Film Venues Archives: Gene Siskel Film Center

< Back to main Festival page

A red-headed child and an old man with a beard stare each other down over a chessboard set out on a kitchen table.

Solitude Tilverur

  Ninna Pálmadóttir

  Iceland, Slovakia     75 minutes

Synopsis

Forced off of his cherished farm and lifelong home in the remote reaches of rural Iceland, Gunnar arrives in the bustling heart of the city. Adrift in this unfamiliar urban landscape and lacking the social skills to connect, his days are spent in quiet observation of the city’s people and its myriad spaces. Then he’s confronted by an endlessly inquisitive neighborhood paperboy, Ari, who insinuates himself into Gunnar’s life. Together, these two misfits forge a unique cross-generational bond that confounds everyone around them.

Palmadóttir’s gentle and moving debut is a potent tale about the transformative power of friendship and the profound impact of the connections we forge, regardless of age or stage in life. Protests advocating for a refugee denied asylum form a pivotal backdrop to Gunnar’s journey, offering a stark reminder of the world’s complex and often unjust realities and the need for genuine kindness.

 Icelandic with subtitles 

Screenings & Events

Media

Film Credits

  •   Lilja Osk Snorradottir, Hlin Johannesdottir, Elli Cassata, Rúnar Rúnarsson
  •   Rúnar Rúnarsson
  •   Ivor Sonje
  •   Dusan Husar
  •   Throstur Leo Gunnarsson, Hermann Samuelsson, Anna Gunndis Gudmundsdottir, Hjortur Johann Jonsson, Joel Saemundsson
  •   Pegasus Pictures, nutprodukcia, Jour2Fête, Halibut
  •   https://www.thepartysales.com/movie/solitude/

Sponsors

New Directors Program Sponsors

Robert and Penelope Steiner Family Foundation

< Back to main Festival page

Three women stand on the front steps of a grand building, looking at each other conspiratorially.

The Crime is Mine Mon crime

  François Ozon

  France     102 minutes

Synopsis

In 1930s Paris, best friends Madeleine and Pauline — a penniless actress and an unemployed lawyer — struggle to pay their rent. It doesn’t help when, after an audition gone awry, Madeleine is accused of murdering a famous producer. Despite her innocence, Madeleine decides to plead guilty, as the friends spy an opportunity to step into the spotlight at the trial and put on the performance of a lifetime. After testifying that she did indeed kill the producer after he made unwanted advances, Madeleine is acquitted — to the court’s, and the public’s, surprise.

But Madeline and Pauline’s newfound fame and success is tenuous as long as the truth remains a secret, and an eccentric stranger (Isabelle Huppert) will arrive to upend their new lives. A quippy and hilarious caper, François Ozon’s The Crime is Mine is a clever nod to the #MeToo movement that takes a farcical stab at the courtroom drama genre.

 French with subtitles 

Screenings & Events

Media

Film Credits

  •   Éric Altmayer, Nicolas Altmayer
  •   François Ozon, Philippe Piazzo
  •   Laure Gardette
  •   Manu Dacosse
  •   Nadia Tereszkiewicz, Rebecca Marder, Isabelle Huppert
  •   Philippe Rombi
  •   Mandarin & Compagnie, FOZ

Sponsors

Comedy Program Sponsor

Logo: The Second City 329x75

< Back to main Festival page

Three children sit in the backseat of a car, their parents in the front seat in the foreground.

The Burdened

  Amr Gamal

  Yemen, Sudan, Saudi Arabia     90 minutes

Synopsis

Aden, Southern Yemen. Married couple Isra’a and Ahmed are in trouble. Already struggling to make ends meet for their three young children, the beleaguered parents receive some unsettling news: Isra’a is pregnant. Forced to make a difficult decision in the best interest of their family, the two decide to procure an abortion.

