THE PIANO LESSON Opens, HERE Closes 60th Edition of North America’s Longest-Running Competitive Festival October 16 - 27, 2024
Highlights Include Centerpiece Presentation NIGHTBITCH; Kore-eda Hirokazu Tribute; 40 World, North American, or U.S. Premieres
Chicago, Illinois (September 23, 2024) – The Chicago International Film Festival today announced the full lineup of films and programs included in this year’s 60th edition of North America’s longest-running competitive film festival, unspooling at venues across the city October 16 - 27, 2024 including its hub theater, AMC NEWCITY 14, as well as the Music Box Theatre, the Gene Siskel Film Center, the Chicago History Museum, and the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts at the University of Chicago. Community screenings will be held at the National Museum of Mexican Art and the Hamilton Park Cultural Center. This year’s program includes 122 feature films and 71 shorts, four World Premieres, 19 North American Premieres, and 16 U.S. Premieres, and showcases cinema from more than 60 countries around the world including Argentina, Brazil, France, Nepal, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Spain, Switzerland, Tunisia, Zambia, and more.
The Festival opens its 60th edition on October 16, 2024 with writer-director Malcolm Washington receiving the Breakthrough Award for his visceral and compelling feature directorial debut, and star John David Washingtonaccepting the Festival’s Spotlight Award in recognition of the emotional complexity and power he brings to his role in THE PIANO LESSON, adapted from August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning masterwork. Legendary filmmaker Robert Zemeckis returns to the festival to present his film, HERE, starring Tom Hanks and Robin Wright. Zemeckis will receive the Founder’s Legacy Award at the Closing Night celebration, marking the third time he has had the honor of the Closing Night film, on October 27.
The Centerpiece presentation of NIGHTBITCH stars Amy Adams as a woman who pauses her career to be a stay-at-home mom, but her new domesticity takes a surreal turn. Director Marielle Heller is set to receive the Festival’s Visionary Award for her penetrating, funny, and outrageous look at the realities of being an American mom.
Spotlight Presentations include a screening of NICKEL BOYS, presented as part of the Festival’s Black Perspectives program, with director RaMell Ross set to receive the Vanguard Award for his groundbreaking, visionary new film; Brady Corbet’s THE BRUTALIST; Walter Salles’ I’M STILL HERE; and Tim Mielants’ SMALL THINGS LIKE THESE.
Special Presentations include Steve McQueen’s BLITZ, in which 9-year-old George embarks on an epic journey to reunite with his family in World War II London; BETTER MAN, tracking the meteoric rise, dramatic fall, and remarkable resurgence of British pop superstar Robbie Williams from director Michael Gracey; CONCLAVE, the story of a Cardinal at the center of a conspiracy that could shake the foundation of the Church during the secretive process of selecting a new Pope, by director Edward Berger; the emotional comedy A REAL PAIN, by director Jesse Eisenberg, who also stars alongside Kieran Culkin; Pablo Larraín’s MARIA, starring Angelina Jolie as the world’s greatest opera singer, Maria Callas; THE ROOM NEXT DOOR, Pedro Almodóvar’s first English-language film starring Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton as old friends whose relationship is put to the test; and Tim Fehlbaum’s SEPTEMBER 5, in which a U.S. broadcasting team quickly adapts from sports reporting to live coverage of the Israeli athletes taken hostage during the 1972 Munich Olympics.
Tributes and Special Events
The 60th edition of the Festival brings opportunities for audiences to learn more about film and their favorite filmmakers and performers. Actor André Holland will receive the Artistic Achievement Award with “An Evening with André Holland,” hosted by Steppenwolf Theatre Company Co-Artistic Director Glenn Davis and part of the Black Perspectives program; and comedy legend Mike Myers will receive a Career Achievement Award at a special event, “An Evening with Mike Myers,” hosted by fellow funny Canadian Dave Foley and co-presented by The Second City.
Retrospectives and Revivals
The Chicago International Film Festival celebrates 60 years of cinematic excellence with several retrospective programs, led by a look at six films by Japanese master filmmaker Kore-eda Hirokazu, who will appear in person to accept a Career Achievement Award, co-presented by Japan Foundation New York. Other retrospectives include the World Premiere of the restoration of Stan Lathan’s SAVE THE CHILDREN, a jubilant documentary featuring Black musicians at Chicago’s 1972 Black Expo; a restoration of director Ivan Dixon’s THE SPOOK WHO SAT BY THE DOOR, in which a Black CIA agent secretly leads a guerilla army against the U.S. government; and COMPENSATION, director Zeinabui irene Davis’s tale of two love stories set nearly a century apart with a newly-restored print. Famed Chicago director Andrew Davis presents his 1989 classic thriller THE PACKAGE, starring Gene Hackman and Tommy Lee Jones, screening at the Chicago History Museum.
International Competitions
Filmmakers from around the world compete for the Gold Hugo award in the categories of International Feature, International Documentary, New Directors, and OutLook, in addition to Shorts programs, in North America’s longest-running competitive film festival. The 60th Chicago International Film Festival welcomes back several filmmakers whose work appeared in previous years, including Virpi Suutari with ONCE UPON A TIME IN A FOREST; Max Kestner with LIFE AND OTHER PROBLEMS; Joshua Oppenheimer with THE END; Miguel Gomes with GRAND TOUR; Mohammad Rasoulof with THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG; Maura Delpero with VERMIGLIO; and Péter Kerekes, whose 107 MOTHERS won the Silver Hugo for Best Director at the 2020 Festival.
