The French film A Childhood directed by Philippe Claudel won the Gold Hugo for Best Film at the 51st Chicago International Film Festival. In this tender, keenly observed look at growing up in poverty in small town France, 13-year-old Jimmy dreams of a bourgeois life with family vacations and games of tennis. Trapped in an unstable household with a drug-addicted mother and her criminal boyfriend, Jimmy is forced to grow up too quickly. Over the course of a sweltering summer, Jimmy must find moments of hope in a world full of strife.
The Gold Hugo for Best Documentary went to Volta à Terra, directed by João Pedro Plácido, and in the New Directors Competition, the Gold Hugo went to Underground Fragrance directed by Pengfei Song.
The 51st Chicago International Film Festival also presented Director Michael Moore with the Founder’s Award for his film “Where To Invade Next.” “Chicago is the Capital of the Midwest and I just won the Founder’s Award here,” said Michael Moore.
The winners of the 2015 Chicago International Film Festival
International Film Competition
Gold Hugo, Best Film:
A Childhood
Country: France
Director: Philippe Claudel
Silver Hugo, Special Jury Prize:
Paulina
Country: Argentina, Brazil
Director: Santiago Mitre
Silver Hugo, Best Director:
The Club
Country: Chile
Director: Pablo Larrain
Silver Hugo, Best Male Actor:
Alexi Mathieu, Jules Gauzelin (A Childhood)
Country: France
Director: Philippe Claudel
Silver Hugo, Best Female Actor:
Lizzie Brochere (Full Contact)
Country: Netherlands, Croatia
Director: David Verbeek
Silver Plaque, Best Ensemble:
The Club
Country: Chile
Director: Pablo Larrain
Silver Plaque, Best Cinematography:
Frank Van den Eeden (Full Contact)
Country: Netherlands, Croatia
Director: David Verbeek
Silver Plaque for Best Screenplay:
Writers Guillermo Calderon, Daniel Villalobos, Pablo Larrain (The Club)
Country: Chile
Director: Pablo Larrain
Silver Plaque for Best Art Direction:
Toma Baqueni (My Golden Days)
Country: France
Director: Arnaud Desplechin
New Directors Competition
Gold Hugo:
Underground Fragrance
Country: China
Director: Pengfei Song
Silver Hugo:
Sparrows
Country: Iceland
Director: Runar Runarsson
Roger Ebert Award: The Roger Ebert Award will be presented annually to an emerging filmmaker whose film presents a fresh and uncompromising vision. Films competing in the Festival’s New Directors Competition are eligible for this award.
Nahid
Country: Iran
Director: Ida Panahandeh
Documentary Competition
This selection of international documentaries competing for the Gold Hugo go beyond the headlines in telling those true stories that surprise, entertain and challenge us.
Gold Hugo:
Volta à Terra
Country: Portugal, Switzerland
Director: João Pedro Plácido
Silver Hugo:
In The Underground
Country: China
Director: Song Zhantao
Gold Plaque Special Mention:
Time Suspended
Country: Mexico, Argentina
Director: Natalia Bruschtein
Q Hugo Award
Chosen from the Festival’s OUT-Look program, the winners of this award exhibit new artistic perspectives on sexuality and identity.
Gold Q Hugo:
Carol
Country: USA
Director: Todd Haynes
Silver Q Hugo:
Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party
Country: USA
Director: Stephen Cone
Short Film Awards
Gold Hugo, Live Action:
Leidi
Country: Colombia, UK
Director: Simón Mesa Soto
Silver Hugo, Live Action:
The Exquisite Corpus
Country: Austria
Director: Peter Tscherkassky
Gold Plaque, Live Action:
One-minded
Country: South Korea
Director: Sébastien Simon and Forest Ian Estler
Silver Plaque, Live Action:
over
Country: UK
Director: Jörn Threlfall
Silver Plaque, Live Action:
Ramona
Country: Romania
Director: Andrei Cretulescu
Silver Hugo, Documentary:
Santa Cruz del Islote
Country: US, Colombia
Director: Luke Lorentzen
Gold Plaque, Documentary:
A Tale of Love, Madness and Death
Country: Chile
Director: Mijael Bustos Gutiérrez
Silver Hugo, Animated:
Sunday Lunch
Country: France
Director: Céline Devaux
Gold Plaque, Animated:
The Same River Twice
Country: USA
Director: Weijia Ma
Silver Plaque, Animated:
Waves ’98
Country: Lebanon, Qatar
Director: Ely Dagher
Chicago Award
Chicago Plaque
Radical Grace
Country: USA
Director: Rebecca Parrish
INTERCOM
One of the longest-running international competitions of its kind, INTERCOM honors a wide range of corporate-sponsored, educational and branded films.
Gold Hugo, Business – Communications
Patrick Frost
Company/Entrant: Seed Audio-Visual Communications
Silver Hugo, Sales & Marketing
Black Ink
Company/Entrant: Kemper Kommunikation GmbH
Gold Plaque, Public Relations
Porsche at Le Mans 2015
Company/Entrant: Kemper Kommunikation GmbH
Gold Plaque, Business – Communications
Argyle Pink Diamonds, Beyond Rare
Company/Entrant: Bengar Films
Silver Plaque, Business – Promotion
Soapbox Race 2015
Company/Entrant: Strange Loop Studios
Silver Plaque, Business – Communications
Australia Post, Privacy and You
Company/Entrant: Bengar Films
Silver Plaque, Educational – Youth Audience
Summiteers
Company/Entrant: Seed Audio-Visual Communications
Certificate of Merit, Sports & Recreation
Spa 2015
Company/Entrant: Kemper Kommunikation GmbH
Certificate of Merit, Science/Research/Technology
Antarctic Edge: 70 Degrees South
Company/Entrant: Rutgers Film Bureau