![A bearded man seated before a desk holds up his fist to show a tattoo on his forearm.](https://cinemachicago.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/FF59_TerrestrialVerses1_1200x600.jpg)
Terrestrial Verses
Synopsis
A series of incisive, often darkly comic vignettes, Terrestrial Verses offers a glimpse into the lives of average Iranians as they grapple with the social, cultural, and religious bureaucracies imposed upon them by their government. A static camera chronicles an array of struggles—a woman searching for her lost dog, a filmmaker clashing with national censorship, a parent attempting to name his newborn son David, and many others—as the film ponders the absurd, draconian structures that subtly dictate life in Iran. The accumulation of these striking short fictions paints a powerfully human picture of a population fed up with the constraining politics of everyday life.
![](https://cinemachicago.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/FF59_TerrestrialVerses-poster_600x900.jpg)
Screenings & Events
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Media
![](https://cinemachicago.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/FF59_TerrestrialVerses1_1200x600-1024x512.jpg)
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![](https://cinemachicago.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/FF59_TerrestrialVerses3_1200x600-1024x512.jpg)
Film Credits
- Ali Asgari, Milad Khosravi
- Alireza Khatami, Ali Asgari
- Ehsan Vaseghi
- Adib Sobhani
- Majid Salehi, Gouhar Kheir Andish, Sadaf Asgari
- Masoud Fayaz Zadeh
- Taat Films Iran, Seven Springs Pictures Iran, Cynefilms
- https://filmsboutique.com/film/terrestrial-verses/
![The black and white image of a woman leaning against a wall, the city street with a vintage car can be seen beyond.](https://cinemachicago.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/FF59_TheBattle1_1200x600.jpg)
The Battle A Batalha da Rua Maria Antônia
Synopsis
São Paulo, October 1968. The early years of Brazil’s military dictatorship. In the philosophy building of the public university, the students and professors of the Left Student Movement are organizing. Tensions are palpable as a large number of the Communist Hunting Command gathers outside the private university across the street. As danger looms ever nearer, those who had, up to now, chosen to stay politically neutral are confronted with the implications of their apathy. Friendships and relationships are formed and tested as the personal becomes embroiled in the political, until the simmering threat of violence boils over.
Inspired by true events and filmed in beautiful black-and-white 16mm in a series of 21 elegantly choreographed long takes depicting one intense night, The Battle is a volcanic portrait of the passion of youth in a pivotal moment in Brazilian history.
Screenings & Events
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Media
![](https://cinemachicago.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/FF59_TheBattle1_1200x600-1024x512.jpg)
![](https://cinemachicago.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/FF59_TheBattle2_1200x600-1024x512.jpg)
![](https://cinemachicago.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/FF59_TheBattle3_1200x600-1024x512.jpg)
Film Credits
- Egisto Betti, Heitor Dhalia, Manoel Rangel
- Vera Egito
- Julia Zakia
- William Etchebehere
- Pâmela Germano, Isamara Castilho, Caio Horowicz, Julianna Gerais, Philipp Lavra, Gabriela Carneiro da Cunha
- Antonio Pinto
- Diana Almeida, Luciano Salim
- Paranoid Filmes, Globo Filmes
Sponsors
New Directors Program Sponsor
Robert and Penelope Steiner Family Foundation
![People dancing in a vintage dance hall. Two women at center screen dance together.](https://cinemachicago.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/FF59_TheBeautifulSummer1_1200x600.jpg)
The Beautiful Summer La bella estate
Synopsis
Turin, 1938. Young Ginia has just moved from the countryside to the big city and takes a job at a dressmaker’s atelier. She demonstrates talent, and with the promise of a successful career, the future feels wide open. But war looms, casting shadows over the present and creating a sense of restlessness and unease. Desperate for adventure, Ginia befriends Amelia, who introduces her into a bohemian world of impetuous artists. Sensual and provocative, Amelia is different from anyone Ginia has ever known, opening her up to a world of new possibilities. During her “beautiful summer,” Ginia will surrender to her first great love and find the courage to be her true self.
Inspired by the 1949 novella of the same name by celebrated author Cesare Pavese (whose third novella in the same trilogy inspired Michelangelo Antononi’s Le amiche), The Beautiful Summer is steeped in the warm and glowing tones of radiant youth. Laura Luchetti elicits magnetic performances from the always sensitive Yile Yara Vianello (an Alice Rohrwacher regular also seen in La Chimera and Corpo Celeste) and radiant newcomer Deva Casel as two young women coming to terms with their own power and taking control of their destinies.
