The Chicago International Film Festival announced winners of many awards, celebrating the films chosen by the Festival juries in various categories on October 20th, 2017. Among those selected for awards were two foreign films that definitely impressed me: “The Charmer” ...
A Moon of Nickel and Ice https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBP6Ws_13fU In the icy Russian mining city of Norlisk, population 177,000, residents endure sub-zero temperatures and the weight of a dark history. A Moon of Nickel and Ice: Once a Soviet labor camp in the ...
Thoroughbreds written and directed by Corey Finley, was a Sundance sensation and it was my favorite film on Sunday, October 15th at the Chicago International Film Festival. (Thoroughbreds does not officially open until March). The script for Thoroughbreds is very funny ...
The documentary The Experimental City written and directed by Chad Freidrichs (“The Pruitt-Igoe Myth) brings the fascinating true story of the MXC (Minnesota Experimental City) to the 53rd Annual Chicago International Film Festival for its World Premiere. In the 1960’s, ...
In her directorial debut after a lengthy career as a much-lauded actress, Academy Award winner Vanessa Redgrave takes on a cause near and dear to her heart in “Sea Sorrow.” That cause is trying to alleviate the refugee crisis affecting ...
Vanessa Redgrave is one of the most honored actresses of her generation. Now 80, she has been Oscar-nominated six times (winning for Best Supporting Actress for “Julia” in 1977) and may be the only British actress to have won an ...
The Square The Square won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival this year. Last year, Swedish director Ruben Ostlund’s film about an avalanche and family dynamics, “Force Majeure,” was one of the most interesting at the Chicago International ...
“Zoo,” written and directed by Colin McIvor, is the true story of how a lonely widow and three schoolchildren banded together to save an elephant in the Belfast, Northern Ireland zoo (the Bellevue Zoological Zoo) to prevent the pachyderm from ...
Two comedies have been screened for critics at the 53rd Annual Chicago International Film Festival during this lead-up week. ”Ali’s Wedding” from Australian director Jeffrey Walker, reminds most of the recent hit “The Big Sick.” “Maktub” (“Fate”) from Israel director ...
A Lover For A Day The lead-up to the Chicago International Film Festival’s 53rd year is underway. Critics are getting the chance to screen films from over 95 countries, including 1,044 feature films, 3,500 shorts and 646 documentaries. Twenty-five of ...
When Jerod, a daycare teacher, experiences the death of his close friend, he must decide how to grapple with the violence in his community. Meanwhile, he’s also attempting to mend a tattered relationship with his girlfriend and their two children. ...
Wind River https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zN9PDOoLAfg “Wind River” opens with a young Indian girl running barefoot across snow with a mountainous landscape in the background. We soon learn that the mountains are (supposedly) in Wyoming on the Wind River Indian Reservation, a reservation ...
