The Chicago International Film Festival unveiled its official poster Monday, a return to the racy photos the festival has been known for in year's past.
Four local models were cast for "The Search for Sexy" poster, shot by famed photographer Victor Skrebneski. The provocative posters -- which the festival stopped doing for a number of years -- always showed models posed seductively in Film Festival t-shirts, and featured people such as Dolph Lundgren, Anna Nicole Smith and the then-unknown teenager named Cindy Crawford.
The 2009 45th anniversary poster was unveiled Monday night at Rockit Bar and Grill, with two of the models -- Howard Godfrey, 32, and Melanie Saldivar, 35, seeing the poster for the first time.
"I'm just happy I got the girl," said Godfrey -- the lucky guy who carried Saldivar on his back. "It was very natural, and it represents the tone of the photo shoot perfectly. It's hot, provocative and sexy, which is exactly what it's supposed to be."
Godfrey and Saldivar both seemed to be coming to grips with the fact that they're among such esteemed company.
"The opportunity to work with a photographer like that is once in a lifetime," Saldivar said. "He immortalized us, because everything he touches turns to gold."
The Chicago International Film Festival kicks off Thursday and runs through October 22.