The Burdened patiently tracks the couple’s odyssey as they navigate the hostile bureaucracy of their conservative, wartorn surroundings. Expertly composed long takes and magnetic lead performances lend a realism to the narrative, as Isra’a and Ahmed traverse the city to bribe doctors, falsify medical records, and do everything they can to keep their family together. Based on true events, the film is a timely examination of life in modern day Yemen and a passionate rendering of one family’s fight to survive.

 Arabic with subtitles 

Screenings & Events

Media

Film Credits

  •   Mohsen Alkhalifi, Amr Gamal
  •   Mazen Refaat, Amr Gamal
  •   Mrinal Desai
  •   Khaled Hamdan, Abeer Mohammed, Samah Alamrani, Awsam Abdulrahman
  •   Adenium Productions
  •   https://filmsboutique.com/film/the-burdened/

Sponsors

New Directors Program Sponsor

Robert and Penelope Steiner Family Foundation

< Back to main Festival page

A man and woman sit beside eachother in front of a fireplace. The man looks pleased and relaxed, the woman is upset.

The Bride

  Myriam U. Birara

  Rwanda     73 minutes

Synopsis

Eva, a young Rwandan woman, dreams of attending medical school. But her aspirations are interrupted when she is kidnapped by a group of men as a part of the Guterura rite of enforced marriage. Abandoned by her family, she struggles to cope with the grim reality of her new life  with her new husband Silas and his cousin. While Silas is away working, the two young women form a tender connection as they spend their days doing household chores, beading, making tea, and swapping family histories and memories of the genocide. Despite this newfound ally, Eva contemplates running away to a life of freedom.

Rendered with a quiet naturalism and brimming with humanity, The Bride is both a profound portrait of friendship amid dire circumstances and a calm contemplation of the ghosts of Rwanda’s past.

 Kinyarwanda with subtitles 

Content Considerations
Sexual violence
Learn about Festival content considerations...

Screenings & Events

Media

Film Credits

  •   Kivu Ruhorahoza, Myriam U. Birara
  •   Myriam U. Birara
  •   Bora Shingiro
  •   Sandra Umulisa, Aline Amike, Daniel Gaga
  •   Urugori Films

Sponsors

Black Perspectives Program Sponsors

logo: Allstate 199x50

New Directors Program Sponsors

Robert and Penelope Steiner Family Foundation

< Back to main Festival page

A very disheveled pregnant woman sits on a rock by a waterfall, looking at the shirtless man lounging next to her.

Sweet Dreams

  Ena Sendijarević

  The Netherlands, Sweden, Indonesia     102 minutes

Synopsis

Indonesia, 1900. In the waning days of the colonial era, Dutch sugar plantation owners Jan and Agathe lord over an estate simmering with imminent rebellion. When Jan suddenly drops dead, Agathe forces their son and his pregnant wife to travel from the Netherlands to take over the family business. But when she discovers that Jan has left the estate to his Indonesian concubine Siti and their young son, both sides of the estate will go to extremes in order to survive.

Featuring scathingly sharp performances and set against a lush visual landscape with indelible metaphoric images, Sweet Dreams is an incisive and surreal satire that marvels at the absurdity of the colonial nightmare.

 Dutch, Indonesian with subtitles 

Screenings & Events

Media

Film Credits

  •   Erik Glijnis, Leontine Petit; co-produced by: Erik Hemmendorff, Kristina Börjeson, Martien Vlietman, Mandy Marahimin
  •   Ena Sendijarević
  •   Lot Rossmark
  •   Emo Weemhoff
  •   Renée Soutendijk, Hayati Azis, Lisa Zweerman, Florian Myjer, Muhammad Khan, Hans Dagelet, Rio den Haas
  •   Martial Foe
  •   Judy Tossel, Laurent Médéa, Ena Sendijarević
  •   Lemming Film, Plattform Produktion, VPRO, Film ï Vast, Tala Media

Sponsors

New Directors Program Sponsors

Robert and Penelope Steiner Family Foundation