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Film Countries Archives: United Kingdom

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An overhead view of a woman sitting cross-legged on a bench in a backyard. Her palms lay on her knees facing up.

Africans With Mainframes [short film]

  Kima Hibbert

  United States     15 minutes

Synopsis

This mockumentary follows LaJoye Watkins, a reclusive Brooklyn woman with an unwavering determination to unearth a hidden truth that challenges conventional music history: that electronic music owes its roots to the ingenious innovation of black Southerners during the 1920s. Within the walls of her modest apartment, she harbors a treasure trove of forgotten records and fragmented memories. LaJoye’s historical tour de force explores themes of loneliness, revenge, and reclamation, taking us on a journey toward spiritual awakening.

This film screens as part of the Shorts 7: Black Perspectives – Resonance program.

  

 English 

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An activist wearing blue makeup and flowers on his head raises his fist.

Flores del otro Patio [short film]

  Jorge Cadena

  Colombia, Switzerland     15 minutes

Synopsis

A group of queer activists in the north of Colombia uses fearless performance art and direct action to protest the region’s largest coal mine. Visually lush vignettes are punctuated with urgent hand-held moments of action, reflecting the care and chaos the protestors must hold simultaneously in the fight to save their region from ecological disaster.

This film screens as part of the Shorts 5: Drama – Breaking Points program.

  

 Spanish with subtitles

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An idilic scene of a forest and a lake. A family lounges on the shore nearby, while some swim.

The Zone of Interest

  Jonathan Glazer

  United Kingdom, Poland, United States     105 minutes

Synopsis

The commandant of Auschwitz, Rudolf Höss, and his wife Hedwig strive to build a dream life for their family in a house next to the camp. The two play host to all manner of guests, tend to a lavish garden, and take in the surrounding natural beauty, all the while the horrors of the Holocaust rage just beyond their garden wall. As the war nears its end, Hedwig refuses to abandon her “idyllic” homelife, while her husband works to further distinguish himself among the Nazi rank-and-file, both existing in a state of moral squalor and permanent denial.

Scathing, incisive, and unforgettable, The Zone of Interest is a masterpiece of the medium. Crafted with exacting precision by visionary director Jonathan Glazer (Under the Skin), the film poses timely questions and uncovers uncomfortable truths about the banality of evil and humanity’s capacity for willful ignorance.

  

 German with subtitles

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Film Credits

  •   James Wilson, Ewa Puszczyńska
  •   Jonathan Glazer
  •   Paul Watts
  •   Łukasz Żal
  •   Christian Friedel, Sandra Hüller
  •   Mica Levi

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A balding man in glasses and a parka stands in front of a car with the word 'loser' spray painted on the side behind him

Dream Scenario

Kristoffer Borgli
United States
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In a kitchen, four people smile and talk as a man in an apron places meat onto a table holding fresh herbs.

The Taste of Things

Tran Anh Hung
France
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A bearded man and a red-haired woman look at each other while sitting in a forest in winter.

Memory

Michel Franco
Mexico, United States
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A man in a tuxedo is seated at a mirrored table. His face is reflected up at him between the table settings.

Saltburn

  Emerald Fennell

  United Kingdom     127 minutes

Synopsis

Scholarship student Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan) struggles to find his place as a new student at Oxford. On a chance meeting, he befriends Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi), the most popular, charming, and handsome student in school. When Oliver tells Felix that he has no home to return to for the summer, Felix invites him to his aristocratic family’s country estate, Saltburn. As an outsider drawn into the shimmering world of the eccentric Cattons and their life of excess, Oliver begins to feel at home in this lifestyle, drawing closer to each member of the family. But when his fascination starts to verge on obsession, buried truths are unearthed, and this summer will become one he will never forget.

Academy Award-winning filmmaker Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman) and an exceptional star-studded cast bring us a beautifully wicked and subversive tale of privilege and desire.

  

 English 

Filmmaker Emerald Fennell, a white woman with long hair wearing a pair of large headphones around her neck,, laughs while on set.Tribute to Emerald Fennell

This screening includes an in-person tribute to director Emerald Fennell and presentation of the Chicago International Film Festival’s Visionary Award.

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Screenings & Events

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Film Credits

  •   Emerald Fennell, p.g.a; Margot Robbie, p.g.a; Josey McNamara, p.g.a
  •   Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant, Alison Oliver, Archie Madekwe, Carey Mulligan

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A woman in an orange polo and red shorts strides confidently through a courtyard. Two women watch from behind her.

Club Zero

Jessica Hausner
Austria, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Denmark
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A woman in a red swimsuit smiles as she stares at something. Behind her, the vast blue ocean glistens in the sunlight.

The Love Stories of Liv S.

Anna Luif
Switzerland
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Close-up of an emotional man standing outside in daylight. In the bakcground we see a blurry neighborhood.

The Heart [short film]

Malia Ann
United States
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A woman stands at the base of a winding staircase in a grand entryway, the furniture covered with sheets.

Raging Grace

  Paris Zarcilla

  United Kingdom     99 minutes

Synopsis

In a posh London neighborhood, undocumented Filipina worker Joy arrives at her latest job with her young daughter Grace smuggled in her suitcase. As Grace hides in an upstairs bedroom, Joy takes care of the estate’s patriarch, Mr. Garrett, who’s bedridden and slowly dying of cancer. Then an ominous revelation emerges, threatening to destroy everything that Joy has strived for in her new life.

In this bold and frightening portrait of race, class, and power, British-Filipino filmmaker Paris Zarcilla skillfully mixes tongue-in-cheek social commentary with plenty of jump scares and haunted-house thrills. Called a “coming of rage” story by its director, the film builds to ever greater heights of thrills and blood-splattered carnage, as mother and daughter attempt to break out of the cycle of exploitation that has long trapped their people.

  

 English, Tagalog with subtitles

Screenings & Events

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Film Credits

  •   Chi Thai
  •   Paris Zarcilla
  •   Christopher C.F. Chow
  •   Max Eigenmann, Jaeden Paige Boadilla, Leanne Best, David Hayman
  •   Jon Clarke
  •   Last Conker

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A young girl lays on the floor, while three others stand around her looking.

Sweet Tooth [short film]

Joséphine Darcy Hopkins
France
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A woman sitting on the bathroom floor looks at the black goo on her fingers with disgust

In the Flesh [short film]

Daphne Gardner
United States
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A group of men wearing winter coats, gather together while facing a crowd of people.

Concrete Utopia

Um Tae-hwa
South Korea
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