Currently Chief Programmer for the Palm Springs International Film Festival, Alissa Simon is a long-time film curator and critic. She was named a 1999 Chicagoan of the Year for her innovative work at the Film Center of the School of the Art Institute and has served on numerous film festival juries. A member of FIPRESCI, she freelances for the American trade paper Variety. Years ago, as a Yale undergraduate, Alissa was a British Studies major and she now splits her time between London and Chicago.