Festival Archives: Chicago Intl Film Festival

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Highest 2 Lowest

  Spike Lee

  U.S.     134 minutes

Synopsis

When a titan music mogul (Denzel Washington), widely known as having the “best ears in the business,” is targeted with a ransom plot, he is jammed up in a life-or-death moral dilemma. Brothers Denzel Washington and Spike Lee reunite for the 5th in their long working relationship for a reinterpretation of the great filmmaker Akira Kurosawa’s crime thriller High and Low, now played out on the mean streets of modern-day New York City.

  

Screenings & Events

There are currently no upcoming screenings of this film.

An Evening With Spike Lee

Fri, Oct 24 @ 5:30pm


Join Academy Award winner Spike Lee for an illuminating conversation about his iconic body of work, which has made an indelible mark on filmmaking, television, and popular culture.

Note: This event is separate from the Highest 2 Lowest screening and requires a separate ticket.

Learn more

Media

Film Credits

  •   Todd Black, Jason Michael Berman
  •   Alan Fox; Based on Akira Kurosawa’s film High and Low written by Akira Kurosawa, Hideo Oguni, Ryuzo Kikushima, and Eijiro Hisaita
  •   Barry Alexander Brown, Allyson C. Johnson
  •   Mark Friedberg
  •   Matthew Libatique
  •   Denzel Washington, Jeffrey Wright, Ilfenesh Hadera, A$AP Rocky
  •   Howard Drossin

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The Testament of Ann Lee

  Mona Fastvold

  U.K.     135 minutes

Synopsis

From award winning writer-director Mona Fastvold (The World to Come, The Brutalist) comes a speculative retelling of the extraordinary story of Ann Lee, founder of the religious sect known as the Shakers. Academy Award-nominee Amanda Seyfried stars as the Shakers’ irrepressible leader — who espoused gender and social equality while believing herself to be the female incarnation of Christ. The Testament of Ann Lee thrillingly imagines the ecstasy and agony of Ann Lee and her followers’ conviction and commitment to her own vision of utopia. More than a dozen original Shaker hymns are transformed into ecstatic “movements,” featuring choreography from Celia Rowlson-Hall (Vox Lux) and music by Academy Award-winning composer Daniel Blumberg (The Brutalist). Screening in 35mm

 English 

Screenings & Events

There are currently no upcoming screenings of this film.

Media

Film Credits

  •   Andrew Morrison, Joshua Horsfield, Viktória Petrányi, Mona Fastvold, Brady Corbet, Gregory Jankilevitsch, Klaudia Śmieja-Rostworowska, Lillian LaSalle, Mark Lampert
  •   Mona Fastvold, Brady Corbet
  •   Sofia Subercaseaux
  •   Will Rexer
  •   Amanda Seyfried, Thomasin McKenzie, Lewis Pullman, Tim Blake Nelson, Christopher Abbott
  •   Daniel Blumberg
  •   Megan Ellison, Patrick Chu, Christopher Renteria, Tom Ogden, Diana Chen, Brantley Gong, Jesse Ozeri, Vincent Peone, Kyle Stroud, Zach Verdin, Dave Guenette, Scott Aharoni, Alihan Yalcindag, Sinan Eczacibasi, Saskia Duff, David Kaplan, Oleg Nodelman, Marcin Czernik, Claude Amadeo, Randal Sandler, Michael D’Alto, Chris Triana, Adam Paulsen, Michael Fowler, Zelene Fowler
  •   Kaplan Morrison, Intake Films

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Dead Man’s Wire

  Gus Van Sant

  U.S.     104 minutes

Synopsis

On the morning of February 8, 1977, Indianapolis entrepreneur Anthony G. “Tony” Kiritsis entered the office of Richard O. Hall, president of the Meridian Mortgage Company, and took the man hostage with a sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun wired to his head. In this ‘70s-style thriller reminiscent of Dog Day Afternoon, acclaimed filmmaker Gus Van Sant (My Own Private Idaho, Good Will Hunting) recreates the incident in meticulous detail, following Tony’s misbegotten attempt to seek retribution from the Hall family for cheating him out of what he felt he was owed.

Featuring commanding performances from Bill Skarsgård as the unhinged Kiritsis, Colman Domingo as a radio DJ who gets up caught in the chaos, and Al Pacino as the grouchy mortgage mogul whose son, played by Dacre Montgomery, is under the gun, Dead Man’s Wire is an eerily timely, unsettling, and captivating story about vigilante justice and the thin line between criminal and hero in American society.

  

 English 

Awards Event

headshot: Gus Van SantAt this screening, acclaimed director Gus Van Sant will receive the Festival’s Visionary Award, recognizing his auspicious body of work defined by both experimentation and humanity.