![](https://cinemachicago.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/FF59_TheBeautifulSummer-poster_600x900.jpg)
Screenings & Events
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Media
![](https://cinemachicago.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/FF59_TheBeautifulSummer1_1200x600-1024x512.jpg)
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![](https://cinemachicago.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/FF59_TheBeautifulSummer3_1200x600-1024x512.jpg)
Film Credits
- Giovanni Pompili, Luca Legnani
- Laura Luchetti
- Simona Paggi
- Diego Romero Suarez Llanos
- Yile Yara Vianello, Deva Cassel, Nicolas Maupas. Alessandro Piavani, Adrien Dewitte, Cosima Centurioni, Gabriele Graham Gasco. Anna Bellato, Andrea Bosca
- Francesco Cerasi
- Kino Produzioni, 9.99 Films, Rai Cinema, Lucky Red, True Colours, Tapelessfilm
Sponsors
Film Supporters
![A black and white image of a man riding a motorcycle over a bridge. He looks at something behind him.](https://cinemachicago.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/FF59_TheBikeriders1_1200x600.jpg)
The Bikeriders
Synopsis
From writer-director Jeff Nichols (Loving, Midnight Special, Mud), 20th Century Studios, and New Regency, The Bikeriders is a furious drama following the rise of a fictional 1960s Midwestern motorcycle club through the lives of its members, starring Jodie Comer (Killing Eve, The Last Duel), Austin Butler (Elvis), and Tom Hardy (Mad Max: Fury Road, The Revenant).
Inspired by Danny Lyon’s iconic book of photography, The Bikeriders immerses viewers in the look, feel, and sounds of the bare-knuckled, grease-covered subculture of ’60s motorcycle riders. Kathy (Comer), a strong-willed member of the Vandals who’s married to a wild, reckless bikerider named Benny (Butler), recounts the Vandals’ evolution over the course of a decade, beginning as a local club of outsiders united by good times, rumbling bikes, and respect for their strong, steady leader Johnny (Hardy). Over the years, Kathy tries her best to navigate her husband’s untamed nature and his allegiance to Johnny, with whom she feels she must compete for Benny’s attention. As life in the Vandals gets more dangerous, Kathy, Benny, and Johnny are forced to make choices about their loyalty to the club and to each other.
The cast, most of whom did their own riding on an array of period-correct bikes, also includes Michael Shannon (Bullet Train), Mike Faist (West Side Story), Boyd Holbrook (Logan), and Norman Reedus (The Walking Dead).
Tribute to Jeff Nichols
This screening includes an in-person tribute to writer-director Jeff Nichols and presentation of the Chicago International Film Festival’s Artistic Achievement Award.
![](https://cinemachicago.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/FF59_TheBikeriders-poster_600x900.jpg)
Screenings & Events
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![](https://cinemachicago.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/FF59_TheBikeriders1_1200x600-1024x512.jpg)
![](https://cinemachicago.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/FF59_TheBikeriders2_1200x600-1024x512.jpg)
![](https://cinemachicago.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/FF59_TheBikeriders3_1200x600-1024x512.jpg)
Film Credits
- Sarah Green, p.g.a.,Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, p.g.a., Arnon Milchan
- Jeff Nichols
- Jodie Comer, Austin Butler, Tom Hardy, Michael Shannon, Mike Faist, Boyd Holbrook, Norman Reedus
- Yariv Milchan, Michael Schaefer, Sam Hanson, David Kern, Fred Berger
Sponsors
Film Sponsors
Film Supporters
John and Jacolyn Bucksbaum Family Foundation
![In a countryside home, Mahito Maki sits at a table facing a humanoid man in a bird costume. Both have serious gazes.](https://cinemachicago.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/FF59_TheBoyandtheHeron1_1200x600.jpg)
The Boy and the Heron Kimitachi wa Dou Ikiru ka
Synopsis
A young boy named Mahito yearning for his mother ventures into a world shared by the living and the dead. There, death comes to an end, and life finds a new beginning.
A semi-autobiographical fantasy about life, death, and creation, in tribute to friendship, from the mind of Hayao Miyazaki.
Screenings & Events
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Media
![](https://cinemachicago.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/FF59_TheBoyandtheHeron1_1200x600-1024x512.jpg)
![](https://cinemachicago.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/FF59_TheBoyandtheHeron2_1200x600-1024x512.jpg)
![](https://cinemachicago.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/FF59_TheBoyandtheHeron3_1200x600-1024x512.jpg)
Film Credits
- Toshio Suzuki
- Hayao Miyazaki
- Joe Hisaishi
- Studio Ghibli
- https://gkids.com