Tributes and Awards

Mon, Oct 19 at 7:30pm | Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts

Marlon Wayans is a talented actor, comedian, writer, producer, and director. Wayans reunited with brothers Keenen and Shawn Wayans to write and produce the 2026 hit Scary Movie. Currently on the road with his Wild Child Tour, Wayans is a prolific stand-up whose shows have, to date, yielded four specials, including Marlon Wayans: Good Grief, streaming on Amazon Prime Video. Wayans’ recent film credits include HIM, AIR, The Curse of Bridge Hollow, Respect, and On the Rocks. His collaborations as writer, producer, and star with Scary Movie director Michael Tiddes span comedy projects including Sextuplets, Naked, Fifty Shades of Black, A Haunted House and sequel A Haunted House 2. His creative partnerships with director Keenen Ivory Wayans have yielded such hit comedies as White Chicks, 2000’s Scary Movie, and its follow-up Scary Movie 2.

Opening night screening of Club Kid screening and award presentation
Wed, Oct 14 at 6:00pm | Music Box Theatre

Jordan Firstman is one of the most sought-after multihyphenates working today. Most recently, Firstman wrote, directed, starred in, and produced the feature film Club Kid, which premiered at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival. The film sold to A24 in an eight-figure deal and is set for a limited theatrical release on Nov 6, 2026. Firstman also stars opposite Rachel Sennott, Josh Hutcherson, and Odessa A’zion in HBO’s hit comedy series I Love LA, which is currently in production on its second season. Firstman previously earned critical acclaim for his performance in comedy series English Teacher, along with Sebastián Silva’s Rotting in the Sun, which premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival.

The Watermelon Woman screening and award presentation, in conversation with Stephen Winter
Fri, Oct 16 at 7:00pm | Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts

Cheryl Dunye is a Liberian American filmmaker, director, writer, and producer based in Oakland, California, whose work explores Black queer identity, history, and cultural memory. Dunye emerged as part of the “queer new wave” of young filmmakers in the 1990s and has made more than 15 films, including Mommy Is Coming, The Owls, My Baby’s Daddy, and HBO’s Stranger Inside, for which she was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for best director. Her landmark 1996 feature, The Watermelon Woman, received the Teddy Award at the Berlin International Film Festival. Dunye has directed episodes for major television series including Queen Sugar, Dear White People, Bridgerton, Lovecraft Country, and most recently, The Hunting Wives. In 2018, she launched her Oakland-based production company called Jingletown Films, developing projects that center underrepresented voices and stories. The company is actively developing the feature-length version of her 2014 award-winning short, Black Is Blue.

Liz Here Now screening and award presentation
Sat, Oct 24 at 8:15pm | AMC NEWCITY 14

Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, who last appeared at the Chicago International Film Festival with 2021’s Closing Night presentation of King Richard, will receive the Festival’s Tour de Force Award at a World Premiere Special Presentation of Sterling Macer, Jr.’s Liz Here Now, where she mesmerizes with a commanding, powerhouse performance as a devoted caregiver shielding two white children from domestic dysfunction in the 1960s. Ellis-Taylor has starred in previous Festival Special Presentations including in 2024’s Centerpiece RaMell Ross’s Nickel Boys, and Titus Kaphar’s absorbing Exhibiting Forgiveness that same year. Her early work with performances in The Book of Negroes, The Help, Ray, and If Beale Street Could Talk demonstrated her remarkable ability to move effortlessly between intimate character drama and stories of profound historical significance.

The Man I Love screening and award presentation
Tue, Oct 20 at 5:30pm | AMC NEWCITY 14

Ira Sachs is a NYC-based filmmaker whose feature films include The Man I Love, Peter Hujar’s Day, Passages, Frankie, Little Men, Love is Strange, Keep the Lights On, and Forty Shades of Blue. A Rockefeller, Guggenheim, MacDowell, and Yaddo Fellow, Sachs has produced work that is held in the permanent collections of New York’s Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney. He is also the Founding Director of Queer|Art, an arts organization built to support mentorship for LGBTQ+ artists and born out of the recognition of a generation of artists and audiences lost to the AIDS crisis.

Centerpiece screening of Mouse and award presentation
Wed, Oct 21 at 6:00pm | Music Box Theatre

Sophie Okonedo is an Oscar- and Emmy-nominated and Tony Award-winning stage and screen actress. In Fall 2026, she stars in two extraordinary films: IFC’s coming-of-age drama Mouse, in theaters Nov 6; and Neon’s Clarissa, a modern reimagining of Mrs. Dalloway set in contemporary Lagos, in theaters December 11. Her filmography includes her breakthrough, Oscar- and SAG Award-nominated performance in Hotel Rwanda, her Emmy-nominated performance in Ratched, her Golden Globe-nominated and NAACP Image Award-winning performance in Tsunami: The Aftermath, plus The Secret Life of Bees, Skin, Dirty Pretty Things, Mrs. Mandela, and Janet Planet, among many others. Her stage credits include Olivier-nominated performances in Medea and Antony and Cleopatra, and her Tony-winning Broadway debut in A Raisin in the Sun and Tony-nominated work in The Crucible. She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2010 and Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2019 for services to drama.

A Long Winter screening and award presentation
Wed, Oct 21 at 7:30pm | AMC NEWCITY 14

Andrew Haigh is an award-winning writer-director whose critically acclaimed film All of Us Strangers received six BAFTA nominations, including Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay for  Haigh. All of Us Strangers was also the recipient of four Gotham and three Independent Spirit Awards nominations. The L.A. Film Critics Association awarded Haigh with its Best Screenplay honor for the film. Haigh’s previous features include 2017’s Lean on Pete; 2015’s 45 Years, for which Charlotte Rampling earned an Academy Award nomination; and 2011’s breakout hit Weekend. For television, Haigh served as an executive producer as well as the lead writer-director on HBO series Looking, starring Jonathan Groff and Murray Bartlett. He also directed all five episodes of the 2012 limited series The North Water starring Colin Farrell and Jack O’Connell. Haigh is currently adapting to direct the Walter Isaacson book Leonardo Da Vinci for Universal.

The Liberation screening and award presentation
Fri, Oct 23 at 6:00pm | Music Box Theatre

A four-time Emmy Award nominee, Carrie Coon is known for roles across film, television, and theater. Her recent credits include the HBO series The Gilded Age and season four of The White Lotus, and earlier this year, she received her second Tony Award nomination for her starring role on Broadway in BUG. Previously, she had led the Steppenwolf Theatre Company production of the play, which was written by Coon’s husband and creative collaborator, Tracy Letts. Coon’s film credits include His Three Daughters, Boston Strangler, Ghostbusters: Afterlife; Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire; Another Happy Day, which she executive produced; Widows; Steven Spielberg’s The Post; and David Fincher’s Gone Girl, among others. On television, she has starred in The Sinner, HBO’s The Leftovers and FX’s anthology series Fargo. Coon’s breakthrough came in 2011 on the Steppenwolf stage, when she starred as Honey in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Transferring to Broadway, the production won the 2013 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play and earned Coon a Tony nomination for her Broadway debut. She has since starred in Steppenwolf productions including The March, Three Sisters, and Mary Page Marlowe, and was named an ensemble member in 2019.