Local Stories
The stories and filmmakers of Chicago and Illinois take center stage in the Festival’s popular City & State program. This year’s selections include Jules Rosskam’s hybrid documentary DESIRE LINES, in which a trans man becomes immersed in an LGBTQ archive whose oral histories push against stigmas and boundaries; Rana Segal’s THE LIGHT OF TRUTH: RICHARD HUNT’S MONUMENT TO IDA B. WELLS, following the artist as he sculpts his monument to the civil rights icon; and OKIE, the story of a famous novelist returning to his rural Illinois hometown only to receive a mixed welcome, from director Kate Cobb. Filmmaker Rachel Elizabeth Seed pieces together a picture of her mother, a renowned Chicago-born photojournalist, attempting to close the gap between herself and the woman she never knew in A PHOTOGRAPHIC MEMORY; and Kyle Henry presents a moving, playful testament to the bond between mother and son with TIME PASSAGES. Other films with strong local connections include Chicagoland native Steve Pink’s portrait of Illinois congressman Adam Kinzinger, THE LAST REPUBLICAN; and the World Premiere of Chicago-born director Jason Park’s feature debut TRANSPLANT, starring K-Pop star Eric Nam.
Short Films
This year’s Festival presents short films from around the world, ranging from comedies to dramas, documentaries to thrillers, and everything in between, in ten Shorts Programs. Highlights include the City and State program’s BROKEN FLIGHT, following the Chicago Bird Collision Monitors as they work to rescue birds that collide with skyscrapers; SAVING SUPERMAN, following 57 year-old Jonathan as he navigates life with Autism Spectrum Disorder while living in Glen Ellyn; and CHHAYA, in which an OB/GYN appointment triggers Jiya’s memories of a recent assault, told in Bollywood style. In the Black Perspectives Shorts program, Evens and his mother unexpectedly spend hours waiting for their travel papers at a consul office, as everyone in the overcrowded waiting room grows more aggravated – and more interconnected, in Jean Gaspa’s GO IN PEACE; and Lana grapples with finding her own voice in a strict home while her father’s immigration status comes under scrutiny in Laetitia Angba and Julie R. Lissouba’s LANA.
The Chicago International Film Festival runs October 16 - 27, 2024 with film screenings and programs presented at venues across the city including AMC NEWCITY 14, the Music Box Theatre, the Gene Siskel Film Center, the Chicago History Museum, the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts at the University of Chicago, as well as community screenings at pop-up locations including the Hamilton Park Cultural Center and the National Museum of Mexican Art.
Tickets for Opening Night are on sale now; tickets for the full slate of films presented at the 60th Chicago International Film Festival will go on sale September 27, 2024. Cinema/Chicago members’ pre-sale tickets go on sale September 24, 2024; memberships now available at www.chicagofilmfestival.com/membership.
For more information, visit the Festival’s website at https://www.chicagofilmfestival.com/.
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Festival Information
Celebrating its 60th edition October 16 - 27, 2024, the Chicago International Film Festival is North America's longest-running competitive international film festival. Showcasing acclaimed and exciting new films from around the world, the 60th edition will be held in person in theaters and venues around the city, featuring a select program of films with closed captions. From dramas and thrillers to documentaries and comedies, the Festival presents a vast diversity of offerings, featuring competitive categories and programs including Black Perspectives; International Comedy; Women in Cinema; OutLook; After Dark; and the City & State program, showcasing films made in Chicago and throughout Illinois.
2024 Festival Sponsors and Partners
The 60th Chicago International Film Festival's sponsors include Festival Sponsors: Adobe, Allstate, Baker Tilly, Cinespace Studios, Illinois Production Alliance, Maison Perrier, MUBI, Panavision, Light Iron, Periscope Post & Audio, SAGindie, Tito’s Vodka, William Blair, Xfinity; Official Agency: Ogilvy; Publicity Agency: Acacia Consulting Group; Festival Supporters: Caption Consulting, Four Seasons Hotel Chicago, L7 Chicago by LOTTE, Make It Better Foundation, Chicago Film Office, Illinois Film Office, Revolution Brewing; With Major Support from Robert and Penelope Steiner Family Foundation, John and Jacolyn Bucksbaum Family Foundation, Charles Droege and Julie Wroblewski, and Cynthia Stone Raskin. This program is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency, and a CityArts Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events.
About Cinema/Chicago
Cinema/Chicago, the presenting organization of the Chicago International Film Festival, is a year-round nonprofit arts and education organization dedicated to fostering better communication between people of diverse cultures through the art of film and the moving image. Cinema/Chicago's programs include the Chicago International Film Festival, Summer Screenings Program, CineYouth Festival, and year-round Education Program. Celebrating its 60th edition October 16 - 27, 2024, the Chicago International Film Festival is North America's longest-running competitive film festival. For more information, please visit www.chicagofilmfestival.com or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTubeand Twitter.
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