Festival News

 The 55th Chicago International Film Festival tonight announced during a ceremony at Chez, 247 E Ontario St., the winners of the Festival’s diverse competitions. Prizes were awarded to films in the following categories: International Feature Film Competition; New Directors Competition; International Documentary Competition; Out-Look Competition; and Short Film Competition. The Chicago Award and the Founder’s Award were also presented. 

Taking home the top prize in the International Feature Film Competition is Portrait of a Lady on Fire (France) by director Céline Sciamma, hailed by the jury as a portrayal of the all-consuming nature of love and the beauty of women’s solidarity.[…]

With insight and good humor, director Marcelo Gomes returns to the rural Brazilian city of his youth in Waiting for the Carnival, a documentary that introduces viewers to Toritama, a.k.a. “The Capital of Jeans.”  Across garages and backyards, the town’s self-employed inhabitants toil over denim and zippers around the clock every day—except for the annual carnival season when they try to take a well-earned break. But in this thoughtful and provocative film, Gomes wonders: Are they shrewd entrepreneurs or slaves to capitalism?[…]

Millions can identify the iconic logo, but few know the man behind the larger-than-life label. A chic and lively peek into the mind of Pierre Cardin and his epic design empire—from clothes to furniture to eyeglasses— House of Cardin is a globetrotting journey across the decades, examining the modernist styles he pioneered. Featuring in-depth interviews with Cardin himself, along with Jean-Paul Gaultier, Philippe Starke, and Sharon Stone, among others. We’re thrilled to welcome co-directors P. David Ebersole and Todd Hughes to the Festival for its Chicago premiere this week![…]

From Finnish filmmaker Arthur Franck comes The Hypnotist, a transfixing Cold-War docu-thriller about Olavi Hakasalo, a.k.a Olliver Hawk, Finland’s most famous hypnotist, who might—or might not—have been a key political operative for the nation’s ruling powers. A wild ride, full of subtle contemporary echoes about the risks of populism and public manipulation, The Hypnotist charts both the rise and fall of a mysterious man and the murkiness of truth. Below, Franck gives us insight into how he chooses a documentary subject, and how Finnish, Cold War-era politics may have more to say about the world we live in today than you’d expect.[…]

Inspired by the famed vampire novella, director Emily Harris’ Carmilla is an 18th-century coming-of-age romance chronicling the relationship between sheltered teen Lara and a mysterious young woman who arrives at her remote estate after a carriage accident nearby. The girls share a powerful connection, but with rumors of supernatural activity overtaking the land, Lara’s devout governess eyes Carmilla with great suspicion and jealousy. We’re thrilled to welcome Harris and her seductive, candlelit fable to our city for the 55th Chicago International Film Festival.[…]