THE 44th CHICAGO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
October 14th 2008 12:45
AMC River East 21 | AMC 600 North Michigan 9 |
Harris Theater
See the films, see the world, save some money! For 44 years, we've been committed
to taking you all across the globe to discover some of the most exciting cinema
the world has to offer. New voices, new ideas, new storytellers, new stars - it's
make them. Meet and mingle with your fellow film fans. See the world in a whole
new way.
See more in the dark.
Order your passes now!
USA - TICKETMASTER: 312-902-1500
www.ticketmaster.com
Complete Film Schedule available online at www.chicagofilmfestival.org
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MAIN COMPETITION
An international jury of distinguished film artists and critics awards the Festival's
highest honor, the Gold Hugo, to the standout film in North America's longest-running
film festival competition.
EVERLASTING MOMENTS
MARIA LARSSONS EVIGA ÖGONBLICK
SWEDEN
Director: Jan Troell
In
Sweden at the onset of World War I, life isn't easy for Maria Larsson.
Mired in poverty with an abusive, alcoholic husband and a brood of
seven in tow, she uncovers a camera one day and begins taking pictures.
escapes the tragedy in her own life by capturing on film the simple
beauty in the world.
Swedish with English subtitles. 125 min.
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I'M GONNA EXPLODE
VOY A EXPLOTAR
MEXICO
Director: Gerardo Naranjo
Maru
is a misfit longing for a soul mate. Roman has been a death-obsessed
menace since his mother's funeral. These two teens were made for each
other. When they decide to run away together, leaving Maru's single
mother and Roman's powerful congressman father searching in their wake,
their buoyant young romance soon veers toward a tragedy of
Shakespearean proportions.
Spanish with English subtitles. 103 min.
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QUIET CHAOS
CAOS CALMO
ITALY/UK
Director: Antonello Grimaldi
Charismatic actor/director Nanni Moretti stars as in this memorable, much-lauded
(it scored 18 nominations at Italy's Oscars) drama about career-minded TV executive
Pietro, who suddenly finds himself a widower with a young daughter to raise. He
finds some unlikely aides along his journey through grief, and Moretti plays Pietro's
struggle to express emotion with a mature, understated poignancy rarely captured
on film.
Italian with English subtitles. 105 min.
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TOKYO SONATA
Japan/Netherlands/Hong Kong
Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Deception and alienation rule the Sasaki household. Laid-off father Ryuhei is too
proud to tell his family his job has been outsourced to China, oldest son Takashi
is hiding some secret plans, young Kenji is secretly taking piano lessons against
his father's wishes, and mother Megumi feels cut off from everyone. From the world-renowned
suspense/thriller director comes a quiet, engaging drama of an average Tokyo family
slowly unraveling.
Japanese with English subtitles. 119 min.
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NEW DIRECTORS COMPETITION
Since its inception, the Festival has been committed to discovering the freshest
new voices in cinema. These first and second feature films are judged by an international
jury of film professionals.
BEFORE THE BURIAL
TANHA DO BAR ZENDEGUI MIKONIM
IRAN
Director: Behnam Behzadi
Hopelessly bitter since his imprisonment for his political affiliations in his youth,
Siamak is committed to ending it all before his 40th birthday. Out to settle some
final unfinished business, he encounters a lovely, spirited stranger who brings
some magic into his world, turning his quest for vengeance into a journey of rebirth.
Persian with English subtitles. 100 min.
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THE DEAD GIRL'S FEAST
A FESTA DA MENINA MORTA
BRAZIL
Director: Matheus Nachtergaele
Every year, pilgrims have poured into a small community in the upper Amazon to worship
at the mystical shrine of a little girl who went missing 20 years ago. The faithful
await her life-changing revelations, channeled through an enigmatic local known
as the Saint, but the little girl's brother has grown tired of the exploitation
of his sister's memory by the Saint's profiteering father. Soon, he'll uncover an
astonishing secret about them both.
Portuguese with English subtitles. 115 min.
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SPECIAL AND GALA PRESENTATIONS
One-night-only showings of some of the most anticipated films in the world are boosted
by appearances from the artists behind them.
A CHRISTMAS TALE
UN CONTE DE NOËL
FRANCE
Director: Arnaud Desplechin
Arnaud Desplechin is known for films that effortlessly slip between comedy and drama,
imbuing private moments with epic emotion. His latest reunites his Kings & Queen
stars Catherine Deneuve (a prizewinner at Cannes for her performance here), Jean-Paul
Roussillon and Mathieu Amalric for the story of a couple who conceived a third child
in the hopes of using his bone marrow to save their dying firstborn. But the elder
son dies, and the youngest grows up as a familial abnormality and reminder of death.
French with English subtitles. 150 min.
