Chicago International Film Festival
Film festival in Chicago, Illinois, US
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964 by filmmaker and graphic artist Michael Kutza, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America.
| |
| Location | 212 W Van Buren St., Suite 400, Chicago, Illinois, United States |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1965 |
| Most recent | 60th Chicago International Film Festival |
| Hosted by | Cinema/Chicago |
| Language | International |
| Website | chicagofilmfestival |
The Festival has a rich history of discovering and showcasing ground-breaking directors including Martin Scorsese, John Carpenter, Ava DuVernay, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Wim Wenders, and more.
In 2025, the Festival featured 150+ films from more than 50 countries over 12 days. Each year, the Festival welcomes more than 40,000 filmmakers and film lovers for 12 days of international and independent cinema.
Festival programming includes the International Competition, New Directors Competition, Documentary, Black Perspectives, After Dark, City & State, Shorts, and more. It is also an Academy Awards qualifying Festival in the categories of Best Live Action Short, Best Documentary Short, and Best Animated Short.
The Festival’s main venue is AMC NEWCITY 14. The Festival also hosts screenings across Chicago, including at Music Box Theatre, the Chicago History Museum, Gene Siskel Film Center, the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, Kennedy-King College, and the National Museum of Mexican Art.
Black Perspectives Program
The Chicago International Film Festival’s Black Perspectives Program was founded in 1997 in collaboration with Spike Lee to highlight the excellence and diversity of African American cinema and films by the African diaspora from around the world. In addition to showcasing the work of emerging filmmakers, the program also features an annual tribute, with past honorees that include Viola Davis, Sidney Poitier, Halle Berry, Morgan Freeman, Steve McQueen, and more.
Awards
Winners are awarded Hugo Awards in eight different competition categories.[1]
- International Feature Film Competition
- Gold Hugo
- Silver Hugo: Jury Prize
- Silver Hugo: Best Director
- Silver Hugo: Best Actor (until 2019)
- Silver Hugo: Best Actress (until 2019)
- Silver Hugo: Best Performance (from 2020)
- Silver Hugo: Best Ensemble Performance
- Silver Hugo: Best Cinematography
- Silver Hugo: Best Screenplay
- Silver Hugo: Best Sound
- Silver Hugo: Best Art Direction
- New Directors Competition
- Gold Hugo
- Silver Hugo
- Roger Ebert Award
- International Documentary Competition
- Gold Hugo
- Silver Hugo
- Out-Look Competition
- Gold Q-Hugo
- Silver Hugo
- City & State Competition
- Chicago Award
- Live Action Short Film Competition
- Gold Hugo
- Silver Hugo
- Documentary Short Film Competition
- Gold Hugo
- Silver Hugo
- Animated Short Film Competition
- Gold Hugo
- Silver Hugo
Gold Hugo
Silver Hugo
Jury Award
- 2025 – The Voice of Hind Rajab, dir. Kaouther Ben Hania (Tunisia, France)
- 2024 – All We Imagine as Light, dir. Payal Kapadia (India)
- 2023 – The Delinquents, dir. Rodrigo Moreno (Argentina)
- 2022 – Close, dir. Lukas Dhont (Belgium)
- 2021 – Drive My Car, dir. Ryusuke Hamaguchi (Japan)
- 2020 – Careless Crime, dir. Shahram Mokri (Iran)
- 2019 – Vitalina Varela, dir. Pedro Costa (Portugal)
Best Director
- 2025 – Mascha Schilinski (Germany) for Sound of Falling
- 2024 – Miguel Gomes (Portugal) for Grand Tour
- 2023 – Aki Kaurismäki (Finland) for Fallen Leaves
- 2022 – Maryam Touzani (Morocco) for The Blue Caftan
- 2021 – Peter Kerekes (Slovakia) for 107 Mothers
- 2020 – Andrei Konchalovsky (Russia) for Dear Comrades!
