Damien Chazelle opens the Festival with his breakout hit, La La Land, and Lifetime and Career Achievement honors are bestowed on director Peter Bogdanovich and actress Geraldine Chaplin, respectively; directors Alfonso Arau and Pablo Larraín also receive honors. The Festival celebrates the 20th anniversary of the Black Perspectives program with a tribute to Steve McQueen, a conversation with Taraji P. Henson, and a screening of Moonlight, featuring appearances by director Barry Jenkins, writer Tarell Alvin McCraney, and stars André Holland and Naomi Harris. Director Julie Dash attends with a retrospective screening of her classic Daughters Of The Dust, Danny Glover appears with his 93 DAYS, and documentary filmmaker Sam Pollard brings his Two Trains Runnin’ to Chicago.
Categories Archives: CCTimeline
All timeline stories.
2024
The Chicago International Film Festival celebrates its 60th year… see what’s in store October 16 – 27, 2024!
2023
In a year dominated by dual WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, the 59th Chicago International Film Festival presents a staggering slate at its new hub, AMC Newcity 14. Minhal Baig opens the Festival with We Grown Now, and Michael Shannon presents his directorial debut Eric Larue at the Music Box Theatre as well as an Industry Days Master Class in Directing the Actor. Industry Days also features a first-ever International Contenders panel, with directors Ilker Çatak, Amr Gamal, Rodrigo Moreno, Lina Soualem, and Anh Hung Tran. Honorees include Saltburn director Emerald Fennell, Memory star Peter Sarsgaard, costumer Holly Waddington for her work on Poor Things, and Closing Night’s The Bikeriders director Jeff Nichols.
2022
Chicago’s own Steve James opens the Festival with A Compassionate Spy at the first ChiFilmFest Block Party, spanning the entire block of N. Southport Ave. outside the Music Box Theatre. Kathryn Hahn receives a Career Achievement Award at the Centerpiece presentation of Rian Johnson’s Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. Other honorees include a Visionary Award for Women Talking director Sarah Polley and cinematographer Luc Montpellier, and a Rising Star Award goes to Anna Diop for her turn in Nikyatu Jusu’s NANNY. Award-winning director Darren Arorofsky joins Industry Days for a Master Class to discuss his career and his latest film The Whale. Other notable guests include the Rev. Al Sharpton, attending with his documentary Loudmouth; Senator Dick Durbin, Representative Mike Quigley, and Katie Couric, on hand to support documentary No Ordinary Campaign; and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who appears at screenings of the documentary Art & Pep.
2021
Emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Festival presents a hybrid virtual and in-person program while expanding its venue offerings and introducing community screenings in partnership with the Chicago Parks Department. Director Todd Haynes participates in a virtual Q&A at the Opening Night at the Drive-In presentation of The Velvet Underground, and the Festival hosts screenings of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune, Pablo Larrian’s Spencer, and Ridley Scott’s The Last Duel. Sir Kenneth Branagh is honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at a screening of Belfast, and Rebecca Hall receives an Artistic Achievement Award at a special presentation of Passing. Audiences turn out in droves to support films focusing on local heroes: Love, Charlie, about famous Chicago chef Charlie Trotter, and Punch 9 For Harold Washington, about the legendary Chicago mayor. Competitions winners include Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Memoria and Ryuske Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car.