaker and the founder of the Chicago International Film Festival. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 31, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6832004. VIAF identifies the subject as 1340166535882012880008. The Library of Congress control number is no2022120834. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1942, 1977, 1979 and 1991.

Critical limits

Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Michael Kutza”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Michael Kutza primary sources, Michael Kutza archive and Michael research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Michael Kutza”?
  2. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
  3. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Michael Kutza” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.