Synopsis

Directed by Pablo Larraín (ChicagoIFF selections Spencer, Jackie, Neruda, The Club) and starring Academy Award®-winner Angelina Jolie as Maria Callas, Maria presents a tumultuous and beautiful depiction of one of the world’s most renowned artists and reimagines the legendary soprano in her final days in Paris, as La Callas negotiates the blurred boundaries between her public image and private self. The film also stars Pierfrancesco Favino, Alba Rohrwacher, Haluk Bilginer and Kodi Smit-McPhee.

Synopsis

A filmmaker immerses his daughter in the magic of cinema, where chaos meets fantasy. This creates a deep bond that will sustain them through good and bad.

Synopsis

The majestic vistas of the Italian Alps make for a stunning backdrop, but Vermiglio is more concerned with studying the intimate landscapes of the human face than it is in admiring the view. Set in the final days of WWII, this handsomely realized period drama from director Maura Delpero (Maternal) chronicles a harrowing year in the life of three sisters, the daughters of a schoolteacher in a remote mountain village.

When Pietro, a deserter fleeing the approaching German army, arrives in their village, the sisters’ lives are forever changed — that of eldest daughter Lucia, who marries the handsome stranger, especially. But her younger siblings are affected by watching Lucia’s joys and struggles as a young, pregnant bride as well. Fresh off of its debut at the Venice Film Festival, Vermiglio is an affecting testament to the strength of women and the ties that bind.

Synopsis

Luciana, a trusted Italian astrologer, promises her clients a way to make their dreams come true: All they need to do is take a special birthday trip to a destination determined by their astrological profile. Sitting behind her computer, Luciana quickly types in some data. Out comes a client’s wish-fulfilling location, be it Taipei, Beirut, or Alaska. As Luciana’s customers — from fun-loving twins to an elderly woman — venture out, they discover fulfillment in the unlikeliest of places.

Mixing deadpan wit and bittersweet poignance, Slovak director Péter Kerekes (ChicagoIFF winner Cooking History) returns to the Festival with a wondrously stylized documentary that is as surprising and idiosyncratic as its central psychic. No matter what you think of Luciana’s practice, Wishing on a Star offers an authentically sensitive and universal portrait of the human desire for happiness—and the lengths people will go to find it.

Synopsis

After 20 years away, Odysseus (Ralph Fiennes) washes up on the shores of Ithaca, haggard and unrecognizable. The king has returned from the Trojan War, but much has changed in his kingdom. His beloved wife Penelope (Juliette Binoche) is a prisoner in her own home, hounded by suitors vying to be king. Their son Telemachus faces death at the hands of these suitors, who see him as an obstacle to their pursuit of the kingdom. Odysseus is also no longer the mighty warrior from years past, but he must rediscover his strength in order to win back all that he has lost.

Starring a forceful Ralph Fiennes as Odysseus and a sublime Juliette Binoche as Penelope — 25 years after their Oscar-winning collaboration The English Patient — The Return transforms Homer’s famous Greek epic into a classic tale of Shakespearean intrigue, fueled by great passions, cunning political machinations, and extraordinary violence.