Kore-eda Hirokazu Tribute and Retrospective
The Chicago International Film Festival has enjoyed a longstanding relationship with the masterful Kore-eda Hirokazu dating to his debut feature Maborosi, which won the Gold Hugo for Best Film in 1995. Since then, the Festival has presented much of Kore-eda’s work, with his films playing to great critical acclaim and garnering favor with our audiences—his most recent Festival title, 2023’s Monster, won the Gold Q-Hugo in our OutLook Competition. We are excited to welcome and pay tribute to Kore-eda, a true icon on the world cinema stage, a creative force whose prolific output has sensitively explored universal themes of family, memory, loss, and joy with unparalleled artistry and keen insight. The tribute and retrospective is co-presented with the Japan Foundation, New York.
Tribute to Kore-eda Hirokazu
Nobody Knows screening and Career Achievement Award presentation
Friday, October 18 at 7:30pm | Gene Siskel Film Center
Born in 1962 in Tokyo, Japan, Kore-eda Hirokazu graduated from Waseda University and joined TV Man Union, where he directed several prize-winning documentary programs. In 1995, he made his feature directorial debut with Maborosi, which became a festival favorite, winning the 52nd Venice International Film Festival’s Golden Osella and the Chicago International Film Festival’s Gold Hugo.
More international acclaim followed for such films as After Life (1998), which was released in more than 30 countries. Distance (2001) screened in competition at the Cannes Film Festival, while his fourth feature, Nobody Knows (2004), garnered much attention for Yagira Yuya, the youngest person to ever receive Cannes’ Best Actor Award. Like Father, Like Son (2013) won the Jury Prize at Cannes. Then, in 2018, Kore-eda won Cannes’ highest award, the Palme d’Or, with his film Shoplifters, which was also nominated for the 91st Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
His first feature shot outside Japan, The Truth with Catherine Deneuve and Juliette Binoche, served as the opening film in competition at the 76th Venice International Film Festival. In 2022, his first Korean film, Broker, won the Ecumenical Jury Prize and a Best Actor award for Song Kang-ho — the first such award for a Korean actor — at Cannes. In 2023, his latest feature, Monster, won the Queer Palme and writer Yuji Sakamoto the Best Screenplay Award at Cannes.
The Festival is honored to pay tribute to this visionary talent with the Career Achievement Award
Retrospective Screenings
Director Kore-eda is scheduled to attend every screening.
After Life (1998)
Wandâfuru raifu
A cast of characters waiting in limbo must decide which memory they want to preserve before moving on in this fantastical and poignant drama. 119 min.
Screening
Thurs, Oct 17 @ 5:30pm
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After the Storm (2016)
Umi yori mo mada fukaku
A deadbeat dad is trapped with his family waiting out a typhoon. There, the fractured clan reckons with their past as they look to an uncertain future. 118 min.
Screening
Fri, Oct 18 @ 2:00pm
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Nobody Knows (2004)
Daremo shiranai
When their mother disappears, a young boy and his three siblings must figure out how to get by on their own in this at once heartfelt and heartbreaking drama. 141 min. Shown on 35mm with Tribute
Screening
Fri, Oct 18 @ 7:30pm
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Like Father, Like Son (2013)
Soshite chichi ni naru
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. 121 min.
Screening
Sat, Oct 19 @ 11:30am
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Shoplifters (2018)
Manbiki kazoku
A tight-knit unit of petty thieves and outsiders comes together to shelter an abandoned child, but an unforeseen incident threatens to tear apart their newfound family. 121 min.
Screening
Sat, Oct 19 @ 2:45pm
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Broker (2022)
An overwhelmed new mother partners with two baby traffickers to find the perfect well-paying parents for her infant in this heartbreaking human story. 130 min.
Screening
Sun, Oct 20 @ 1:45pm
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Co-presented with
With support from
Friday, April 21
Screening
Closing Night: Chicagoland (encore)
The exhilarating work of Chicago’s next generation of filmmakers is showcased in this eclectic collection that celebrates the vast array of creative expressions emerging from our city.* With open captioned films and a live captioner.
212 W Van Buren St., Suite 400
