Chicago International Film Festival

Chicago International Film Festival
The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964 by Michael Kutza, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. Its logo is a stark, black and white close up of the composite eyes of early film actresses Theda Bara, Pola Negri and Mae Murray, set as repeated frames in a strip of film.
In 2010, the 46th Chicago International Film Festival presented 150 films from more than 50 countries. The Festival's program is composed of many different sections, including the International Competition, New Directors Competition, Docufest, Black Perspectives, Cinema of the Americas, and Reel Women.
Its main venue is the AMC River East 21 Theatre in the Streeterville neighborhood of Chicago, although it has dropped that venue during the most recent festival as of 2023 (59th), instead using the AMC Newcity 14.
International Connections Program
The International Connections Program was created in 2003 in order to raise awareness of the international film culture and diversity of Chicago, and to make the festival more appealing to audience and staff of various ethnicities. Foreign films are screened for free throughout the city weekly from July through September.
Awards
Winners are awarded Hugo Awards in eight different competition categories.
International Feature Film Competition
Gold Hugo
Silver Hugo: Jury Prize
Silver Hugo: Best Director
Silver Hugo: Best Actor (until 2019)
Silver Hugo: Best Actress (until 2019)
Silver Hugo: Best Performance (from 2020)
Silver Hugo: Best Ensemble Performance
Silver Hugo: Best Cinematography
Silver Hugo: Best Screenplay
Silver Hugo: Best Sound
Silver Hugo: Best Art Direction
New Directors Competition
International Documentary Competition
Out-Look Competition
City & State Competition
Chicago Award
Live Action Short Film Competition
Documentary Short Film Competition
Animated Short Film Competition
Gold Hugo
Silver Hugo
Jury Award
2023 - The Delinquents, dir. Rodrigo Moreno (Argentina)
2022 – Close, dir. Lukas Dhont (Belgium)
2021 – Drive My Car, dir. Ryusuke Hamaguchi (Japan)
2020 – Careless Crime, dir. Shahram Mokri (Iran)
2019 – Vitalina Varela, dir. Pedro Costa (Portugal)
Best Director
2023 - Aki Kaurismäki (Finland) for Fallen Leaves
2022 – Maryam Touzani (Morocco) for The Blue Caftan
2021 – Peter Kerekes (Slovakia) for 107 Mothers
2020 – Andrei Konchalovsky (Russia) for Dear Comrades!
2019 – Maya Da-Rin (Brazil) for The Fever
Best Actor
2021 – Bouli Lanners (Belgium) for Nobody Has to Know
2019 – Bartosz Bielenia (Poland) for Corpus Christi
2018 – Jesper Christensen (Denmark) for Before the Frost
2017 – Aleksandr Yatsenko (Russia) for Arrhythmia
2016 – Adrian Titieni (Romania) for Graduation
2015 – Alexi Mathieu and Jules Gauzelin (France) for A Childhood
2014 – Anton Yelchin (USA) for Rudderless
2013 – Robert Wieckiewicz (Poland) for Walesa: Man of Hope
2012 – Denis Lavant (France) for Holy Motors
2011 – Maged El Kedwany (Egypt) for 678
2010 – Youssouf Djaoro (Chad) for A Screaming Man
2009 – Filippo Timi (Italy) for Vincere
2008 – Michael Fassbender (Ireland) for Hunger
2007 – Sam Riley (United Kingdom) for Control
2006 – Jürgen Vogel (Germany) for The Free Will
1989 – Jörg Gudzuhn (GDR) for Fallada, letztes Kapitel
1987 – Avtandil Makharadze (Georgia) for Monanieba
1971 – Ezzatollah Entezami (Iran) for The Cow
Best Actress
2021 – Michelle Fairley (Ireland) for Nobody Has to Know
2019 – Debbie Honeywood (UK) for Sorry We Missed You
2018 – Zhao Tao (China) for Ash Is Purest White
2017 – Jowita Budnik (Poland) and Eliane Umuhire (Rwanda) for Birds Are Singing in Kigali
2016 – Rebecca Hall (UK) for Christine
2015 – Lizzie Brocheré (France) for Full Contact
2014 – Geraldine Chaplin (United States) for Sand Dollars
2013 – Nadeshda Brennicke (Germany) for
2012 – Ulla Skoog (Sweden) for The Last Sentence
2011 – Olivia Colman (UK) for Tyrannosaur
2010 – Liana Liberato (USA) for Trust
2009 – Giovanna Mezzogiorno (Italy) for Vincere
2008 – Preity Zinta (India) for Heaven on Earth
2007 – Yu Nan (China) for Tuya's Marriage
2006 – Viktoriya Isakova, Darya Moroz, Anna Ukolova (Russia) for The Spot
2005 – Inka Friedrich, Nadja Uhl (Germany) for Summer in Berlin
2003 – Ludivine Sagnier (France) for Little Lili
Best Performance
2023 - Ilinca Manolache (Romania) for Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World
2022 – Vicky Krieps (Luxembourg) for Corsage
2020 – Yakusho Koji (Japan) for Under the Open Sky
Best Cinematography
2023 - Hélène Louvart (France) for La Chimera
2022 – Maria von Hausswolff (Iceland) for Godland
2021 – Kasper Tuxen (Denmark) for The Worst Person in the World
2020 – Tobie Marier Robitaille (Canada) for Night of the Kings
2019 – Vladimír Smutný (Czech Republic) for The Painted Bird
Best Screenplay
2023 - Gábor Reisz and Éva Schulze (Hungary) for Explanation for Everything
2022 – Alice Diop, Amrita David, and Marie NDiaye (France) for Saint Omer
2021 – Alexandre Koberidze (Georgia) for What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?
2020 – Christos Nikou and Stavros Raptis (Greece) for Apples
2019 – Pema Tseden (China) for Balloon
Best Art Direction
2022 – Marcela Gómez and Daniel Rincon (Colombia) for The Kings of the World
2021 – Sergey Fevralev (Russia) for Captain Volkonogov Escaped
2020 – Jagna Dobesz (Poland) for Sweat
Best New Director
2023 – Ena Sendijarević (Netherlands) for Sweet Dreams
2022 – Ann Oren (Germany) for Piaffe
Lifetime Achievement Awards
Winners of the festival's Lifetime Achievement Award include Steven Spielberg, Helen Hunt, Dustin Hoffman, Martin Landau, Shirley MacLaine, Lord Richard Attenborough, François Truffaut, Jodie Foster, Sigourney Weaver, Robin Williams, Manoel de Oliveira, and Clint Eastwood.
Career Achievement Awards
Bruce Dern (2013)
Terrence Howard (2005)
Susan Sarandon (2005)
Shirley MacLaine (2005)
Robert Zemeckis (2004)
Irma P. Hall, Robert Townsend and Harry J. Lennix (2004)
Annette Bening (2004)
Robin Williams (2004)
Nicolas Cage (2003)
Television awards
The Television Awards started with the idea of honoring television commercials in a special event of the film festival, but over time evolved and grew into a bigger event, comprising not only commercials but also television productions, series, and online television. In 2003 a separate ceremony was launched for the TV awards, and in 2017, the event became a separate event, named the Chicago International Television Festival. Winners and runners-up for the various categories, which include Gold and Silver Hugos, are listed on the film festival website.
See also
Chicago International Children's Film Festival
Chicago International Documentary Film Festival
Chicago International REEL Shorts Festival
Chicago Underground Film Festival
List of film festivals
References
External links
Chicago International Film Festival
Film festivals in Chicago
Lifetime achievement awards
Film festivals established in 1964