Festival Archives: Chicago Intl Film Festival

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A group of people clad in black walk single file into a room. A young girl glares at the camera.

International Competition

Sound of Falling In die Sonne schauen

Directed by Mascha Schilinski

Countries Germany Run Time 149 minutes

Synopsis

An eerie, unsettling century-spanning saga, Sound of Falling collages together the stories of four generations of farmworking women living on the banks of Germany’s Elbe River. In a region historically defined by decades of turmoil—two world wars and Germany’s East-West divide—the film’s ghostly farmhouse setting breathes a sense of profound disquiet as the events that unfold there are echoes of the violence around them.

Connecting characters across time—from Alma in the early 20th century to Lenka in the present day—director Mascha Schilinski observes moments of poetry, horror, and grace. As we observe each woman bearing up with her lot in life, this year’s Grand Jury Prize winner at the Cannes Film Festival offers a profound and moving reflection on resilience and the ripple effects of inherited trauma.

Genres Drama Family Affairs Historical Women-Centered

Language German with subtitles

Content Considerations

Screenings & Events

There are currently no upcoming screenings of this film.

Media

Film Credits

Producers Maren Schmitt, Lucas Schmidt
Screenwriter Mascha Schilinski, Louise Peter
Editor Evelyn Rack
Cinematographer Fabian Gamper
Principal Cast Hanna Heckt, Lena Urzendowsky, Laeni Geiseler, Susanne Wuest, Luise Heyer, Lea Drinda
Music Michael Fiedler, Eike Hosenfeld
Executive Producers Lasse Scharpen
Production Company Studio Zentral, ZDF

Sponsors

Program Patron

John and Jacolyn Bucksbaum Family Foundation

With support from

Film Patron

Robert and Penelope Steiner Family Foundation

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A young boy stands at a chalkboard that reads "Bobby O'Brien Detective Agency". He talks to someone unseen.

Snapshots

Spilt Milk

Directed by Brian Durnin

Countries Ireland, U.K. Run Time 91 minutes

Synopsis

On a public housing estate in 1984 Dublin, eleven-year-old Bobby aspires to be a detective like his TV hero, Kojak. Recruiting best friend Nell as his sidekick, the pair are ready to find clues and follow leads, wherever they appear. Hints of a far more sinister mystery draw them in once items go missing from Bobby’s family home. The sense of urgency is compounded when his brother disappears following a bitter family fight. The two children set out in search of answers, embarking on a journey that threatens to take them into the darkest corners of the city.

Evocatively recreating details of life in Irish public housing during the era, filmmaker Brian Durnin fashions a unique coming-of-age story that’s by turns charming and harrowing, viewing the heroin epidemic that raged in the Irish capital at the time through a child’s eyes. As the curious leads, young stars Cillian Sullivan and Naoise Kelly demonstrate a wisdom and subtlety beyond their years, bringing tenderness and honesty to the roles of working-class preteens forced to grow up too soon.

Genres Coming of Age Drama Family Affairs Mystery

Language English

Screenings & Events

There are currently no upcoming screenings of this film.

Media

Film Credits

Producers Laura McNicholas, James Heath
Screenwriter Cara Loftus
Editor Colin Monie
Cinematographer Cathal Watters
Principal Cast Cillian Sullivan, Naoise Kelly, Danielle Galligan, Laurence O'Faurain
Music Scott Twynholm
Executive Producers Cormac Fox
Production Company 925 Productions, Randan, Vico Films

Sponsors

With support from

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A young person sits at the edge of a body of water, looking over their shoulder at something unseen.

New Directors Competition OutLook

Strange River Estrany Riu

Directed by Jaume Claret Muxart

Countries Spain, Germany Run Time 105 minutes

Synopsis

It’s summertime on the Danube River, and teenager Dídac and his tight-knit family are enjoying the pastoral beauty on a bicycle trip together. Memories swirl in the river’s waters, as Dídac’s parents reminisce over their first trials with love in their youth. Dídac’s own curiosity around romance and desire begins to stir when he encounters a mysterious boy who seems to appear and disappear from the river’s waters. As the two boys circle into closer and closer orbit, the growing pains of young love begin to widen the emerging cracks between Dídac and his family.

The boundaries between the waking world and dreaming flow freely like the river itself in Jaume Claret Muxart’s sensuous and ethereal feature debut, where longing conjures the ghosts of past and future. Set against a sunny, verdant landscape shot on 16mm, Strange River explores the freedom of blossoming youth with remarkable tenderness.

Genres Coming of Age Family Affairs LGBTQ Road Movie

Language Catalan, German, English with subtitles

Screenings & Events

There are currently no upcoming screenings of this film.

