Located in the heart of downtown Chicago at the AMC River East 21, the festival is an eleven-day extravaganza highlighting not only special presentations with A-list names attached but also curating a beautiful selection of independent films, shorts, animation, in addition to paying special tribute to films from Black and LGBTQ+ perspectives.

According to CIFF Artistic Director Mimi Plauché, “the festival is a celebration of our shared human experience.” As an actor myself, I couldn’t agree more with this statement, as I felt overwhelmingly grateful to be a part of a universal community of storytellers upon attending this festival.

Director: Chinonye Chukwu

U.S. 

English. 112 min. 

Bernadine Williams (Alfre Woodard) is committed to her career as a prison warden. She is tough yet dutiful. She believes she has a responsibility to bring respect and dignity to the inmates. After a botched execution procedure, we see her tough exterior crack, as the weight of her responsibility haunts her. Mounting pressure in her personal life, as well as, her professional career comes to a head as she questions the innocence of a death row inmate.

Director Chinonye Chukwu paints a powerful character study of a strong woman trying to remain steadfast to her duties but poses the question: will she lose her soul in the process? 

Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda

France/Japan

French, English with subtitles. 106 min. 

Fabienne (Catherine Deneuve) is an iconic French actress and admired by many. However, she has a problematic relationship with her screenwriter daughter Lumir (Juliette Binoche) not to mention almost everyone who has ever been close with her. Tensions rise when Lumir returns to Paris with daughter and husband (Ethan Hawke) soon after Fabienne has published her controversial memoir. The reunion quickly turns confrontational as the truth about past accounts are told and old resentments resurface. As Fabienne is shooting her newest film, Memories of My Mother, parallels of the on-screen world and real-life become intertwined. 

Director Hirokazu Kore-eda (Shoplifters) masterfully showcases the nuances of a complicated mother-daughter relationship. He captures both the painful resentment as well as love, laughter, and forgiveness in this charming and moving film. 

Directors: Francesca Scalisi, Mark Olexa

Switzerland

Bengali, English with subtitles. 78 min

Rupa is an ambitious, hard-working Bangladeshi teen who aspires to have her own career as an entrepreneur. She is recruited to join a women’s tech-training program and begins to see the possibilities that her future could hold as she experiences new freedoms such as riding a bicycle and owning a cell phone. However, with an unfortunate decline in her father’s health, Rupa’s dreams are abruptly halted as she has to abandon her program to appease her family’s wishes for her to have an arranged marriage.

Digitalkarama follows Rupa’s journey over four years in an intimate, raw and heartbreaking portrayal of a rural community that is trapped somewhere between tradition and emerging into the modern-day. 

Director: Johnny Ma

China/France

Mandarin with subtitles. 100 min. 

To Live to Sing is a bittersweet musical drama that highlights the struggling Jinli Sichuan Opera Group (played by the troupe’s actual performers). The opera troupe is the only remaining pleasure for the elderly villagers. As the traditional art form struggles to captivate new and younger audiences,  the community is also facing demolition. Company leader Zhao searches for a way to keep the building and to maintain the troupe’s morale. When her niece and leading starlet DanDan begin to seek opportunities elsewhere, Zhao goes on a journey of her own, dipping in and out of fantasy.

Director Johnny Ma captures both the raw unglamorous side of theatre, as well as the grand spectacle of it while focusing on the tension between tradition and the rapidly changing world of technology and progress. 

Director: Levan Akin

Georgia, Sweden, France

Georgian with subtitles. 106 min

And Then We Danced is a coming of age drama featuring a young man who struggles to break free of his circumstances. Merab (Levan Gelbakhiani) lives in poverty with his single mother, grandmother and troubled brother. His passion for Georgian dance is challenged by an instructor who continually berates and critiques him. When a new gifted dancer joins the company, Merab’s disposition increasingly goes from melancholy to giddy as the two explore their desires for each other. However, Merab is aware of the dangers of this new romance as same-sex relationships are frowned upon in Georgian society. He soon begins to question if there is anything left for him in Georgia.

Levan Gelbakhiani gives a dynamic and captivating performance as Merab. Subtitles are almost unnecessary as he is able to convey defeat, outrage, jealousy, ecstasy, and defiance all with a glance.