The 58th Chicago International Film Festival once again brings you a selection of features, documentaries, and shorts from the Festival program to stream directly to your home!
Availability
Most virtual screenings will be available to stream from October 13 at 12:00pm CT to October 23 at 11:59pm CT.
Feature films will be available only in Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin.
All short film programs are available to stream across the U.S.
Certain films have a shorter watch window. Please check the details on each film page for more information once tickets are available.
Need help with streaming?
Download our How To Stream quick guide. For a more technical walkthrough of ticket purchasing and streaming, please visit our How-To page to get started. We also have a Frequently Asked Questions page.

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Alis
When the residents of a Colombian youth shelter are asked to imagine a fellow adolescent, “Alis” emerges as an avatar for their own experiences in this innovative and moving portrait of youth and resilience.
Art and Pep
A heartfelt tribute to activists Art Johnston and Pepe Peña, whose celebrated gay bar Sidetrack has fueled movements and created community on Chicago’s Halsted Street for decades.
Band
In this off-beat send-up of blind ambition that celebrates female friendship, Iceland’s Post Performance Blues Band give themselves one year to become avant-garde pop stars—or relinquish their dream forever.
Before, Now & Then
(Nana)
Set in 1960s Indonesia, this layered, contemplative drama sees a lonely woman forge a life-saving friendship with her husband’s mistress.
The Big Payback
An inspiring look at rookie Alderman Robin Rue Simmons’ fight to redress the wrongs of “redlining” and the legacy of slavery through a groundbreaking reparations program in Evanston, Illinois.
A Human Position
Searching for meaning in her life and work, a young journalist investigates the deportation of a local asylum seeker in this understated yet profound character-driven drama.
Innocence
With an uneasy beauty and a blistering moral force, filmmaker Guy Davidi chronicles the militarization of Israeli society and its impact on the lives of young people.
The Killing of a Journalist
This exposé of crime and corruption delves into the brutal murder of a reporter, implicating a brazen oligarch connected to the highest echelons of Slovakia’s government.
The Melt Goes On Forever: The Art and Times of David Hammons
A striking portrait of artist David Hammons, who emerged out of L.A.’s Watts Rebellion and whose provocative work was rooted in a deep critique of U.S. society.
My Sailor, My Love
A retired sea captain’s strained relationship with his adult daughter is further tested when he embarks on a new romance with a widowed housekeeper.
No Ordinary Campaign
In this inspiring story of love, hope, and activism, former Obama political director Brian Wallach, who was diagnosed with ALS at age 37, fights alongside his wife to find solutions for the debilitating disease.
Return to Dust
A surprisingly tender bond develops between two social outcasts in this sweeping meditation on the joys and sorrows of life on the margins in rural China.
Rounding
In this deftly directed psychological thriller, a promising young doctor loses his grasp on reality after developing an unhealthy obsession with a patient whose symptoms seem suspect.
Runner
In this visually stunning story of first love, a young woman sets out to bury her father in his rural Illinois hometown and finds connection with a fellow lonely soul.
Shorts 1: Dimensional (City and State)
These shorts reflect the makeup of Chicago in unique visual styles that together form a creative local landscape.
Shorts 2: Expansions (Animation)
This group of animated shorts stirs the imagination and offers heroic stories of rituals.
Shorts 3: Things Aren’t What They Seem (After Dark)
This spine-tingling collection of shorts feels like a fever dream, taking viewers on a harrowing journey of crisis and mischief. Questioning everything becomes a means of survival.
Shorts 4: Traditions (Documentary)
These powerful non-fiction shorts highlight ambitious missions, modern artistry, and regional heritage.
Shorts 5: Moments (Drama)
These five shorts spanning five countries are bursting with precarious circumstances and unexpected happenings.
Shorts 6: Risible (Comedy)
These impressive comedic shorts pack a punch and make it hard to hold in your laughter.
Shorts 7: Sudden Waves (Black Perspectives)
This suite of films revels in themes of memory, grief, and joy.
Shorts 8: Whirlwinds (Experimental)
Radical tools are at play in this daring collection of shorts that take viewers on an experience like no other.
Shorts 9: Outside the Lines (Family Friendly Animation)
This group of fun, energetic, emotional, and beautifully made animated works will capture the imaginations of audiences of all ages.
Somewhere Over the Chemtrails
(Kdyby radši hořelo)
In this incisive social satire, a small Czech town is riled into xenophobic fervor after the locals are persuaded that a car crashing into an Easter celebration is an act of terrorism.
Sweet As
An indigenous teen joins a youth therapy trip into the Western Australian wilderness, discovering photography as a new lens through which to view her world and her dreams.
The Visitors
(Návštěvníci)
A Czech anthropologist discovers her new home on the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard is threatened both by melting glaciers and a newly hardened stance against open border immigration policies.