First look at films screening at our 62nd Festival

The 62nd Chicago International Film Festival is almost here! We’re excited to announce a first look at films playing in our Special Presentation and Spotlight programs, including:

Cannes standouts Paper Tiger, James Gray’s deeply felt and intense crime drama starring Adam Driver, Miles Teller, and Scarlett Johansson in a story of two brothers who become entangled in a scheme that turns out to be too good to be true, and Best Director winner Fatherland by Oscar-winner Paweł Pawlikowski, centering on the relationship between writer Thomas Mann and his daughter Erika (Sandra Hüller) during a road trip across Cold War Germany.

In the entrance of a warmly-lit 1980's home a suited man takes the hand of a woman with curly blonde hair, there is a second man standing in the doorway dressed casually in a collared shirt, behind the man and woman are two young boys standing on a staircase.

Paper Tiger | dir. James Gray

Black-and-white, a woman and older man sit side-by-side at a table, while a uniformed official watches behind them.

Fatherland | dir. Paweł Pawlikowski

The newest films from two master auteurs, Festival favorite Martin McDonagh’s latest Wild Horse Nine, which follows CIA agents Chris (John Malkovich) and Lee (Sam Rockwell) as they set out from Santiago to Easter Island amid the mounting tensions of the 1973 Chilean coup, and Bitter Christmas, iconic Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar’s latest film which chronicles a filmmaker working to turn an ad exec’s turbulent Christmas weekend into a screenplay.

Two men sit on an airport bench in vintage clothing. One man has mutton chops and suspenders, the other a cowboy hat and a thick mustache. Behind them a plane is visible through the window, they lean in laughing together.

Wild Horse Nine | dir. Martin McDonagh

A gray-haired man with glasses in yellow sits with his laptop at a desk in a vibrant home office, surrounded by colorful books and trinkets.

Bitter Christmas | dir. Pedro Almodóvar

Tim Blake Nelson is set to attend and present his latest film The Life and Deaths of Wilson Shedd, which follows a teacher (Amanda Seyfried) in an abusive relationship who takes a job at a maximum security prison, where she falls for a charismatic inmate.

A woman with long blonde hair in a blue shirt tensely sits in a prison cafeteria opposite a male inmate in a orange jumpsuit during visitng hours.

The Life and Deaths of Wilson Shedd | dir. Tim Blake Nelson

Chicagoans and their stories are also well represented in this year’s program. Comedian and actor, Chicago’s own Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul, Mr. Show With Bob and David) will appear at a screening of director Michael LaHaie’s touching and hilarious documentary Bob and David Climb Machu Picchu, as he and David Cross face the challenge of climbing one of the most famous mountains on Earth, reflecting on their 30 years of friendship along the way.

The Festival’s popular City and State program, highlighting films with deep ties to Illinois and Chicago, will present the world premiere of director Frankie Nasso’s Ever After. Michelin-starred Chef Curtis Duffy launches a new world-class restaurant during a pandemic in the relentless pursuit of culinary perfection amid a personal reckoning.

Bob Odenkirk and David Cross stand in front of a vast mountain range at sunset, smiling and wearing hiking gear and knit hats.

Bob and David Climb Machu Picchu | dir. Michael LaHaie

A man wears a chef coat and sharpens a knife while lit from the back in a dark moody setting.

Ever After | dir. Frankie Nasso

The full slate of films and programs presented at the 62nd Chicago International Film Festival will be announced on September 17, 2026.

Passes are on sale now. Tickets go on sale to the general public September 24, with Cinema/Chicago members’ pre-sale tickets going on sale September 18. Become a member today to access the exclusive pre-sale.

Tickets on sale now!