Van Sant’s many features include Drugstore Cowboy (1989), My Own Private Idaho (1991), Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1993), To Die For (1995), Gerry (2002), Elephant (2003), Paranoid Park (2007), and Restless (2011) as well as Good Will Hunting (1997), which was nominated for Best Picture and Best Director at the Academy Awards. Dead Man’s Wire (2025) is his latest feature.

Screenings & Events

There are currently no upcoming screenings of this film.

Media

Film Credits

  •   Cassian Elwes, Mark Amin, Sam Pressman, Tom Culliver, Andrea Bucko, Billy Hines, Veronica Radaelli, Matt Murphie, Paula Paizes, Joel David Moore, Remi Alfallah, Noor Alfallah, Siena Oberman, Gordon Clark
  •   Austin Kolodney
  •   Saar Klein
  •   Arnaud Potier
  •   Bill Skarsgård, Dacre Montgomery, Cary Elwes, Myha'la, Colman Domingo, Al Pacino
  •   Danny Elfman
  •   Elevated Films, Pressman Film, Balcony 9 Productions, Sobini Films, RNA Pictures, Pinstripes

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Primavera

  Damiano Michieletto

  Italy, France     110 minutes

Synopsis

Early 1700s. Venice. The Ospedale della Pietà orphanage has a storied reputation for the distinguished musical education of its residents. The young women’s ensemble performances attract the attention of audiences, patrons, and even suitors, who become enchanted by their talent, believing their training will make them more virtuous wives. Cecilia, a virtuoso violinist, has been promised to a decorated army official upon his return from the battlefield. It is with the arrival of a new musical director—the ambitious composer Antonion Vivaldi—that she is awakened to the power of her musical gift and its possibilities for joy and emancipation.

Celebrated opera and stage director Damiano Michieletto crafts a stunning cinematic work with this story of Vivaldi, underappreciated in his time, through the lens of a young muse, who herself is transformed by music as she finds the inspiration to rewrite her own destiny. Sumptuous costumes and production design are further elevated by an inspired score bringing vibrancy and immediacy to a stirring centuries-old tale.

 Italian with subtitles

Screenings & Events

There are currently no upcoming screenings of this film.

Media

Film Credits

  •   Francesca Cima, Nicola Giuliano, Carlotta Calori, Viola Prestieri, Carlos Prada, Arturo De Simone, Marc Missonnier
  •   Ludovica Rampoldi
  •   Walter Fasano
  •   Daria D'Antonio
  •   Tecla Insolia, Michele Riondino, Andrea Pennacchi, Fabrizia Sacchi, Valentina Bellè, Stefano Accorsi
  •   Fabio Massimo Capogrosso
  •   Moana Films, Indigo Film, Warner Bros. Entertainment Italia

Sponsors

With support from

logo: CinecittàLogo: Italian Ministry of Culture / Cinema Audiovisivo179x80Consulate General of ItalyLogo: Italian Cultural Institute - 200x100

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A group of four people lay intertwined in the grass, contentedly looking up at the sky.

Adult Children

  Rich Newey

  U.S.     100 minutes

Synopsis

Tasked with writing an essay for her college application, high school senior Morgan (Ella Rubin) is at a loss. With no real sense of who she is or what she wants, the 17-year-old is hopeful that her much-older half-siblings will provide some inspiration. But after their mother heads off to Europe on a long overdue vacation, the sheltered teen quickly realizes that they might be even more off balance as she is. Charged with keeping brother Josh (Thomas Sadoski) from going off the deep end yet again, Morgan and sisters Lisa (Betsy Brandt) and Dahlia (Aya Cash)—each with their own issues and secrets—struggle to maintain equilibrium as the misadventures mount.

In this endearing Chicago-made dramedy, director Rich Newey and writer Annika Marks (Killing Eleanor) paint a humorous and touching portrait of coming of age at all ages. Featuring winning performances from Brandt (Breaking Bad), Sadoski (Life in Pieces), and Cash (The Boys), and an especially sympathetic turn from newcomer Rubin (Anora, The Idea of You), Adult Children is richly drawn, deeply felt, and warmly amusing.

  

 English 

Screenings & Events

There are currently no upcoming screenings of this film.

Media

Film Credits

  •   Angie Gaffney, Thomas Sadoski, Annika Marks, Rich Newey, Brittani Ward
  •   Annika Marks
  •   Ken Mowe
  •   Jessica Young
  •   Betsy Brandt, Aya Cash, Ella Rubin, Thomas Sadoski, and Mimi Rogers
  •   The Co-Stars
  •   Kelly Aisthorpe Waller, Michele Girgis, Ted Reilly, Markie Glassgow
  •   Chicago Media Angels, 521 Films, Let's Try One Productions
  •   https://www.521films.com/adultchildren

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