Film Countries Archives: United Kingdom

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Perfect 10

  Eva Riley

  United Kingdom      2019    

Synopsis

Troubled at home and bullied at school, 15-year-old Leigh is struggling to focus on her upcoming gymnastics competition. When Joe, her previously unknown half-brother, shows up at the front door in need of a place to stay, she finds a much-longed-for sense of connection and belonging. As the two form a friendship, Leigh finds herself drawn into Joe’s dangerous world.


  83 minutes

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CineYouth Program

Odd, Very Odd

  Ireland, United Kingdom, United States     5 shorts | 45 minutes

Synopsis

Expect the unexpected in these colorful, wildly offbeat shorts. In this utterly unique showcase, a cast of eccentric characters (both on camera and behind it) will dash every expectation of tone, performance, and good taste– and you’ll be all the better for it.

Please note: Films in this program contain themes, images, and language that may not be suitable for all ages.

Films

A young man and an older woman sit on the shore of a river beside a picnic basket.

Picnic in the Clouds

Malik Clyde Terrab | New Hampshire | Ages 20

After decades of marriage, Connie is ready to be rid of her husband George. She plans a special anniversary picnic accordingly.

A bearded man in a gray suit stands ominously behind a couch.

The Pilot

Max Hendrickson & Gerry Sweeney | Ireland | Age 18

A man enters a vaguely familiar sitcom apartment… with extremely unfamiliar results.

A man in old-timey clothes stands with a cardboard box in his hands under the awning of a house.

A Little Strange

Joanna Song | California | Age 20

Increasingly unsettling changes disrupt Ernest’s idyllic, repetitive life.

Old pictures and a ballet trophy sit on the shelf of a dance studio.

Academy

| United Kingdom | Age 20

A disgraced dancer returns to her former academy to set the record straight…and settle a score.

A young woman watches an opulently-dressed elderly woman from afar in the reflection of a mirror.

The Hive Wedding

Sam Kerns | Chicago | Age 22

Socialite Mizzy summons a host of eccentric friends and strangers to her family’s dilapidated nightclub for her wedding.

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CineYouth Program

Time and Texture: Experimental

  Hong Kong, Kyrgyzstan, United Kingdom, United States     7 shorts | 61 minutes

Synopsis

Some rules are made to be broken. Singular and diverse experiences of identity, sensation, isolation, and time are translated into stunning images and sound. The resulting seven films play like something of a dream, capturing the feeling of being alive as only cinema can.

Please note: Films in this program contain themes, images, and language that may not be suitable for all ages.

Films

Figures dressed in black wear masks made with brown paper bags and marker. One with a frightening, smiling face is centered.

Scared

Children Laboratory ATOM | Kyrgyzstan | Ages 10-14

A group of young people share their deepest fears using paper dolls and masks.

A hazy, black-and-white still shows a remote road lined by foliage disappearing into fog.

From the Void of Time

Lok Yiu Wong | Hong Kong | Age 21

Two jailed men conjure hazy, summery renderings of time and memory.

In an apartment living room, a man kicks his feet up and plays with a cat on the couch.

After Love

Chris Derek Van | Chicago | Age 19

In city apartments, an 18-year old and a middle-aged man form an intimate bond amid shared isolation.

Centered in a grayscale still of trees by residential buildings, the flag of the United Kingdom stands out in full color.

The Shadow Puppet

Macsen Russel | United Kingdom | Age 21

A static, black and white window into the interior world of a man who believes himself to be a murderer.

A crossfade centers a hand squeezing a jacket pocket within the lens of a camera.

Diegesis

Zahni D’Angelo Gulbronson | Chicago | Age 19

Aimless on an empty beach, a wandering man tends to the bird in his pocket.

Viewed from behind, a student sits at a classroom desk in front of a blackboard and presses on her headphones.

Misophonia

Caitlin Lenz | Iowa | Age 20

A multimedia representation of the daily overwhelm of living with a sensory-processing disorder.

A person falls through space, superimposed beween a pair of black-and-white eyes. Subtitles read "Look at me" and "Mirenme."

build me through the image (constrúyanme a través de la imagen)

Paula Hung | New York | Age 20

Mutliracial identity, queerness, and the construction of both are explored through archival footage and family artifacts.

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A pale woman in a yellow dress looks over her shoulder, her black hair cascading down her back. A man stands behind her.

Poor Things

  Yorgos Lanthimos

  United States, United Kingdom, Ireland     141 minutes

Synopsis

From filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos and producer Emma Stone comes the incredible tale and fantastical evolution of Bella Baxter (Stone), a young woman brought back to life by the brilliant and unorthodox scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe). Under Baxter’s protection, Bella is eager to learn. Hungry for the worldliness she is lacking, Bella runs off with Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo), a slick and debauched lawyer, on a whirlwind adventure across the continents. Free from the prejudices of her times, Bella grows steadfast in her purpose to stand for equality and liberation.

headshot: Holly WaddingtonTribute to Holly Waddington

This screening includes an in-person tribute to costume designer Holly Waddington and presentation of the Chicago International Film Festival’s Tour de Force Award.

Learn more about Festival Tributes

Screenings & Events

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Film Credits

  •   Ed Guiney p.g.a., Andrew Lowe p.g.a., Yorgos Lanthimos p.g.a., Emma Stone p.g.a.
  •   Tony McNamara
  •   Yorgos Mavropsaridis, ACE
  •   Robbie Ryan, BSC, ISC
  •   Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe, Ramy Youssef, Christopher Abbot, Suzy Bemba, Jerrod Charmichael, Kathryn Hunter, Vicki Pepperdine, Margaret Qualley, Hanna Schygulla
  •   Jerskin Fendrix
  •   Element Pictures

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An older man with white hair leans back in his armchair. The room is blue, and on the table before him is 6 eggs.

The Pigeon Tunnel

  Errol Morris

  United Kingdom     94 minutes

Synopsis

Academy Award-winning documentarian Errol Morris (The Thin Blue LineThe Fog of War) pulls back the curtain on the storied life and career of former British spy David Cornwell — better known as John le Carré, author of such classic espionage novels as The Spy Who Came in from the ColdTinker Tailor Soldier Spy and The Constant Gardener. Set against the turbulent backdrop of the Cold War leading into present day, the film spans six decades as le Carré delivers his final and most candid interview, addressing, among others, the pivotal role of his con-man father. Punctuated with rare archival footage and dramatized vignettes, The Pigeon Tunnel is a deeply human and engaging exploration of le Carré’s extraordinary journey and the paper-thin membrane between fact and fiction.

 English 

Screenings & Events

Film Credits

  •   Errol Morris, Dominic Crossley-Holland, Steven Hathaway, Simon Cornwell, Stephen Cornwell
  •   Errol Morris
  •   Steven Hathaway
  •   Igor Martinovic
  •   David Cornwell
  •   Philip Glass, Paul Leonard-Morgan
  •   Hossein Amini, P.J. Van Sandwijk, Michael Lesslie, Arthur Wang, Joe Tsai, Michele Wolkoff, Katherine Butler
  •   Ink Factory Films, Fourth Forth Floor, Jago Films, Storyteller Productions, 127 Wall