The Chicago International Film Festival celebrates the best that cinema has to offer. Showcasing films from established masters and emerging storytellers, the Festival welcomes films from around the world. Offering an impressive selection of competitive and non-competitive programming, the Chicago International Film Festival brings films both domestic and international to silver screens in Chicago.
As one of the main cultural importers of world cinema to the Midwest, the Chicago International Film Festival is a place for audiences and filmmakers to engage with one another. The Festival features a host of screenings, panels, educational events, and Q&A’s that foster cultural understanding and artistic engagement.
In 2019, the 55th Chicago International Film Festival presented over 120 feature films and 57 short subject films from 65 countries. The Festival welcomed films from over 30 new directors to Chicago this year, exemplifying the spirit of discovery that has long been its calling card.
COMPETITIVE SECTIONS
The Chicago International Film Festival is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. Films programmed in these competitions are eligible for awards across a variety of categories.
International Feature Film Competition
This program of striking and masterfully crafted films from around the world showcases the best in cinema today. Telling essential, transportive stories, these titles compete for the Festival’s top prize, as well as awards for best director, best actor, and more.
New Directors Competition
Screening for the first time in the U.S., these bold works from first- and second-time feature filmmakers are selected to represent the most exciting new voices in cinema. Prizes awarded in the category include the Gold and Silver Hugo as well as the Roger Ebert Award.
Documentary Competition
From the topical and timeless to the political and proactive, these real-life stories bring you up close and personal with the people and issues that define who we are, where we come from, and where we’re going. Documentary Competition titles, making their U.S. premieres in Chicago, compete for the Festival’s top nonfiction prize.
Short Film Competitions
Annually showcasing the best short films from around the globe, these competitions highlight the work of both upcoming artists and masters of the short subject form. Programmed films are eligible for awards in the following categories: Animation, Documentary, and Live Action. The top winners in the Live Action and Documentary Short Film Competitions qualify for consideration at the Academy Awards®.
City & State
This program celebrates Illinois’ rich filmmaking tradition, showcasing the best features, documentaries, and short films with their roots right here in our state. Films in this section compete for the Chicago Award, given to the year’s best Illinois-made film.
NON-COMPETITIVE SECTIONS
The Chicago International Film Festival screens a wide range of films out of competition every year. All non-competition films at the Festival are programmed under one of the following categories.
After Dark
From blood-splattering gore to suspenseful sci-fi to the outrageously wild, weird, and wicked, this program of boundary-pushing horror and fringe films from around the world will blow your mind and keep you up late.
Black Perspectives
Now in its 24th year, this program showcases films that celebrate the richness of African American filmmaking and the diversity of black cultures around the world and the filmmakers behind them.
Cinemas of the Americas
Showcasing fresh and vibrant work from emerging and veteran filmmakers from South and Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean, this program reflects the diversity, dynamism, and artistry of films from around the region
Global Currents
Grab your passport and journey around the globe with these films from Asia to Europe to South America and beyond. With an intimate view of these cultures and their stories, this program highlights contemporary cinema of all genres, with unique insights that transcend difference and remind us of the shared human experience.
Out-Look
Gender is as fluid as the types of films that address LGBTQ+ themes. From hard-hitting dramas to lesbian romances to documentaries about cultural icons, these films reflect superbly crafted perspectives on sexuality and identity from around the globe.