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Zurich
Synopsis
Adrift and searching, Nina wanders Europe in an attempt to flee her painful past. While taking refuge at a rest stop, she befriends Matthias, a German trucker and the two form a bond. As their intimacy intensifies, memories of her former life begin to haunt her. What is she running from? Steeped in mystery, Zurich is a nuanced portrait of trauma, love, and healing.
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Shorts 2: Animation – Desires
Synopsis
These animated shorts create an idiosyncratic mosaic of the difficulties, joys, enigmas, and triumphs of the human experience. Featuring works by Nienke Deutz, Osman Cerfon, Patricio Plaza, Flóra Anna Buda, Tzor Edery, Tom Prezman, Vishavjit Singh, and Ryan Westra.
The Miracle (Belgium, The Netherlands, France) is a hotel where Irma, a 40-year-old woman surrounded by families, tries to find comfort in her solitary life. Children display varied emotions with a singular expression in Aaaah! (France). An ailing priest in the Mexican colonial era is given a medicine that confronts him with his spiritual ailments in Carne de Dios (Argentina, Mexico). On the day that Alice turns 27 (France, Hungary), a drunken accident makes her question the choices she has made in her life thus far. Remembrances of a former drag queen’s experience in one of the first queer bars in Paris are imaginatively told in Maurice’s Bar (France, Israel). Based on true events, American Sikh (U.S.) tells the story of a courageous man in post-9/11 New York City who faced prejudice and racism with humor and heroism.
Screenings & Events
Virtual Screening
This program will be available to stream from October 16 at 12:00pm CT to October 22 at 11:59pm CDT.
Sold Out/Rush Only? Learn when new tickets get released by signing up for our ticket availability email list!
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Accessibility Partner
![A woman looks at her phone in a hotel lobby. Behind her, we see other guests sitting.](https://cinemachicago.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/FF59_short_TheMIracle_1200x600.jpg)
The Miracle [short film]
Synopsis
Irma, a 40-year-old woman surrounded by families, tries to find comfort in her solitary life in a hotel called The Miracle. Crafted with an inventive physical animation technique, this funny and frank short explores the complicated terrain of finding happiness as a single adult.
This film screens as part of the Shorts 2: Animation – Desires program.
![A very disheveled pregnant woman sits on a rock by a waterfall, looking at the shirtless man lounging next to her.](https://cinemachicago.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/FF59_SweetDreams1_1200x600.jpg)
Sweet Dreams
Synopsis
Indonesia, 1900. In the waning days of the colonial era, Dutch sugar plantation owners Jan and Agathe lord over an estate simmering with imminent rebellion. When Jan suddenly drops dead, Agathe forces their son and his pregnant wife to travel from the Netherlands to take over the family business. But when she discovers that Jan has left the estate to his Indonesian concubine Siti and their young son, both sides of the estate will go to extremes in order to survive.
Featuring scathingly sharp performances and set against a lush visual landscape with indelible metaphoric images, Sweet Dreams is an incisive and surreal satire that marvels at the absurdity of the colonial nightmare.
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Screenings & Events
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Media
![](https://cinemachicago.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/FF59_SweetDreams1_1200x600-1024x512.jpg)
![](https://cinemachicago.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/FF59_SweetDreams2_1200x600-1024x512.jpg)
![](https://cinemachicago.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/FF59_SweetDreams3_1200x600-1024x512.jpg)
Film Credits
- Erik Glijnis, Leontine Petit; co-produced by: Erik Hemmendorff, Kristina Börjeson, Martien Vlietman, Mandy Marahimin
- Ena Sendijarević
- Lot Rossmark
- Emo Weemhoff
- Renée Soutendijk, Hayati Azis, Lisa Zweerman, Florian Myjer, Muhammad Khan, Hans Dagelet, Rio den Haas
- Martial Foe
- Judy Tossel, Laurent Médéa, Ena Sendijarević
- Lemming Film, Plattform Produktion, VPRO, Film ï Vast, Tala Media
Sponsors
New Directors Program Sponsors
Robert and Penelope Steiner Family Foundation
![A child in a snowsuit lays down on a snowy hill surrouded by people going up and down with sleds.](https://cinemachicago.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/FF59_OccupiedCity1_1200x600.jpg)
Occupied City
Synopsis
The past collides with our precarious present in Steve McQueen’s bravura documentary Occupied City. From the streets of Amsterdam, McQueen creates two interlocking portraits: a vivid journey through the last years of pandemic and protest, and a door-to-door excavation of the Nazi occupation that still haunts his adopted city. What emerges is both devastating and life-affirming, an expansive meditation on memory, time, and where we’re headed.
Screenings & Events
Sold Out/Rush Only? Learn when new tickets get released by signing up for our ticket availability email list!
Film Credits
- Floor Onrust, Steve McQueen, Anna Smith-Tenser, Bianca Stigter
- Bianca Stigter
- Xander Nijsten, Steve McQueen
- Lennert Hillege N.S.C.
- Oliver Coates
Sponsors
Film Supporters
Robert and Penelope Steiner Family Foundation