October 12-26, 2017 53rd CHICAGO INTERNATIONAL
FILM FESTIVAL ©
BECAUSE LIFE
IS A MOVIE Poster design by Edwin Smeenge Edwin by design Poster 150 MOVIES 50 COUNTRIES MEET DIRECTORS SEE STARS AMC RIVER EAST 21 322 E. ILLINOIS ST.
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SNEAK PEEK IS Inside, find the first round of films and events for the Festival. Watch for our full schedule on HERE September 19.
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SAVE THE SEPT. 19 Full Schedule announced online DATES SEPT. 20 Festival Box Office opens SEPT. 20-21 Ticket Pre-Sale (Members only) SEPT. 22 Tickets on Sale (General Public) OCT. 12-26 53rd Chicago International Film Festival FESTIVAL BOX AMC River East 21 OFFICE LOCATION 322 E. Illinois St.
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Festival schedule subject to change BECAUSE LIFE IS A MOVIE Welcome to the first look at the 53rd Chicago International Film Festival. It is an honor to serve as the new Artistic Director of Cinema/Chicago and the Chicago International Film Festival. Following the tradition pioneered by Michael Kutza, this year’s program is shaping up to be electrifying, challenging, and entertaining, as we continue our passion for presenting the best of the highly anticipated awards- season contenders side by side with indie treasures and new discoveries.
It’s another great year for film, from dark comedies that make us laugh in spite of ourselves to intense psychological thrillers that expose our deep-seated anxieties to politically minded documentaries that dare us to engage with the world in deeper ways. From Brazil to Iran, Senegal to Chicago, we are welcoming back Festival favorites, distinguished masters, and rising talents.
We are thrilled to partner again with the Chicago Architecture Biennial both during the Festival and throughout the four months of the Biennial to present an exciting lineup of films that examine not only the great buildings and architects behind them but also the way we move through and interact with the built environment. One of the highlights for me is our spotlight on international Film Noir. Think dark alleys, crooked cops, uncommon obsessions, and a pervasive sense of paranoia. These films navigate the uncertainty of our times with a trace of guile and a shade of spine-tingling thrills.
Please join us for all the amazing events and films at this year’s Festival. We will be announcing the full lineup on September 19. In the meantime, become a member now for early access and the best prices on passes and tickets. Make your plans to join us in October and see what we’ve discovered for you.
Mimi Plauché, Artistic Director Michael Kutza, Founder & CEO
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SPECIAL PRESENTATION U.S., UNITED KINGDOM THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI DIRECTOR: MARTIN McDONAGH
Frances McDormand stars in this darkly comic drama as Mildred Hayes, a woman who paints three signs leading into her town with a controversial message directed at the chief of police (Woody Harrelson). The bold move— designed to prompt him to find the culprit in her daughter’s murder—only exacerbates the battle between Mildred and Ebbing’s law enforcement. 110 min. BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL AFTER DARK MUGEN NO JÛNIN JAPAN THE EXPERIMENTAL CITY ARCHITECTURE DIRECTOR: TAKASHI MIIKE DIRECTOR: CHAD FREIDRICHS U.S. A disgraced samurai partners with an orphan girl to From the acclaimed director of take revenge on the swordsmen who slaughtered her The Pruitt-Igoe Myth comes the fascinating family. Based on the manga series by Hiroaki Samura, true story of the MXC (Minnesota Experimental City). the 100th feature from Japanese maverick Takashi Miike A futuristic metropolis designed to eradicate the waste has heart, humor and a helluva body count courtesy of of urban living, the planned community encountered show-stopping action sequences that see the director at resistance when local citizens and environmentalists his bloody best. Japanese with subtitles. 140 min. rose up in protest. Freidrichs chronicles the clash between scientific progress and American values. 95 min. SPECIAL PRESENTATION UNITED KINGDOM
THE INSULT L’INSULTE DIRECTOR: ZIAD DOUEIRI In this ripped-from-the-headlines drama, a trivial contretemps between a Lebanese GOODBYE CHRISTOPHER ROBIN Christian and a Palestinian construction DIRECTOR: SIMON CURTIS worker comes to a head in a highly publicized Domhnall Gleeson stars as beloved children’s author A.A. Milne national trial. Politically engaged Lebanese in this moving tale centering on his relationship with his young filmmaker Doueiri (West Beirut) delves into son Christopher Robin (Will Tilston), whose toys inspired the his country’s contentious history and offers magical world of Winnie-the-Pooh. Along with his mother sly comment on male pride. Arabic with Daphne (Margot Robbie) and his nanny Olive (Kelly Macdonald), subtitles. 110 min. Christopher Robin and his family are swept up in the international success of the books, which bring hope and comfort to England after the First World War. 119 min.
