Apartment City

To the credit of the Locarno Festival, the films in the 2017 selection don’t waste time trying to tell universal stories that transcend their time and place. Falling in love varies depending on the social conditions behind it, as Xu Bing’s found-footage film “Dragonfly Eye s” aptly proves, while weaving a story about obsession and surveillance in contemporary China. Similarly, working in a mine in Serbia has a wholly different routine than mining for gold in Suriname, as Ben Russell’s latest documentary “Good Luck” takes its time to show. Even something as widespread as the notion of the work/life balance varies considerably in films from Locarno coming from different parts of the world and set in different milieus, and enough of these films either circumvent or contradict traditional depictions of the home. It’s telling that new films in which the home is a sooth place are either set in different eras (Todd Haynes’ “Wonderstruck”) or built upon obviously artificial narrative ...

CHAMPAIGN - When brothers Jeff, Steve and Mike Hartman went into the real estate development and management business together, they combined more than the initials of their first names. They also merged everything their father taught them about the construction business and all their mother taught them about family loyalty in their three enterprises, JSM Apartments, JSM Development and JSM Management. Under the JSM umbrella, the Hartmans now own and manage 700 apartments and 114,000 square feet of commercial space in Champaign-Urbana, including the new Technology Plaza apartment/retail/office complex in Campustown. And they have more developments on the way. Already started are a new apartment/retail complex on Gregory Street in Urbana, near the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, and a new retail center on South Neil Street in Champaign, where Hillcrest Lumber used to be. The Hartmans say they work well together in business, running things jointly and never undertakin...