Coming out of a dark theater, everything seems brighter. Film illuminates  the world. It opens our eyes. It shows us things we don¹t see every day,  makes us feel things we don¹t always feel. For 45 years, we¹ve been  committed to taking you all around the globe to discover some of the most  exciting cinema the world has to offer! When we started the Chicago  International Film Festival 45 years ago, we had one simple goal: To  introduce Chicago and the world to new filmmakers, new stories, and new  points of view. We¹ve shown the first feature films by world-renowned  directors like Martin Scorsese (USA), Peter Weir (Australia), Mike Leigh  (UK), Gregory Nava (USA), Bertrand Tavernier (France), Jan Troell (Sweden),  Joe Swanberg (USA), and Rainer Werner Fassbinder (Germany). In 2009, we  presented 175 films from 50 countries. We are excited to see what new films,  experiences and stories the 46th Chicago International Film Festival will  bring (October 7-21).