Tributes Announced Including Carey Mulligan in Centerpiece Film Wildlife

Plus Tributes to William Friedkin, Ruth Carter, Art Paul, and Colleen Moore.

The 54th Chicago International Film Festival, presented by Cinema/Chicago, today announced Tributes to actress Carey Mulligan in conjunction with this year’s  Centerpiece film Wildlife, and costume designer Ruth Carter as part of the Festival’s annual Black Perspectives Program. Additionally, acclaimed director and Chicago native William Friedkin will be honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at a special tribute event during the Festival, including the North American premiere of the new documentary Friedkin Uncut.

The Festival will also celebrate posthumously two artists special to Chicago, graphic designer Art Paul in conjunction with a screening of Jennifer Kwong’s Art Paul of Playboy: The Man Behind the Bunny, and actress and Chicago International Film Festival co-founder Colleen Moore, with a screening of The Power and the Glory (1933). The tributes will take place over the course of the Festival’s 12-day run at AMC River East 21 (322 E. Illinois St.) in Chicago, October 10-21, 2018.

British actress Carey Mulligan is one of the paramount talents of her generation. Nominated for an Oscar®, a Golden Globe, and a SAG award for her radiant portrayal of the innocent teenage Jenny in An Education, Mulligan has delivered captivating performances across stage and screen, including Shame, The Great Gatsby, Inside Llewyn Davis, Mudbound, and this year’s Festival selection, Wildlife. Mulligan’s tribute will take place alongside the screening of Wildlife, this year’s Centerpiece film, on Tuesday, October 16 at 6 p.m. She will be awarded an Artistic Achievement Award.

In Wildlife, actor Paul Dano’s directorial debut, Mulligan delivers perhaps her finest performance as Jeanette, a complex woman whose reaction to husband Jerry’s (Jake Gyllenhaal) crisis of confidence disrupts the values and expectations of a 1960s nuclear family. Elegantly adapted from Richard Ford’s novel, Wildlife commits to the viewpoint of their teenage son observing the gradual dissolution of his parents’ marriage.

Oscar®-nominated costume designer Ruth Carter will be honored with a Career Achievement Award during the annual Black Perspectives Tribute on Saturday, October 20 at 6 p.m. Carter has created some of cinema’s most memorable costumes over the last three decades. She has displayed tremendous range with her playful and provocative work on Spike Lee’s School Daze and Do the Right Thing, her authentic period costumes for Steven Spielberg’s Amistad and Ava DuVernay’s Selma, and her recent Afrofuturist designs for the Marvel blockbuster Black Panther. Showcasing her remarkable skill and talent, Carter has consistently demonstrated a powerful understanding of the relationship between wardrobe and character.

From his groundbreaking 1960 Chicago documentary The People vs. Paul Crump, to his timeless masterpieces The French Connection and The Exorcist, William Friedkin, who grew up in Chicago, has distinguished himself as one of the most fearless and exceptional American filmmakers. The Exorcist, the highly successful horror film, received ten Academy Award® nominations including Best Director and Best Picture. Prior to that, The French Connection earned Friedkin the Director’s Guild of America Award and the Academy Award® for Best Director; the film also received Best Actor, Best Editing, Best Screenplay and Best Picture awards. Through the decades, Friedkin has demonstrated excellence in directing productions that include fiery action films, indie dramas, operas and gripping television.

In addition to the new documentary Friedkin Uncut, Friedkin will also present one of his favorite films, Vincente Minnelli’s classic MGM musical The Band Wagon starring Fred Astaire on Sunday, October 14 at 4 p.m.

Legendary Chicago graphic artist Art Paul, who died earlier this year, is credited with designing the iconic bunny logo for Playboy and hiring many of its greatest illustrators, effectively curating the magazine’s aesthetic and legacy. Following his thirty-year stint with Playboy, Paul continued to work as an influential and prolific artist, including numerous posters for the Chicago International Film Festival. The award-winning designer will be celebrated Sunday, October 14 at 7 p.m. with a screening and discussion around Jennifer Hou Kwong’s new documentary on his life, Art Paul of Playboy: The Man Behind the Bunny.

Colleen Moore (1899-1988) was not only one of the great comediennes of the silent screen era but also a co-founder of the Chicago International Film Festival. Known for her signature bobbed haircut, she starred in dozens of films from the teens into the 1930s. The Festival will be presenting clips from her early classics leading up to one of her rare sound films, The Power and the Glory. Her grandson Billy Hargrave will join Festival co-founder and CEO Michael Kutza in a conversation on Sunday, October 21 at 2:15 p.m., for this celebration of a Chicago legend and an early cinema icon.

Additional Support for Centerpiece provided by Chloe Wine Collection and Little Goat.