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HAPPY-GO-LUCKY
UK
Director: Mike Leigh
Perennial optimist Poppy (Sally Hawkins) is a 30-year-old schoolteacher bursting
with color and joie de vivre. Tempered by her pragmatic roommate Zoë, Poppy charges
through life with breathless enthusiasm and a sincere desire to help others, struggling
as she encounters fellow Londoners who do not always share her sunny outlook. From
Oscar®-nominated director Mike Leigh (Vera Drake, Topsy-Turvy, Secrets & Lies),
Happy-Go-Lucky is a bright but honest look at how life, though not always rosy,
can still be beautiful.
118 min.
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NIGHTS AND WEEKENDS
USA
Directors: Greta Gerwig, Joe Swanberg
Emotionally and physically pulled apart by their lives in separate cities, Mattie
and James must learn to love from a distance - or live without each other. Mumblecore
mavericks Greta Gerwig and Joe Swanberg (a Festival alum) star and direct in this
uniquely low-fi film that touches on the tenderest moments of falling in - and out-of
love.
80 min.
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PRIDE AND GLORY
USA
Director: Gavin O'Connor
Edward Norton, Colin Farrell, and Jon Voight star in an authentic, gritty and emotional
portrait of the NYC Police Department. Pride and Glory follows a multigenerational
police family whose moral code is tested when one of two sons on the force investigates
an incendiary case involving his older brother and brother-in-law. The case forces
the family to choose between its loyalties to one another and its loyalties to the
department.
125 min.
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SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK
USA
Director: Charlie Kaufman
Theatre director Caden Cotard's (Philip Seymour Hoffman) life in Schenectady, New
York is looking bleak. His wife Adele (Catherine Keener) has left him to pursue
her painting in Berlin, taking their young daughter Olive with her. A new relationship
with the alluringly candid Hazel (Samantha Morton) has prematurely run aground.
And a mysterious condition is systematically shutting down each of his body's automatic
functions. Worried about the transience of his life, he moves his theatre company
to a warehouse in New York City. He directs them in a celebration of the mundane,
instructing each to live out their constructed lives in a growing mockup of the
city outside. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classic.
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WORLD CINEMA
The sights, sounds, and perspectives of diverse cultures from all across the globe
come to audiences in Chicago.
CHERRY BLOSSOMS
KIRSCHBLÜTEN - HANAMI
GERMANY/FRANCE
Director: Doris Dörrie
In Doris Dörrie's dense, emotional drama, Trudi has just learned her husband Rudi
is fatally ill. Keeping his diagnosis a secret, she convinces him to take a long-overdue
trip to visit their son Karl in Japan. In a tragic turn of events, it's Trudi instead
who dies along the way. Grief-stricken and still unaware of his own fate, Rudi continues
on to Tokyo - where the beautiful cherry blossom festival is underway - in search
of peace.
English, German, Japanese with English subtitles. 127 min.
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THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE WEIRD
JOHEUNNOM NABBEUNNOM ISANGHANNOM
SOUTH KOREA
Director: Jee-woon Kim
A South Korean Spaghetti Western? With imaginative director Jee-woon Kim (A Tale
of Two Sisters) at the helm, anything's possible. Three of the country's hottest
actors star as outlaws colliding with the occupying Japanese army and Chinese and
Russian bandits while on the hunt for a treasure map in the Manchurian wild of the
1930s.
Korean with English subtitles. 120 min.
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ICE
JAPAN
Director: Makoto Kobayashi
In a bleak future, mankind has eradicated itself, leaving only women in a never-ending
struggle to survive as the shadow of extinction looms over them. Set in the ruins
of Tokyo, two major factions of women war against each other's ideals. The only
hope for a humankind spiraling out of control lies with one woman who fights to
save the future, but also holds a key to changing the past.
Japanese with English subtitles. 120 min.
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JERUSALEMA
SOUTH AFRICA
Director: Ralph Ziman
A poor boy in rural South Africa grows up to become the country's self-proclaimed
Robin Hood, hijacking groups of buildings from the white slumlords and offering
to sell part of them back in exchange for improved living conditions. With never
a dull moment, this modern crime story takes some unusual turns to become a parable
of justice versus vigilantism.
118 min.
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WERE THE WORLD MINE
USA
Director: Tom Gustafson
Chicago native Tom Gustafson's feature debut is a vibrant, glitter-filled musical
riff on A Midsummer Night's Dream with a few modern twists. Timothy, the only openly
gay student at an all-boy high school, gets to play the rascally Puck, giving him
the magical chance to throw his Bible-thumping town into a state of sexual disorientation-and
maybe even open the eyes of the dreamy jock he's got a crush on.
95 min.
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BLACK PERSPECTIVES TRIBUTE
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Chase Auditorium | 10 S. Dearborn St.
One of Hollywood's most illustrious members, Oscar®-winner Sidney Poitier, will
receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Black Perspectives Tribute of the 44th
Chicago International Film Festival, Saturday Oct. 18, 2008 at Chase Auditorium,
10 S. Dearborn St., in downtown Chicago.
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