CITY & STATE PRINCESS CYD U.S. SAMMY DAVIS, JR.: BLACK PERSPECTIVES DIRECTOR: STEPHEN CONE I’VE GOTTA BE ME U.S. A sporty 16-year-old girl visits her middle-aged DIRECTOR: SAM POLLARD novelist aunt, and the two opposites must strive to find Singer, dancer, and actor; “Rat Pack” legend; common ground. From the Chicago-based director civil rights activist; Jewish convert; Nixon supporter— of Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party comes a charming the life of Sammy Davis, Jr. defies easy categorization. coming-of-age tale about generational difference, Charting the performer’s surprising journey across sexual identity, spirituality—and the delicate process the major flashpoints of contemporary American history, of opening up to human intimacy. 96 min. Oscar-nominated filmmaker Sam Pollard culls together a captivating exploration of the man and his talents. 100 min. INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION FRANCE, BELGIUM, DOCUMENTARY SENEGAL FRANCE FÉLICITÉ FACES PLACES DIRECTOR: ALAIN GOMIS VISAGES VILLAGES Single mother and chanteuse Félicité ekes out DIRECTORS: AGNÈS VARDA, JR a living performing in a rough Kinshasa bar. Her The New Wave living legend teams up with street fiercely guarded independence is threatened after photographer JR for a road trip through the French her son is involved in a life-threatening accident. countryside, chronicling the ordinary folk they A love letter to persistence and the power of song, encounter (farmers, waitresses, factory workers). Félicité is buoyed by one woman’s irrepressible spirit A beautiful meditation on the journey through life in the face of overwhelming odds. Lingala, French and the kindred spirits you meet along the way. with subtitles. 123 min. French with subtitles. 89 min.
IN THE FADE WORLD CINEMA AUS DEM NICHTS GERMANY, DIRECTOR: FATIH AKIN FRANCE INTERNATIONAL Diane Kruger won the Best Actress prize THE LINE CIARA FILM NOIR at the Cannes Film Festival for her searing DIRECTOR: PETER BEBJAK SLOVAKIA, performance as a Hamburg woman whose world His daughter is pregnant and his UKRAINE is torn apart by grief and anger after neo-Nazi gang is in revolt, leaving cigarette sympathizers murder her Kurdish husband smuggler Adam squeezed from all sides and six-year-old son. From the award-winning in this fast-paced thriller. The Line is an filmmaker (Head-On) comes a powerful take exemplary crime picture featuring muscular on the revenge drama and a study of a woman direction, a savvy screenplay, spectacularly driven to the edge. German with subtitles. 106 min. photographed locations, and a propulsive score. Slovak, Ukranian with subtitles. 112 min.
SPECIAL PRESENTATION SWEDEN, GERMANY, WORLD CINEMA FRANCE POLAND SPOOR POKOT THE SQUARE DIRECTOR: AGNIESZKA HOLLAND DIRECTOR: RUBEN ÖSTLUND in collaboration with Kasia Adamik In his Palme d’Or-winning follow-up to 2014’s Force The acclaimed filmmaker returns to the big screen Majeure, Ruben Östlund hilariously satirizes the with a genre-bending, ecologically-minded thriller art world with the outrageous story of a museum following a retiree and avowed defender of animal curator who finds himself in hot water after falling rights living in Southern Poland. The outspoken victim to a con artist and approving a questionable woman believes she knows who is behind a recent media campaign that unexpectedly goes viral. With spate of murders in the wilderness near her home, uproarious performances from Claes Bang, Elisabeth yet she’s dismissed by her neighbors, who view her Moss, Dominic West, and Terry Notary. English, with deep suspicion. Polish with subtitles. 128 min. Swedish, Danish with subtitles. 142 min. WORLD CINEMA FORTUNATA ITALY GOD’S OWN COUNTRY DIRECTOR: SERGIO CASTELLITTO DIRECTOR: FRANCIS LEE OUT-LOOK UNITED KINGDOM On the outskirts of Rome, a hairdresser with An unlikely yet passionate romance dreams of opening her own salon strikes up an between a frustrated young farmer affair with her daughter’s therapist. Jasmine Trinca and a migrant worker forms the spine of won the acting prize in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard writer-director Lee’s astonishingly accomplished section for her portrayal of a woman determined to first feature. Set against the breathtaking backdrop live life on her own terms and who is unafraid to of the north English countryside, the tender love make mistakes. Italian with subtitles. 103 min. story unfolds in sharply drawn, deeply considered detail. Small moments carry great weight. 104 min.
