Synopsis

Tensions are already running high as the day begins in a bustling Times Square kitchen — money is missing from the till, and suspicions have fallen on line cook Pedro (Raúl Briones). A zealous dreamer with a knack for making trouble, Pedro is on thin ice. His tumultuous affair with Julia (Rooney Mara), a waitress battling her own demons, is no secret. But today, their interpersonal chaos begins to seep into the relentless pace of the kitchen as its workers grind to feed the hungry maws of the dining room’s tourists. As Pedro spirals out of control, he threatens to take the whole kitchen down with him.

Alonso Ruizpalacios (A Cop Movie, 2021) returns to the Festival with a stylistically dazzling, darkly poignant tribute to the often invisible immigrants whose unrelenting work in kitchens feeds this country’s voracious appetite. La Cocina is a daring, tragic ode to the folly of the American Dream.

Synopsis

In our deeply partisan times, there’s nothing like Hot Tub Time Machine to bring people together. Equal parts humorous and harrowing, The Last Republican tracks conservative Illinois Congressman Adam Kinzinger’s unwavering fight to hold Donald Trump accountable for the January 6 insurrection, as chronicled by fellow Illinoisian and self-avowed liberal filmmaker Steve Pink — famous for the Hot Tub movies. It’s an unlikely pairing, but that’s part of the point: The Last Republican is a rare political documentary about finding common ground.

Pink follows the Congressman through one of the most difficult years of his life: 2021, when Kinzinger voted to impeach the President and was selected — somewhat unwillingly, it turns out — to serve on the January 6 Committee. Ostracized by his party, mocked by the media, and facing death threats, Kinzinger wrestles with the consequences of his actions. But he ultimately remains committed to his conscience, offering a hopeful glimpse of the future of America.

Synopsis

When a juvenile giraffe named Marius was euthanized by the Copenhagen Zoo a decade ago, the decision sparked an international outcry. But filmmaker Max Kestner was more intrigued than flabbergasted, and uses the provocative incident as a launching pad for this wry and provocative essay film about life, death, biology, genetics, human and animal consciousness, and, well, just about everything else.

Jumping around the planet for a plethora of fascinating interviews — including Italian microbiologist Donato Giovannelli and Oxford veterinarian Charles Foster, who lives as a wolf to better understand them — the film explores the nature of life at a brisk pace, mixing the massive and the microscopic with the existential and the scientific using the lightest of touches. (The Flaming Lips’ “Do You Realize?” makes for a memorable framing device.) Fascinating and funny, Life and Other Problems delves into the quandaries of existence while offering no single solution.

Synopsis

Chicago icons past and present come together in this inspiring documentary about artistic practice and political activism. As celebrated sculptor Richard Hunt crafts his monument to civil rights icon Ida B. Wells, “The Light of Truth,” the film weaves together Hunt’s story with the captivating history of his subject, Ida B. Wells. In connecting artist and activist through Hunt’s towering 35-foot-high Bronzeville-based sculpture, the film reveals their analogous missions to battle racism and forge new paths for Black Americans.

A moving testament to Hunt, an influential artist, and Wells, notable for her anti-lynching organizing and role in the suffragist movement, The Light of Truth is a monument to public art, the spirit of protest, and two essential Black Chicago pioneers dedicated to freedom and perseverance.

Synopsis

A couple learns that, due to a hospital mix-up years ago, they must welcome their unknown biological son — and bid farewell to the boy they’ve long loved.