Film Venues Archives: Gene Siskel Film Center

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A claymation little fella, they wear a hat with googly eyes.

Memoir of a Snail

  Adam Elliot

  Australia     94 minutes

Synopsis

Visionary stop-motion animation director Adam Elliot returns to the Festival (Mary and Max, 2009) with a film eight years in the making. As a girl whose young life is troubled by misfortune, Grace (voiced by Sarah Snook) seeks comfort in her loving twin brother Gilbert and her pet snails. But when the siblings are forcibly separated after the death of their father and placed in foster homes at opposite ends of  Australia, Grace’s loneliness causes her to withdraw into her shell — much like her beloved pet snails.

Years pass and her sorrow grows, until one day she strikes up an odd friendship with Pinky (Jacki Weaver), an eccentric older woman with a glowing outlook on life and kindness to spare. At once gloomy, affecting, and hopeful, Memoir of a Snail is a beautiful testament to the power of friendship and resilience in the face of adversity.

 English 

Screenings & Events

Media

Film Credits

  •   Liz Kearney, Adam Elliot
  •   Adam Elliot
  •   Bill Murphy ASE
  •   Gerald Thompson
  •   Sarah Snook, Eric Bana, Jackie Weaver, Kodi Smit-McPhee
  •   Elena Kats-Chernin
  •   Robert Connolly, Robert Patterson

Sponsors

Film Patrons

Bill Melamed and Jamey Lundblad

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A father looks proudly at his son in a children's playroom.

Like Father, Like Son (2013) Soshite chichi ni naru

  Kore-eda Hirokazu

  Japan     121 minutes

Synopsis

A couple learns that, due to a hospital mix-up years ago, they must welcome their unknown biological son — and bid farewell to the boy they’ve long loved.

  

 Japanese with subtitles

Kore-eda Retrospective

headshot: Kore-eda HirokazuThis film is part of the 60th Chicago International Film Festival’s Kore-eda Hirokazu Tribute and Retrospective program.

Learn more about the Retrospective

Screenings & Events

Film Credits

  •   Hijiri Taguchi, Kaoru Matsuzaki
  •   Kore-eda Hirokazu
  •   Kore-eda Hirokazu
  •   Mikiya Takimoto
  •   Masaharu Fukuyama, Machiko Ono, Yoko Maki
  •   2013

Sponsors

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A Giraffe stares straight at camera thoughtfully.

Life and Other Problems Livet og andre problemer

  Max Kestner

  Denmark, United Kingdom, Sweden     98 minutes

Synopsis

When a juvenile giraffe named Marius was euthanized by the Copenhagen Zoo a decade ago, the decision sparked an international outcry. But filmmaker Max Kestner was more intrigued than flabbergasted, and uses the provocative incident as a launching pad for this wry and provocative essay film about life, death, biology, genetics, human and animal consciousness, and, well, just about everything else.

Jumping around the planet for a plethora of fascinating interviews — including Italian microbiologist Donato Giovannelli and Oxford veterinarian Charles Foster, who lives as a wolf to better understand them — the film explores the nature of life at a brisk pace, mixing the massive and the microscopic with the existential and the scientific using the lightest of touches. (The Flaming Lips’ “Do You Realize?” makes for a memorable framing device.) Fascinating and funny, Life and Other Problems delves into the quandaries of existence while offering no single solution.

 English, Danish with subtitles

Screenings & Events

Media

Film Credits

  •   Vibeke Vogel
  •   Max Kestner
  •   Michael Aaglund
  •   Maria Von Hauswolff, Sturla Brandt Grøvlen, Max Kestner
  •   Karen Lloyd, Bengt Holst, Charles Foster, Sheldrake Brothers, Sam Watts, Michael Levin
  •   Maxwell Sterling
  •   Bullitt Film
  •   https://www.bullittfilm.dk

Sponsors

Documentary Program Partner

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Documentary Program Patron

Cynthia Stone Raskin

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A woman in a field looks over her shoulder with an angry expression.

The Kingdom Le Royaume

  Julien Colonna

  France     108 minutes

Synopsis

During the hot Corsican summer of 1995, teenager Lesia is whisked away from the beach to a secret villa. Initially nonplussed, she’s excited when she realizes the reason for this sudden departure: she’s going to spend time with her father. Wanted by the authorities for his ties to violent, criminal acts, he’s hiding out in a compound. And although she’s not allowed to make phone calls to the outside world, Lesia is thrilled for some quality time with her outlaw dad. But when war erupts in the underworld, the two are forced to face one another as their familial bond is brought to its breaking point. The idyllic, sun-baked island serves as the backdrop for this explosive drama mixed with a heart-pounding coming-of-age thriller, anchored by a tour-de-force performance from newcomer Ghivanna Benedetti and directed with assurance and precision by Julien Colonna.

 French with subtitles

Screenings & Events

Media

Film Credits

  •   Hugo Selignac, Antoine Lafon
  •   Julien Colonna, Jeanne Herry
  •   Albertine Lastera, Yann Malcor
  •   Antoine Cormier
  •   Ghjuvanna Benedetti, Saveriu Santucci, Anthony Morganti, Andrea Cossu, Frédéric Poggi
  •   Audrey Ismael
  •   CHI-FOU-MI Productions

Sponsors

With Support From

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A view from below of a woman floating in a pool.

It’s Not Me C'est pas moi

  Leos Carax

  France     42 minutes

Synopsis

Iconoclastic French filmmaker Leos Carax (Holy Motors, ChicagoIFF 2012 Gold Hugo winner) reflects on his work and life in this personal cinematic essay. Nodding to the late style of New Wave master Jean-Luc Godard, whose voice can be heard on the soundtrack, the film assembles footage from Carax’s work and situates it within the broader history of cinema. Originally commissioned for an exhibition hosted by Paris’s Pompidou Center, the museum asked the auteur to respond to a simple question: “Where are you at, Leos Carax?”

No subject is off limits, no idea too small or large. The result is a dazzling, playful masterpiece of freely associative montage that includes everything from nostalgic film clips to heartbreaking voicemail recordings to ecstatic spectacles of dancing puppets. Essential viewing for fans and newcomers alike. Just be sure to stay for the post-credits sequence.

  

 French with subtitles

Screenings & Events

Film Credits

  •   Charles Gillibert, Leos Carax
  •   Denis Lavant, Kateryna Yuspina, Nastya Golubeva Carax, Loreta Joudkaite, Anna-Isabel Siefken, Petr Anevskii, Bianca Maddaluno
  •   CG Cinéma, Theo Films

Sponsors

With Support From

logo: French Embassy in the United States 156x125Logo: Villa Albertine 203x60