Glad that this new Canadian-produced feature I previously profiled enthusiastically on S&A (and which was received just as enthusiastically) is finally set to make it USA premiere; and it will do so at the upcoming Pan African Film Festival which begins February 9th.

Titled High Chicago, the film stars black British thespian Colin Salmon, and is directed by Alfons Adetuyi, his feature film directorial debut; though Adetuyi is no stranger to the cinema, as he's worked primarily as a producer and director of TV and documentaries in Canada.

As I said previously, I really like the look and feel of what I see and hear here; though I'm unfamiliar with Adetuyi's work, I've seen Salmon in a number of films, and he's always a presence on screen, even in the "lesser" titles he's acted in.

Karen LeBlanc, Fulvio Cecere, Rob De Leeuw, John Robinson, and Sebastian Pigott round out the starring cast.

So what's the film about?

Its synopsis, courtesy of the film's website, reads:

Set in 1975, HIGH CHICAGO is a gritty drama about Sam, a 42-year-old husband and father of two, in the grip of a serious gambling addiction. Living on the edge of poverty in a northern mining town, Sam has been stoking the same blast furnace for ten years. When Sam loses his job; instead of admitting his failure to his wife Ruth, he chooses instead to chase the foolhardy dream of traveling to Africa to open a drive-in theater, a scheme hatched years earlier in the navy. Sam is equally desperate to support his family and keep his personal dream alive, almost destroying both with his compulsive gambling. In the vein of Death Of A Salesman, The Bicycle Thief and The Gambler.

I actually had it on my prediction list of films that might screen at Sundance 2012; alas, it didn't happen.

No matter… my trip to the Pan African Film Festival is already booked, and this is one film I'm looking forward to finally checking out; of course, my review will follow.

Watch the trailer below: