Chicago International Film Festival

NAME OF FESTIVAL: Chicago International Film Festival

SINCE: 1964

WHERE: Chicago, Illinois, USA

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL

The Chicago International Film Festival is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. The Festival was started in 1964 by filmmaker and graphic artist Michael Kutza to provide an alternative to the commercial Hollywood movies that dominated the city's theaters. The Festival opened in 1965 at the Carnegie Theater, where King Vidor, Bette Davis, and Stanley Kramer were honored for their contributions to American cinema. Since then, the Festival has grown to become a world-renowned annual event. The Festival is dedicated to fostering better understanding between cultures and to making a positive contribution to the art form of the moving image.

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Chicago International Film Festival

Chicago Film Festival will Honor Sir Patrick Stewart and Alfre Woodard + Announces Black Perspectives Program

Film and theater legend Sir Patrick Stewart, and actress Alfre Woodard will be honored with Career Achievement Awards at the 53rd Chicago International Film Festival.

Chicago Film Festival Reveals Centerpiece and Closing Night Films + Special Tribute for Michael Shannon

Lady Bird will screen as the Centerpiece Film; and The Shape of Water, winner of Golden Lion at the 2017 Venice Film Festival, will screen as the Closing Night Film

MARSHALL to Open 53rd Chicago International Film Festival

Marshall directed by Reginald Hudlin and starring Chadwick Boseman, Josh Gad and Sterling K. Brown, will open the 53rd Chicago International Film Festival

Design 2016 Chicago Film Festival Poster Competition, Win $2,500.

Artists from around the world are invited to design the unique poster which will promote the 52nd Chicago International Film Festival, running Oct 13-27, 2016.

SPOTLIGHT, MUSTANG, WHERE TO INVADE NEXT Are Winners of 2015 Chicago International Film Festival Audience Choice Awards

The 51st Chicago International Film Festival announced the winners of its Audience Choice Awards. SPOTLIGHT directed by Tom McCarthy (pictured above) won the Audience Choice Award for Best Narrative English-Language Feature, MUSTANG directed by Deniz Gamze Ergüven won the award for Audience Choice Award for Best Narrative Foreign-Language Feature, and WHERE TO INVADE NEXT directed by Michael Moore won the Audience Choice Award for Best Documentary Feature. Audience Choice Award Winners of 2015 Chicago International Film Festival Audience Choice Award for […]

‘A Childhood’ ‘Volta à Terra’ ‘Underground Fragrance’ Win Gold Hugos at 51st Chicago International Film Festival

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 […]

Director Andrew Davis Presides Over 51st Chicago Int’l Film Fest Competition Jury

The 51st Chicago International Film Festival announced its Competition Juries, with Director/Producer/Writer Andrew Davis serving as President of this year’s International Features Competition Jury. Davis directed the Academy Award®-nominated box-office hit The Fugitive (1993), Under Siege (1992), Collateral Damage (2002), Holes (2003), and The Guardian (2006). The Golden Globe®-nominated director was raised in Chicago and graduated from the University of Illinois. The International Features Competition Jury includes Iván Trujillo, Director General of the Guadalajara International […]

Gripping Thriller REMEMBER Starring Christopher Plummer Added to Lineup for Chicago International Film Festival | TRAILER

Remember directed by Atom Egoyan, has been added to the lineup for the 51st Chicago International Film Festival and will screen on Tuesday, October 27, 2015. Remember is described as “a gripping thriller in which the darkest chapter of the 20th century collides with a contemporary mission of revenge.” Remember tells the story of Zev Guttman (Academy Award® Winner Christopher Plummer), a 90-year-old struggling with memory loss who is living out his final years in […]

Animated Film ANOMALISA by Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson Added to Chicago International Film Festival

The animated film Anomalisa directed by Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson has been added to the lineup for the 51st Chicago International Film Festival. The film will screen on Wednesday, October 21, 2015. A beautifully tender and absurdly humorous dreamscape, from the brilliant minds of Charlie Kaufman (Synecdoche, New York) and Duke Johnson (“Community” episode, Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas), this stop-motion animation wonder features the vocal cast of Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tom Noonan and David Thewlis […]

SPOTLIGHT Starring Michael Keaton is Closing Night Film of Chicago International Film Festival

Spotlight has been added to the 51st Chicago International Film Festival as its Closing Night selection. Spotlight will be shown at the 51st Chicago International Film Festival on Thursday, October 29, 2015. Starring Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber, Brian d’Arcy James and Stanley Tucci, Spotlight tells the riveting true story of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Boston Globe investigation that would rock the city and cause a crisis in one of the world’s oldest […]

CAROL, I AM MICHAEL, SWORN VIRGIN Among Films on 2015 Chicago International Film Festival LGBTQ+ Lineup

The 51st Chicago International Film Festival announced the lineup for OUT-Look, its competitive LGBTQ+ program that showcases new artistic perspectives on sexuality and identity.

2015 Chicago International Film Festival Unveils Spotlight: Architecture+Space+Design Program

The 2015 Chicago International Film Festival (Oct 15-29, 2015), in conjunction with the Chicago Architecture Biennial, revealed the Festival’s Spotlight: Architecture+Space+Design program. The international selection showcases 11 new feature films, including notable portraits of architects, designers and buildings (Concrete Love – The Bohm Family, Why A Film About Michele De Lucchi?, The Infinite Happiness) and beautifully photographed depictions of contemporary and futuristic cities (Obra, Invention, Under Electric Clouds). In addition to the program of shorts, Chicago Film […]

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