Navigation

Festival Programs

< Back to main Festival page

6th Chicago International Film Festival banner

Festival Programs

View the 60th Festival selection in carefully curated thematic Programs chosen by our programmers.

A woman in church looks over her shoulder

Best of the Fest

Don’t miss newly added screenings of these Festival award winners and audience favorites!

Two women sit on a bright blue couch together.

Special Presentations

Get a first look at these highly anticipated films by notable directors featuring celebrated talent.

A woman looks over another womans shoulder, the second woman looks into a bucket.

International Competition

Masterful, stylish, and bold, these powerful cinematic statements represent the best in modern filmmaking from around the globe.

Three people stand under a shower head amongst jungle growth.

New Directors Competition

Screening for the first time in the U.S., these bold works from emerging talents showcase exciting new voices in international cinema.

An older man and a younger man stand by a whirring projector.

Documentaries

From Azerbaijan to Winnetka to Washington D.C., these real-life stories bring you up close and personal with pressing issues, existential questions, and memorable individuals.

A man, illuminated by soft orange light, in a push up position.

Spotlight

Award-winners and critical favorites, these films are among the year’s most acclaimed and accomplished.

A group in uniforms holds back a crowd. One uniformed woman is turned away, with a concerned expression.

Snapshots

Featuring everything from heartfelt dramas to animated adventures to gripping thrillers, these resonant works showcase the diversity of contemporary global cinema.

Two men lay together, shirtless. One wears a chain and looks at the other with concern.

OutLook

Competing for the Q Hugo Award, these superbly crafted films reflect the myriad perspectives and experiences of LGBTQ+ individuals.

Shorts

Succinct yet mighty films that demonstrate the virtuosity and craft of the short format.

Two old men in a hospital room. One works on a baby doll.

After Dark

From pandemics and personal apocalypses to body and folk horror, these chilling, violent, and spinetingling stories will keep you up late into the night.

The Jackson 5 performing in their vibrant outifts.

Black Perspectives

A celebration of the cultural and historical impact of African-American and Black experiences, showcasing the diversity and richness of African diasporic narratives.

Two men stand together looking camera left. Behind them the multicolored lights of a carnival ride.

City & State

From suspenseful feature debuts to intimate and hybrid documentaries, these stories from the brightest local talents will compete for the Chicago Award.

An old man on a vintage bike with a sidecar carrying an old woman. She smiles up at him.

Comedy

Hilarious to deadpan, subversive to satirical, this program presents a range of films that will leave you laughing all the way home.

A man and woman stand with their foreheads touching, staring into eachothers eyes.

Community Cinema

Community Cinema presents free indoor screenings of Chicago International Film Festival films in the Englewood and Pilsen neighborhoods.

A man leans up against a soup cart talking to a female Salvation Army officer

Retrospectives

To celebrate 60 years of cinema, we present astounding, newly-restored Chicago films, memorable movies from past editions, and recent classics.

An old person in old-timey driving hat and goggles, sits behind a wheel.

In Focus: Finland on Screen

Showcasing Finland as a vital, rich, and creative filmmaking center with global appeal.

A woman with a serious expression looks up at something out of view.

In Focus: Germany on Screen

Highlighting the work of Germany’s most gifted auteur filmmakers.

In a field with a mountain view, a group of men drink at a large table while women serve them.

In Focus: Italy on Screen

Celebrating Italian cinema by harkening  back to the best of the country’s filmmaking traditions while showcasing vibrant new work.

4 black men around a dining table looking off camera left.

Opening Night

This year’s festival kicks off with The Piano Lesson, in which a family’s clash over an heirloom piano unleashes haunting truths about how the past is perceived and who defines a family legacy.

A red-headed woman jogs down a street at night, dogs following her.

Centerpiece

In Nightbitch, Amy Adams plays a woman who pauses her career to be a stay-at-home mom, but her new domesticity takes a surreal turn. Marielle Heller’s film is a penetrating, funny, and outrageous look at the realities of being an American mom.

A young man holds a young woman lovingly, their livingroom behind them.

Closing Night

The director, writer and stars of Forrest Gump reunite for Here, original film about multiple families and a special place they inhabit, presenting an emotional journey through generations of human experience.

Past Events

Newly Added

Exciting, last-minute additions to the festival lineup.

Four women lay together, holding each other tenderly.

Women in Cinema

Powerful and provocative films by both leading women filmmakers and exciting new voices.