
Memory
Synopsis
Jessica Chastain and Peter Sarsgaard star in this penetrating psychological drama about two apparent strangers in New York City whose fateful encounter one night spins both of their lives in profoundly new directions. Sylvia (Chastain) is a single mother, 13 years sober and still reeling from a traumatic incident that she can’t forget, while Saul (Sarsgaard), suffering from early onset dementia, struggles to live an autonomous life. Can these two damaged souls find salvation?
ChicagoIFF award-winner Michel Franco, director of such acclaimed films as Sundown, New Order, and After Lucia, returns to the Festival with his most compassionate film. Though told in his precise and assured filmmaking style, he allows Chastain and Sarsgaard to fully embody the anguish of their characters–and the troubling complexities and tentative promise of their relationship. Winner of a Best Actor Prize at the Venice Film Festival for Sargaard’s subtle performance, Franco’s latest is a trenchant story of suffering and recovery–and memory itself and the ways it defines us.
Tribute to Peter Sarsgaard
This screening includes an in-person tribute to actor Peter Sarsgaard and presentation of the Chicago International Film Festival’s Career Achievement Award.
Screenings & Events
Sold Out/Rush Only? Learn when new tickets get released by signing up for our ticket availability email list!
Media


Film Credits
- Michel Franco, Eréndira Núñez Larios, Alex Orlovsky, Duncan Montgomery
- Michel Franco
- Oscar Figueroa Jara, Michel Franco
- Yves Cape
- Jessica Chastain, Peter Sarsgaard, Brooke Timber, Merritt Wever, Jessica Harper, Elsie Fisher, Josh Charles
- Paula P. Manzanedo, Moises Chiver, Jack Selby, Patricio Rabuffetti, Tatiana Emden, Joyce Zylberberg, Ralph Haiek, Michael Weber, Efe Cakarel, Bobby Allen, Jason Ropell
- Teorema, High Frequency Entertainment

Poor Things
Synopsis
From filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos and producer Emma Stone comes the incredible tale and fantastical evolution of Bella Baxter (Stone), a young woman brought back to life by the brilliant and unorthodox scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe). Under Baxter’s protection, Bella is eager to learn. Hungry for the worldliness she is lacking, Bella runs off with Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo), a slick and debauched lawyer, on a whirlwind adventure across the continents. Free from the prejudices of her times, Bella grows steadfast in her purpose to stand for equality and liberation.
Tribute to Holly Waddington
This screening includes an in-person tribute to costume designer Holly Waddington and presentation of the Chicago International Film Festival’s Tour de Force Award.

Screenings & Events
Sold Out/Rush Only? Learn when new tickets get released by signing up for our ticket availability email list!
Media



Film Credits
- Ed Guiney p.g.a., Andrew Lowe p.g.a., Yorgos Lanthimos p.g.a., Emma Stone p.g.a.
- Tony McNamara
- Yorgos Mavropsaridis, ACE
- Robbie Ryan, BSC, ISC
- Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe, Ramy Youssef, Christopher Abbot, Suzy Bemba, Jerrod Charmichael, Kathryn Hunter, Vicki Pepperdine, Margaret Qualley, Hanna Schygulla
- Jerskin Fendrix
- Element Pictures
Sponsors
Film Sponsor

American Fiction
Synopsis
American Fiction is Cord Jefferson’s hilarious directorial debut, which confronts our culture’s obsession with reducing people to outrageous stereotypes. Jeffrey Wright stars as Monk, a frustrated novelist who’s fed up with the establishment profiting from “Black” entertainment that relies on tired and offensive tropes. To prove his point, Monk uses a pen name to write an outlandish “Black” book of his own, a book that propels him to the heart of hypocrisy and the madness he claims to disdain.
Winner of the Toronto International Film Festival’s Audience Award, American Fiction marks an auspicious and brilliantly satirical first feature from Jefferson, the acclaimed journalist and writer of breakout TV shows The Good Place, Watchmen, and Succession.
Screenings & Events
Sold Out/Rush Only? Learn when new tickets get released by signing up for our ticket availability email list!
Media



Film Credits
- Ben LeClair, Nikos Karamigios, Cord Jefferson, Jermaine Johnson
- Cord Jefferson
- Hilda Rasula
- Cristina Dunlap
- Jeffrey Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross, John Ortiz, Erika Alexander, Leslie Uggams, Adam Brody, Keith David, Issa Rae, Sterling K. Brown
- Laura Karpman
- Rian Johnson, Ram Bergman, Percival Everett, Michael Bowes
- Orion Pictures, MRC, T-Street, Almost Infinite, 3 Arts Entertainment


The Pigeon Tunnel
Synopsis
Academy Award-winning documentarian Errol Morris (The Thin Blue Line, The Fog of War) pulls back the curtain on the storied life and career of former British spy David Cornwell — better known as John le Carré, author of such classic espionage novels as The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and The Constant Gardener. Set against the turbulent backdrop of the Cold War leading into present day, the film spans six decades as le Carré delivers his final and most candid interview, addressing, among others, the pivotal role of his con-man father. Punctuated with rare archival footage and dramatized vignettes, The Pigeon Tunnel is a deeply human and engaging exploration of le Carré’s extraordinary journey and the paper-thin membrane between fact and fiction.
Screenings & Events
Sold Out/Rush Only? Learn when new tickets get released by signing up for our ticket availability email list!
Film Credits
- Errol Morris, Dominic Crossley-Holland, Steven Hathaway, Simon Cornwell, Stephen Cornwell
- Errol Morris
- Steven Hathaway
- Igor Martinovic
- David Cornwell
- Philip Glass, Paul Leonard-Morgan
- Hossein Amini, P.J. Van Sandwijk, Michael Lesslie, Arthur Wang, Joe Tsai, Michele Wolkoff, Katherine Butler
- Ink Factory Films, Fourth Forth Floor, Jago Films, Storyteller Productions, 127 Wall


Adventures/Aventuras: Family Friendly Animated Shorts
Synopsis
Audiences of all ages can enjoy these three stories of adventure, all highlights from our Family Friendly Animation program, presented at the Harrison Park Field House in Pilsen.
A girl connects with her Mayan heritage on a camping trip with her father that turns into an exciting adventure in Balam (Mexico, U.S.). After a tiger escapes from the zoo, a bored subway worker gets the surprise of a lifetime in Town Hall Square (Germany). A curious girl gets sucked into the bizarre and magical world of the book she is reading in Ana Morphose (Portugal).
Screenings & Events
Sold Out/Rush Only? Learn when new tickets get released by signing up for our ticket availability email list!