In celebration of 25 years, the Festival hosts two gala events at the Chicago Theatre: the World Premiere of Menahem Golan’s The Threepenny Opera (Mack the Knife), and a screening of Charlie Chaplin’s City Lights. Rocky producer Irwin Winkler receives a tribute hosted by Martin Scorsese, and the National Film Board of Canada is honored. Soviet director Karen Chakhnazarov receives the Gold Hugo for Zenograd, and Michael Moore attends to screen Roger and Me.

The Festival opens with Andrew Birken’s BURNING SECRET, with notable films including Theo Angelopoulos’s Landscape In the Mist, Bela Tarr’s Damnation, and André Téchiné’s The Innocent. The year features a British Renaissance section which features films by Mike Newell and Peter Greenaway, among others, and the Festival honors Midnight Express director Alan Parker.

The Festival returns to its roots, honoring Kutza’s mentor Colleen Moore a few months before her death. Peter Gardos’ Whooping Cough from Hungary wins the Gold Hugo for Best Feature, and Brian Dennehy wins Best Actor for his performance in Peter Greenaway’s The Belly of an Architect. The Festival features an amazing lineup of films by renowned directors including Alain Resnais (France), Ettore Scola (Italy), Juzo Itami (Japan), Fernando Trueba (Spain), Arturo Ripstein (Mexico), Pedro Almodóvar (Spain), Krzysztof Kieslowski (Poland), John Woo (Hong Kong), Paolo and Vittorio Taviani (Italy), and Tsui Hark (Hong Kong).

Dancing and international intrigue open the Festival with the premiere of Taylor Hackford’s White Knights, starring Mkihail Baryshnikov, Gregory Hines, and Isabella Rossellini, who are all in attendance. Bonnie and Clyde director Arthur Penn and camp film icon Russ Meyer are honored, and Argentine director Luis Puezo’s The Official Story debuts before going on to win the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film.