Media

Film Credits

Producers Xavi Font, Andrea Vázquez
Screenwriter Jaume Claret Muxart, Meritxell Colell
Editor Maria Castan de Manuel, Meritxell Colell
Cinematographer Pablo Paloma
Principal Cast Jan Monter, Nausicaa Bonnín, Francesco Wenz, Jordi Oriol, Bernat Solé, Roc Colell
Music Nika Son
Production Company ZuZú Cinema, Miramemira
Website https://filmsboutique.com/film/strange-river/

Sponsors

Program Patron

Robert and Penelope Steiner Family Foundation

With support from

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Still from The Stranger: In a black-and-white seaside scene, a young man in a loose button-down shirt and high-waisted trousers stands against a wooden beam, looking out toward the ocean with a solemn, pensive expression.

International Competition

The Stranger L'Étranger

Directed by François Ozon

Countries France Run Time 122 minutes

Synopsis

Algiers, 1938. Meursault, a quiet and unassuming office worker, attends his mother’s funeral without shedding a tear. The following day, he begins a casual affair with Marie, an old acquaintance, effortlessly slipping back into his daily routine. An emotional detachment from the people closest to him signals his utter indifference to the events of his life. His blithe existence is disrupted, however, when his neighbor Raymond draws Meursault into his shady dealings, leading to a tragic confrontation on a blistering hot day at the beach that lands Meursault in jail on murder charges.

A sense of inevitability and dread pervades the existential drama as it shifts between scenes depicting the wretched prison conditions Meursault endures as he awaits his trial and the succession of events that landed him there. Striking black-and-white cinematography, lensed by Manuel Dacosse, a frequent collaborator of director François Ozon, is evocative of the period setting while also lending the film an expansive timelessness. Effortlessly embodying Meursault’s aimless indifference, Benjamin Voisin (winner of the Silver Hugo for Best Performance for The Quiet Son at the 60th Chicago International Film Festival) commands in the lead as a man with nothing and yet everything to lose.

Genres Crime Drama Literary Adaptation

Language French with subtitles

Screenings & Events

There are currently no upcoming screenings of this film.

Film Credits

Producers François Ozon, Sidonie Dumas
Screenwriter François Ozon
Editor Clément Selitzki
Cinematographer Manu Dacosse
Principal Cast Benjamin Voisin, Rebecca Marder, Pierre Lottin, Denis Lavant, Swann Arlaud
Music Fatima Al Qadiri
Executive Producers Foz
Production Company Foz, Gaumont
Website https://www.gaumont.com/en/movie/the-stranger

Sponsors

Program Patron

John and Jacolyn Bucksbaum Family Foundation

Film Patron

Mary and Joseph Plauché

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Poster of film, an illustrated boy looks up towards the sky with a small row of wooden houses behind him.

Black Perspectives Retrospective

Sugar Cane Alley Rue Cases Nègres

Directed by Euzhan Palcy

Countries France, Martinique Run Time 103 minutes

Synopsis

Set in 1931 French-colonized Martinique, this poignant coming-of-age story follows eleven-year-old José. A bright, curious boy, he is being raised by his grandmother, M’man Tine, who dreams of a better future for him beyond the harsh realities of life working on the sugar cane plantation. As José navigates poverty, racism, and the enduring trauma of slavery, he also finds in education a liberative outlet. Filmmaker Euzhan Palcy’s lyrical direction blends historical truth with emotional intimacy and a touch of humor, capturing the lush Caribbean landscape alongside the dignity of its people.

Rich in cultural authenticity and political depth, Sugar Cane Alley was a “four-star” favorite of famed Chicago critic Roger Ebert, who praised it as a “smart, sometimes hard-edged story that earns its moments of sentiment.” Both a tender tribute to maternal love and a defiant cry for justice, the film remains an essential cinematic work that honors the voices of the oppressed while celebrating the unbreakable spirit of hope. This 4K restoration of Palcy’s 1983 masterpiece is a cinematic gift for a new generation.

Genres Coming of Age Family Affairs Historical Literary Adaptation

Language French, Creole with subtitles

Awards Event

At this screening, director and writer Euzhan Palcy will receive the Festival’s Black Perspectives Tribute and Career Achievement Award.

Pioneering filmmaker Euzhan Palcy has set the world ablaze with a decades-long body of visionary work, shattering barriers in global cinema and inspiring a generation of storytellers. In 1983, she made history with Sugar Cane Alley, becoming the first Black woman to win both the Silver Lion and a César Award—France’s highest film honor—for Best First Film. She continued to break ground in Hollywood with A Dry White Season (1989), directing Marlon Brando to his final Oscar nomination and becoming the first Black woman to direct a major U.S. studio film. She received an honorary Oscar in 2022.

Screenings & Events

There are currently no upcoming screenings of this film.

Media

Film Credits

Producers Michel Loulergue, Alix Régis, Claude Nedjar
Screenwriter Euzhan Palcy
Editor Marie Josèphe Yoyotte
Cinematographer Dominique Chapuis
Principal Cast Garry Cadenat, Darling Légitimus, Douta Seck
Music Malavoi
Executive Producers Jean-Luc Ormières
Production Company SU.MA.FA. Productions, Orca Productions, NEF Productions
Website https://www.euzhanpalcy.net/sugar-cane-alley
Release Year 1983

Sponsors

With Support From

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