Archive | Festival News

Inspired by the famed vampire novella, director Emily Harris’ Carmilla is an 18th-century coming-of-age romance chronicling the relationship between sheltered teen Lara and a mysterious young woman who arrives at her remote estate after a carriage accident nearby. The girls share a powerful connection, but with rumors of supernatural activity overtaking the land, Lara’s devout governess eyes Carmilla with great suspicion and jealousy. We’re thrilled to welcome Harris and her seductive, candlelit fable to our city for the 55th Chicago International Film Festival.[…]

Happy Indigenous Peoples’ Day from all of us at the Chicago International Film Festival!

In honor of this holiday, we’re offering $3 off regular priced tickets of the Festival’s stellar selection of films exploring the lives of Indigenous people. Use promo code IPD3 at checkout to get the discount and support these incredible films! (Note: Discount does not apply to matinee screenings).

The Fever
Director: Maya Da-Rin

Justino, an indigenous man who works as a security guard in the Amazonian port city of Manaus, falls mysteriously ill just as his daughter prepares to leave for Brasilia to study medicine.[…]

The 55th Chicago International Film Festival is excited to welcome Israeli director Dror Moreh to our fair city for the premiere of his film The Human Factor this month. The Oscar®-nominated director of the The Gatekeepers (2012) joins this year’s Documentary program with an epic behind-the-scenes story of the United States’ 30-year-effort to secure peace in the Middle East. Recounted in intimate detail by the American negotiators on the frontlines, The Human Factor is what Newsweek calls “a deeply wise examination of statesmanship and leadership, or their egregious absence; a celebration of compromise as the indispensable element of diplomacy; and a stirring argument for the power of humanity.”[…]

The Chicago International Film Festival is proud to present Zaida Bergroth’s Maria’s Paradise as part of our Global Currents program this year. Based on true events, this “intriguing, well-heeled period drama” tells the story of Salome (Satu Tuuli Karhu), an orphaned teen who finds herself in thrall to Maria Åkerblom (Pihla Viitala) a charismatic cult leader who claims that God speaks to her. We’re thrilled to feature the latest masterwork by Bergroth, whose Golden Hugo-winning The Good Son and Miami captivated our festival’s audiences in years past.[…]

According to The Hollywood Reporter, François Girard’s newest feature, The Song of Names is “clearly made by folks who are passionate about classical music.” Fittingly for the director of 1998’s celebrated The Red Violin, the film is a “Holocaust-themed requiem” that uses masterful original compositions by Howard Shore and classical cuts in adapting music critic Norman Lebrecht’s lauded novel for the big screen. 

Martin Simmonds (Tim Roth) has been haunted throughout his life by the mysterious disappearance of his “brother” and extraordinary best friend, a Polish Jewish virtuoso violinist, Dovidl Rapaport, who vanished shortly before the 1951 London debut concert that would have launched his brilliant career.[…]