Chicago International Film Festival Announces 60th Edition International Competition Selections

The 60th Chicago International Film Festival, North America’s longest-running competitive film festival, today announced its International Competitions for this year’s edition, running October 16 – 27, 2024. This year’s competitive titles include three world premieres, 13 feature films making their North American premieres and another 14 holding their U.S. premieres, with titles from countries around the world including Argentina, China, Brazil, Germany, Tunisia, Australia, Japan, Italy, Sweden, France, and more, all vying for the Festival’s Gold Hugo award in the categories of International Feature, International Documentary, and New Directors, in addition to OutLook and Shorts competitions.

Several competition filmmakers are making their return to the Chicago International Film Festival, including Virpi Suutari, Max Kestner, Joshua Oppenheimer, Miguel Gomes, Mohammad Rasoulof, Maura Delpero, and Péter Kerekes, whose 107 MOTHERS won the Silver Hugo for Best Director at the 2020 edition of the Festival. Previous Chicago International Film Festival honorees have gone on to Oscar recognition, including last year’s Best Documentary nominee FOUR DAUGHTERS, 2022’s CLOSE, and 2021’s DRIVE MY CAR and THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD, which were all nominated for Best International Feature Film at the Academy Awards.

The full slate of films for the 60th edition of the Chicago International Film Festival, running October 16 – 27, 2024, will be announced September 23, 2024. Tickets for Opening Night’s presentation of THE PIANO LESSON are on sale now, with tickets to the rest of the Festival’s presentations going on sale September 27, 2024. Cinema/Chicago members’ pre-sale tickets go on sale September 24, 2024; memberships now available at www.chicagofilmfestival.com/membership. 

International Feature Competition:

ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT (France, India, The Netherlands, Luxembourg)

Dir. Payal Kapadia

THE END (Ireland, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Italy, U.K.)

Dir. Joshua Oppenheimer

GRAND TOUR (Portugal, Italy, France, Germany, Japan, China)

Dir. Miguel Gomes

HARVEST (U.K., Germany, Greece, France, U.S.)

Dir. Athina Rachel Tsangari

ON BECOMING A GUINEA FOWL (Zambia, U.K., Ireland)

Dir. Rungano Nyoni

THE QUIET SON Jouer avec le feu (France)

Dirs. Delphine Coulin, Muriel Coulin

North American Premiere

THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG (Iran, France, Germany)

Dir. Mohammad Rasoulof

THE SPARROW IN THE CHIMNEY (Switzerland) 

Dir. Ramon Zürcher

U.S. Premiere

SUÇUARANA (Brazil)

Dirs. Clarissa Campolina, Sérgio Borges

World Premiere

SUPER HAPPY FOREVER (France, Japan)

Dir. Kohei Igarashi

U.S. Premiere

TRANSAMAZONIA (France, Germany, Switzerland, Taiwan, Brazil)

Dir. Pia Marais

VERMIGLIO (Italy, France, Belgium)

Dir. Maura Delpero

WHEN THE LIGHT BREAKS Ljósbrot (Iceland, Netherlands, Croatia, France)

Dir. Rúnar Rúnarsson 

U.S. Premiere

New Directors Competition:

CABO NEGRO (France, Morocco)

Dir. Abdellah Taïa

North American Premiere

GHOST TRAIL Les Fantômes (France, Germany, Belgium)

Dir. Jonathan Millet

U.S. Premiere

HANAMI (Switzerland, Portugal, Cape Verde)

Dir. Denise Fernandes

North American Premiere

HAPPY HOLIDAYS (Palestine, Germany, France, Italy, Qatar)

Dir. Scandar Copti 

U.S. Premiere

LISTEN TO THE VOICES Kouté vwa (Belgium, France, French Guiana)

Dir. Maxime Jean-Baptiste

North American Premiere

MY FAVOURITE CAKE Keyke Mahboobe Man (Iran, France, Sweden, Germany)

Dirs. Maryam Moghaddam, Behtash Sanaeeha

U.S. Premiere

PEACOCK (Austria, Germany)

Dir. Bernhard Wenger

North American Premiere

RITA (Spain)

Dir. Paz Vega

North American Premiere

TOXIC Akiplėša (Lithuania)

Dir. Saulė Bliuvaitė

U.S. Premiere 

TRANSPLANT (U.S.)

Dir. Jason Park

World Premiere

THE VILLAGE NEXT TO PARADISE (Austria, France, Germany, Somalia) 

Dir. Mo Harawe

U.S. Premiere

WHO DO I BELONG TO Mé el Aïn (Tunisia, France, Canada) 

Dir. Meryam Joobeur

U.S. Premiere

Documentary Competition:

BETWEEN GOODBYES (U.S.) 

Dir. Jota Mun

North American Premiere

THE BRINK OF DREAMS Rafaat einy ll sama (Egypt, France, Denmark, Qatar, Saudi Arabia)

Dirs. Nada Riyadh, Ayman El Amir

North American Premiere

LIFE AND OTHER PROBLEMS Livet og andre problemer (Denmark, U.K., Sweden)

Dir. Max Kestner

North American Premiere

MISTRESS DISPELLER (China, U.S.)

Dir. Elizabeth Lo

MY STOLEN PLANET (Germany, Iran)

Dir. Farahnaz Sharifi 

U.S. Premiere

ONCE UPON A TIME IN A FOREST (Finland)

Dir. Virpi Suutari

U.S. Premiere

THE RETURN OF THE PROJECTIONIST Le Retour du Projectionniste (France, Germany)

Dir. Orkhan Aghazadeh

North American Premiere

WISHING ON A STAR (Italy, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Austria, Croatia)

Dir. Péter Kerekes 

U.S. Premiere

OutLook Competition:

BABY (Brazil, France, The Netherlands)

Dir. Marcelo Caetano

BETWEEN GOODBYES (U.S.)

Dir. Jota Mun

North American Premiere

CABO NEGRO (France, Morocco) 

Dir. Abdellah Taïa

North American Premiere

DESIRE LINES (U.S.)

Dir. Jules Rosskam

FOUR MOTHERS (Ireland)

Dir. Darren Thornton

North American Premiere

MY SUNSHINE (Japan, France)

Dir. Hiroshi Okuyama

THESIS ON A DOMESTICATION Tesis sobre una domesticación (Argentina, Mexico)

Dir. Javier Van de Couter

World Premiere

THREE KILOMETRES TO THE END OF THE WORLD Trei kilometri până la capătul lumii (Romania)

Dir. Emanuel Pârvu

U.S. Premiere

TIME PASSAGES (U.S.)

Dir. Kyle Henry

VIET AND NAM (Vietnam)

Dir. Trương Minh Quý

For more information, visit the Festival’s website by clicking here.

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