- 2019 – Maya Da-Rin (Brazil) for The Fever
Best Actor
- 2025 – Wagner Moura (Brazil) for The Secret Agent
- 2024 – Benjamin Voisin (France) for The Quiet Son
- 2021 – Bouli Lanners (Belgium) for Nobody Has to Know
- 2019 – Bartosz Bielenia (Poland) for Corpus Christi[33]
- 2018 – Jesper Christensen (Denmark) for Before the Frost[32]
- 2017 – Aleksandr Yatsenko (Russia) for Arrhythmia[31]
- 2016 – Adrian Titieni (Romania) for Graduation[30]
- 2015 – Alexi Mathieu and Jules Gauzelin (France) for A Childhood[29]
- 2014 – Anton Yelchin (USA) for Rudderless[28]
- 2013 – Robert Wieckiewicz (Poland) for Walesa: Man of Hope
- 2012 – Denis Lavant (France) for Holy Motors
- 2011 – Maged El Kedwany (Egypt) for 678
- 2010 – Youssouf Djaoro (Chad) for A Screaming Man
- 2009 – Filippo Timi (Italy) for Vincere
- 2008 – Michael Fassbender (Ireland) for Hunger
- 2007 – Sam Riley (United Kingdom) for Control
- 2006 – Jürgen Vogel (Germany) for The Free Will
- 1989 – Jörg Gudzuhn (GDR) for Fallada, letztes Kapitel
- 1987 – Avtandil Makharadze (Georgia) for Monanieba
- 1972 – José Luis López Vázquez (Spain) for My Dearest Senorita[38]
- 1971 – José Luis López Vázquez (Spain) for The Ancines Woods[39]
Best Actress
- 2025 – Eszter Tompa (Romania) for Kontinental '25
- 2024 – Elín Hall (Iceland) for When the Light Breaks
- 2021 – Michelle Fairley (Ireland) for Nobody Has to Know
- 2019 – Debbie Honeywood (UK) for Sorry We Missed You[33]
- 2018 – Zhao Tao (China) for Ash Is Purest White[32]
- 2017 – Jowita Budnik (Poland) and Eliane Umuhire (Rwanda) for Birds Are Singing in Kigali[31]
- 2016 – Rebecca Hall (UK) for Christine[30]
- 2015 – Lizzie Brocheré (France) for Full Contact[29]
- 2014 – Geraldine Chaplin (United States) for Sand Dollars[28]
- 2013 – Nadeshda Brennicke (Germany) for Banklady
- 2012 – Ulla Skoog (Sweden) for The Last Sentence
- 2011 – Olivia Colman (UK) for Tyrannosaur
- 2010 – Liana Liberato (USA) for Trust
- 2009 – Giovanna Mezzogiorno (Italy) for Vincere
- 2008 – Preity Zinta (India) for Heaven on Earth
- 2007 – Yu Nan (China) for Tuya's Marriage
- 2006 – Viktoriya Isakova, Darya Moroz, Anna Ukolova (Russia) for The Spot
- 2005 – Inka Friedrich, Nadja Uhl (Germany) for Summer in Berlin
- 2003 – Ludivine Sagnier (France) for Little Lili
Best Performance
- 2023 – Ilinca Manolache (Romania) for Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World
- 2022 – Vicky Krieps (Luxembourg) for Corsage
- 2020 – Yakusho Koji (Japan) for Under the Open Sky
Best Screenplay
- 2025 – Paolo Sorrentino (Italy) for La grazia
- 2024 – Mohammad Rasoulof (Iran) for The Seed of the Sacred Fig
- 2023 – Gábor Reisz and Éva Schulze (Hungary) for Explanation for Everything
- 2022 – Alice Diop, Amrita David, and Marie NDiaye (France) for Saint Omer
- 2021 – Alexandre Koberidze (Georgia) for What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?
- 2020 – Christos Nikou and Stavros Raptis (Greece) for Apples
- 2019 – Pema Tseden (China) for Balloon
Best Editing
- 2024 – Telmo Churro and Pedro Filipe Marques (Portugal) for Grand Tour
Best Cinematography
- 2025 – Gergely Pálos (Hungary) for Silent Friend
- 2023 – Hélène Louvart (France) for La Chimera
- 2022 – Maria von Hausswolff (Iceland) for Godland
- 2021 – Kasper Tuxen (Denmark) for The Worst Person in the World
- 2020 – Tobie Marier Robitaille (Canada) for Night of the Kings
- 2019 – Vladimír Smutný (Czech Republic) for The Painted Bird
Best Sound
- 2025 – Sound of Falling (Germany)
Best Art Direction
- 2022 – Marcela Gómez and Daniel Rincon (Colombia) for The Kings of the World
- 2021 – Sergey Fevralev (Russia) for Captain Volkonogov Escaped
- 2020 – Jagna Dobesz (Poland) for Sweat
Best New Director
- 2023 – Ena Sendijarević (Netherlands) for Sweet Dreams
- 2022 – Ann Oren (Germany) for Piaffe
Special Mention
- 2025 – My Father's Shadow
- 2024 – Ensemble Performance for On Becoming a Guinea Fowl
Lifetime Achievement Awards
Winners of the festival's Lifetime Achievement Award include Steven Spielberg, Helen Hunt, Dustin Hoffman, Martin Landau, Shirley MacLaine, Lord Richard Attenborough, François Truffaut, Jodie Foster, Sigourney Weaver, Robin Williams, Manoel de Oliveira, and Clint Eastwood.[citation needed]
Career Achievement Awards
- Bruce Dern (2013)[40]
- Terrence Howard (2005)
- Susan Sarandon (2005)
- Shirley MacLaine (2005)
- Robert Zemeckis (2004)
- Irma P. Hall, Robert Townsend and Harry J. Lennix (2004)
- Annette Bening (2004)
- Robin Williams (2004)
- Nicolas Cage (2003)
Television awards
The Television Awards started with the idea of honoring television commercials in a special event of the film festival, but over time evolved and grew into a bigger event, comprising not only commercials but also television productions, series, and online television. In 2003, a separate ceremony was launched for the TV awards, and in 2017, the event became a separate event, named the Chicago International Television Festival. Winners and runners-up for the various categories, which include Gold and Silver Hugos, are listed on the film festival website.[41][42]