![A woman stands at the base of a winding staircase in a grand entryway, the furniture covered with sheets.](https://cinemachicago.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/FF59_RagingGrace1_1200x600.jpg)
Raging Grace
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.
Screenings & Events
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Media
![](https://cinemachicago.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/FF59_RagingGrace1_1200x600-1024x512.jpg)
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![](https://cinemachicago.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/FF59_RagingGrace3_1200x600-1024x512.jpg)
Film Credits
- Chi Thai
- Paris Zarcilla
- Christopher C.F. Chow
- Max Eigenmann, Jaeden Paige Boadilla, Leanne Best, David Hayman
- Jon Clarke
- Last Conker
Sponsors
Film Supporter
![A robot curiously observes a dog eating a hotdog at a food stand in bustling Central Park.](https://cinemachicago.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/FF59_RobotDreams1_1200x600.jpg)
Robot Dreams
Synopsis
In this love letter to 1980s New York City, Dog lives in Manhattan. Tired of being alone, he orders and builds himself a robot companion, and their friendship blossoms. Dog and Robot become inseparable, living life to the fullest in time with the vivacious rhythms of the big, bustling city. And then one summer night, Dog, with a heavy, reluctant heart, has no choice but to abandon Robot at the beach. Will the two ever meet again?
Based on the popular graphic novel by Sara Varon, director Pablo Berger (Blancanieves) brings us a unique animated feature that follows the adventures and misfortunes of two souls, forever united. Full of charm, daydreams, deadpan comedy, and moments of subtle heartbreak, Robot Dreams is an ingeniously playful, tenderly articulated tale of friendship in all its fragility and glory.
Screenings & Events
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Film Credits
- Ignasi Estapé, Sandra Tapia, Ibon Cormenzana, Pablo Berger, Angel Durández
- Pablo Berger
- Fernando Franco
- Animators: José Luis Ágreda, Benoît Feroumont, Daniel Fernándes Casas, Patricia Andrades
- n/a
- Alfonso de Vilallonga, Yuko Harami
- Arcadia Motion Pictures
![A dark haired woman and child share a warm smile as the girl rests her hand on the womans.](https://cinemachicago.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/FF59_Shayda1_1200x600.jpg)
Shayda
Synopsis
Shayda, a brave Iranian mother, has fled her husband, finding refuge in an Australian women’s shelter with her six-year-old daughter. Over the Persian New Year, they struggle to find normalcy in Nowruz rituals and new beginnings. But when her estranged husband re-enters their lives, Shayda’s path to freedom is jeopardized.
Drawn from personal experiences, Iranian-Australian filmmaker Noora Niasari’s powerful debut feature is a poetic, beautifully crafted vérité portrayal of courage and compassion, anchored by a heart-rending performance by Zar Amir Ebrahimi (Holy Spider). Ebrahimi captures the vulnerability and conflict, but also the radiant soul, of an Iranian woman who boldly reclaims her human rights: to divorce her husband, dress as she chooses, and keep her child no matter the cost.
Screenings & Events
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Media
![](https://cinemachicago.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/FF59_Shayda1_1200x600-1024x512.jpg)
![](https://cinemachicago.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/FF59_Shayda2_1200x600-1024x512.jpg)
Film Credits
- Vincent Sheehan, Noora Niasari
- Noora Niasari
- Elika Rezaee
- Sherwin Akbarzadeh
- Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Osamah Sami, Leah Purcell, Jillian Nguyen, Mojean Aria, Rina Mousavi, Selina Zahednia
- Cate Blanchett, Andrew Upton, Coco Francini, Caitlin Gold, Lindsay Lanzillotta, Lois Scott, Naomi McDougall Jones, Nivedita Kulkarni
- Origma 45, Dirty Films, The 51 Fund
![A black family of six poses together in front of their home.](https://cinemachicago.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/FF59_SilverDollarRoad1_1200x600.jpg)
Silver Dollar Road
Synopsis
In the Spring of 2011, brothers Melvin Davis, 64, and Licurtis Reels, 53, stood in a North Carolina court and vowed never to leave their great-grandfather’s land. But their coastal patch of property along Silver Dollar Road had been sold to developers years before without their knowledge. So the two men were put in jail… for eight years.
Oscar-nominated director Raoul Peck (I Am Not Your Negro) chronicles the shocking story of one family’s fight, and the lasting impact of slavery and the Jim Crow South that contributed to their ongoing plight. Mixing lyrical passages of life along the waterfront with home movies from their community that capture both good times and bad as their frustration boils over into confrontation, Silver Dollar Road is a profound look at injustice and racism across the decades and into the present.
Screenings & Events
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Media
![](https://cinemachicago.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/FF59_SilverDollarRoad1_1200x600-1024x512.jpg)
![](https://cinemachicago.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/FF59_SilverDollarRoad2_1200x600-1024x512.jpg)
![](https://cinemachicago.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/FF59_SilverDollarRoad3_1200x600-1024x512.jpg)
Film Credits
- Blair Foster, Remi Grellety, Hebert Peck, Raoul Peck
- Raoul Peck
- Alexandra Strauss
- Henry Adebonojo, Antonio Rossi
- ALEXEI Aigui
- Lizzie Presser, Stephen Engleberg, Almundena Toral, Robin Sparkman, Viola Davis, Julius Tennon, Rob Williams
- Velvet Film, Amazon Studios
Sponsors
Documentary Program Sponsors
Cynthia Stone Raskin
Black Perspectives Program Sponsors
![Three teenage girls, dressed brightly, sit together in front of a metal fence.](https://cinemachicago.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/FF59_Sisterhood1_1200x600.jpg)
Sisterhood HLM Pussy
Synopsis
Fifteen-year-olds Amina, Djeneba, and Zineb have been an inseparable trio since childhood. When one of the girls is the victim of a predatory incident, an emboldened Amina posts a video of the assault on social media as a means of denouncing the assailant. The video unexpectedly goes viral, eliciting both widespread support and backlash from their community and the internet at large. Amina’s actions force a wedge into this formerly invincible friendship, shedding light on the divides in the girls’ race, class, and cultural privilege.
A poignant commentary on the act of speaking out in the age of the viral internet, Sisterhood takes a critical closer look at the complex factors at play that, all too often, force women and girls into silence in the face of gendered violence.
Screenings & Events
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Media
![](https://cinemachicago.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/FF59_Sisterhood1_1200x600-1024x512.jpg)
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![](https://cinemachicago.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/FF59_Sisterhood3_1200x600-1024x512.jpg)
Film Credits
- Philippe Gompel
- Nora El Hourch
- Quentin Jourde d'Arzac
- Maxence Lemonnier
- Léah Aubert, Médina Diarra, Salma Takaline, Oscar Al Hafiane, Bérénice Bejo, Mounir Magroum
- Clément Tery
- Philippe Gompel
- Manny Films, La Prod
Sponsors
New Directors Program Sponsors
Robert and Penelope Steiner Family Foundation