56th Festival Juries Announced

Today, the Chicago International Film Festival announced the competition juries for the 56th Festival!

Featuring a host of acclaimed filmmakers and film professionals from across the globe, the juries will review films competing for prizes in the following competitions: International Competition; New Directors Competition; International Documentary Competition; Out-Look; City & State; and Short Film Competitions.

The International Competition Jury will award the Gold Hugo for Best Film as well as a range of Silver Hugos and Plaques for awards, including Best Director, Best Actor/Actress, Best Cinematography, and Best Screenplay.

The International Competition jury includes:

• Violeta Bava, Latin American Consultant for the Venice International Film Festival, Co-Head of Industry at Visions du Réel, Head of Studies at the Torino FilmLab FeatureLab, International Guest Curator at the New Zealand International Film Festival, programmer at the Macao International Film Festival, and Program Advisor of New York Film Festival
• Screenwriter and director Chinonye Chukwu, whose debut feature, alaskaLand, premiered at the Chicago International Film Festival and whose 2019 feature Clemency won the Sundance Film Festival’s Grand Jury Prize
• Production designer Adam Stockhausen, who earned an Academy Award for his work on Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel and nominations for Steve McQueen’s Oscar-winning film 12 Years a Slave and Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies
• Award-winning Rwandan actress Eliane Umuhire, whose international breakthrough role in Birds Are Singing in Kigali won her Best Actress Awards at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, the Chicago International Film Festival, the Polish Film Festival, and others
• Dutch-born/Luxembourg-based Boyd Van Hoeij, film writer for The Hollywood Reporter, contributor to De Filmkrant (The Netherlands), and artistic advisor of the Luxembourg City Film Festival.

Featuring a host of acclaimed filmmakers and film professionals from across the globe, the juries will review films. All other jurors are listed on our dedicated jury webpage. Get all the details below!

The 56th Chicago International Film Festival takes place October 14-25, 2020 both virtually across the United States as well as at our drive-in theater in Chicago. Get full details and see the film selection here.