CINEMAS OF THE AMERICAS NEW DIRECTORS BRAZIL, ARGENTINA IRAN PARIS SQUARE PLAÇA PARIS NO DATE, NO SIGNATURE DIRECTOR: LÚCIA MURAT Psychotherapist Camila has arrived in Brazil to BEDOUNE TARIKH, BEDOUNE EMZA DIRECTOR: VAHID JALILVAND study the effects of violence on society. Glória, hoping to work through her troubled past growing A seemingly minor traffic collision has far-reaching up in a favela, comes to Camila as patient and consequences in this story of a well-meaning doctor case-study subject. The doctor-patient relationship haunted by the death of a child he might have becomes increasingly strained as social tensions prevented. In only his second feature, Jalilvand rise to the surface and power dynamics begin to coaxes brilliantly understated performances from a shift in this taut psychological thriller. superb cast for this compelling, considered meditation Portuguese with subtitles. 110 min. on guilt and grief. Farsi with subtitles. 100 min.
WORLD CINEMA ICELAND, POLAND, DENMARK INTERNATIONAL UNDER THE TREE UNDIR TRÉNU THE WORKSHOP DIRECTOR: HAFSTEINN GUNNAR SIGURDSSON COMPETITION L’ATELIER FRANCE Two neighboring households are locked in a DIRECTOR: LAURENT CANTET bitter dispute over a tree. As the disagreement In this gripping thriller, Parisian escalates, property is damaged, pets disappear, crime author Olivia develops a troubling security cameras are installed and the complaining relationship with a combative student from neighbor acquires a chainsaw. Part-family drama, her writing group. His tales of imagined violence part-dark comedy, part-thriller, Under the Tree and his support for extremist ideologies raise plants itself squarely in a class of its own. alarm bells, but her intellectual curiosity draws her Icelandic with subtitles. 90 min. ever closer as the film veers toward a blistering conclusion. French with subtitles. 114 min. INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION GEMINI U.S. DIRECTOR: AARON KATZ In this intoxicating L.A.-set neo-noir, Lola Kirke (Gone Girl) stars as Jill, a personal assistant to a Hollywood starlet (Zoe Kravitz). When the young actress is found dead, Jill sets out to investigate the murder and prove her own innocence. But Gemini is much more than its mystery plot and cool, sleek surfaces: Indie auteur Katz has wrapped his engaging thriller around a sly riff on celebrity and identity in the City of Angels. 93 min.
U.S. INDIES INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION CHASING THE BLUES U.S. THELMA NORWAY, SWEDEN, DIRECTOR: SCOTT SMITH DIRECTOR: JOACHIM TRIER FRANCE Rival music collectors scheme against In Trier’s follow-up to the critically acclaimed one another to con a woman out of a rare Louder Than Bombs, shy college student Thelma blues record—and end up serving two decades moves away from her religious family to attend in jail. Once Alan Thomas is a free man, he college in Oslo. After experiencing a violent seizure, heads by bus to retrieve the precious album. she becomes powerfully attracted to Anja, another A rollicking Chicago-made comedy featuring woman on campus. As her passion becomes all- SNL alumnus Jon Lovitz, Chasing the Blues is a consuming and her behavior increasingly reckless, funny, surprising trip about the extremes to which her seizures—a manifestation of some inexplicable people will go to pursue their obsessions. 77 min. paranormal abilities—intensify. Soon, Thelma must confront the terrifying implications of her powers. Norwegian with subtitles. 116 min.
WORLD CINEMA CHINA NEW DIRECTORS ISRAEL, GERMANY THE CAKEMAKER HAVE A NICE DAY HAO JI LE DIRECTOR: OFIR RAUL GRAIZER DIRECTOR: LIU JIAN This tender drama about a closeted love affair In Southern China, driver Xiao Zhang steals one unfolds through the eyes of Tomas, a Berlin pastry million yen from his mobster boss to finance a chef who learns that Oren, his Israeli lover, has trip to South Korea for a girlfriend who needs to died in a car accident in Jerusalem. Unmoored by have a botched cosmetic surgery repaired. That his loss, Thomas journeys to Israel to begin the ill-considered act sets into motion a violent series process of healing, inserting himself into the life of of events leading to an electrifying climax in Liu’s Oren’s wife and young son. This expertly crafted animated black comedy, all of it rendered in a film is a moving portrait of grief and catharsis. precise, artful comic-book palette and punctuated Hebrew, German with subtitles.104 min. with pop music. Mandarin with subtitles. 74 min. SHORTS
TURTLES ARE ALWAYS HOME 500,000 YEARS QATAR/LEBANON THAILAND Highlights from this year’s program include Turtles are Always Home (Qatar/Lebanon), a personal portrait about the search for home in a transient world, and 500,000 Years (Thailand), an eerie documentary about a traveling cinema, a religious shrine, and the ghostly world of the dead.
OUR MISSION
Cinema/Chicago, the parent organization of the Chicago International Film Festival, is a year-round nonprofit arts and education organization dedicated to fostering better communication among people of diverse cultures through the art of film and the moving image.
Chicago International Film Festival Year-Round Education Screenings Chicago International Television Festival International Screenings Program CineYouth Festival
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