A Childhood directed by Philippe Claudel

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

Underground Fragrance directed by Pengfei Song

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 directed by Ida Panahandeh

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.

Volta à Terra, directed by João Pedro Plácido

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.

CAROL Starring Cate Blanchett

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

Leidi directed by Simón Mesa Soto

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

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