The Chicago International Film Festival closed the 58th edition of North America’s longest-running competitive festival on Sunday, October 23, and today announces the winners of the Audience Choice Awards in four categories: International Feature, English-Language Feature, Documentary, and Short Film. The Festival’s Audience Choice Awards are presented by Xfinity.
In 2022, the 58th Chicago International Film Festival showcased 94 feature films and 56 shorts, selected from more than 6,500 submissions, The films screened at venues across Chicago including the AMC River East 21, the Music Box Theatre, the Gene Siskel Film Center, the Chicago History Museum, and at two Chicago Park District locations: Austin Town Hall in Austin and the Hamilton Park Cultural Center in Englewood.
The Audience Choice Award for English Language Feature is shared by Rian Johnson’s GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY and Alex Heller’s THE YEAR BETWEEN, while the Audience Choice Award for Documentary is also a tie, going to both ART AND PEP by Mercedes Kane and NO ORDINARY CAMPAIGN from Christopher Burke.
MY SAILOR, MY LOVE (Finland, Ireland) directed by Klaus Härö received the Audience Award for International Feature, and Luchina Fisher’s TEAM DREAM was the audience favorite for Short Film.
“Audiences embraced this year’s programming lineup, as well as the return to the in-theater experience, and their enthusiasm was reflected in high ratings for the films at the Festival,” said Chicago International Film Festival Artistic Director Mimi Plauché. “This year’s Audience Awards were more competitive than ever, as we welcomed people back to full-house screenings of films from around the world as well as from right here in our own backyard.”
On Friday October 21, the Festival announced the winners of this year’s jury competitions.
The Gold Hugo in the International Competition went to Hlynur Pálmason’s GODLAND, while Lukas Dhont’s CLOSE took the Silver Hugo Jury Prize as well as the Gold Q-Hugo in the Festival’s OutLook Competition. Charlotte Le Bon’s FALCON LAKE won the Gold Hugo and Ann Oren’s PIAFFE took the Silver Hugo in the New Directors Competition. The Roger Ebert Award, given to a film in the New Directors Competition in recognition of a filmmaker with a fresh and uncompromising vision, went to two films: Michael Koch’s A PIECE OF SKY and Katrine Brocks’ THE GREAT SILENCE.
ALIS from Clare Wesikopf and Nicolás Van Hemelryck won the Gold Hugo in the International Documentary Competition, with the Silver Hugo going to Sergei Loznitsa’s THE NATURAL HISTORY OF DESTRUCTION. The Chicago Award, presented to the director of an outstanding film in the Festival’s City & State program, went to Harriet Marin Jones for KING OF KINGS: CHASING EDWARD JONES.
The complete list of jury honorees is as follows:
International Feature Film Competition
Gold Hugo
GODLAND Vanskabte Land (Denmark, Iceland, France, Sweden)
Dir. Hlynur Pálmason
Silver Hugo Jury Award
CLOSE (Belgium, France, The Netherlands)
Dir. Lukas Dhont
Silver Hugo, Best Director
Maryam Touzani
THE BLUE CAFTAN (France, Morocco, Belgium, Denmark)
Silver Hugo, Best Performance
Vicky Krieps
CORSAGE (Austria, France, Germany)
Silver Hugo, Best Ensemble Cast Performance
Denis Ménochet, Marina Foïs, Luis Zahera, Diego Anido, and Marie Colomb
THE BEASTS As bestas (Spain, France)
Silver Hugo, Best Screenplay
Alice Diop, Amrita David, Zoé Galeron, and Marie N’Diaye
SAINT OMER (France)
Silver Hugo, Best Cinematography
Maria von Hausswolff
GODLAND Vanskabte Land (Denmark, Iceland, France, Sweden)
Silver Hugo, Best Production Design
Marcela Gómez (Production Designer) and Daniel Rincon (Art Director)
THE KINGS OF THE WORLD Los reyes del mundo (Colombia, Norway, Luxembourg, Mexico,
France)
Award for Cinematic Bravery
NO BEARS (Iran)
Dir. Jafar Panahi
New Directors Competition
Gold Hugo
FALCON LAKE (Canada, France)
Dir. Charlotte Le Bon
Silver Hugo
PIAFFE (Germany)
Dir. Ann Oren
Roger Ebert Award ex aequo
THE GREAT SILENCE (Denmark)
Dir. Katrine Brocks
A PIECE OF SKY (Switzerland, Germany)
Dir. Michael Koch
International Documentary Competition
Gold Hugo
ALIS (Colombia, Romania, Chile)
Dirs. Clare Weiskopf, Nicolás Van Hemelryck
Silver Hugo
THE NATURAL HISTORY OF DESTRUCTION (Germany, Lithuania, The Netherlands)
Dir. Sergei Loznitsa
Chicago Award
Chicago Award
KING OF KINGS: CHASING EDWARD JONES (U.S., France)
Dir. Harriet Marin Jones
Honorable Mention
MATRIARCH (U.S.)
Dir. Donald Conley
OutLook Competition
Gold Q-Hugo
CLOSE (Belgium, France, The Netherlands)
Dir. Lukas Dhont
Silver Q-Hugo
PALOMA (Brazil, Portugal)
Dir. Marcelo Gomes
Special Mention
ALIS (Colombia, Romania, Chile)
Dirs. Clare Weiskopf, Nicolás Van Hemelryck
Live Action Short Film Competition
Gold Hugo
THE HEADHUNTER’S DAUGHTER (The Philippines)
Dir. Don Jospehus Raphael Eblahan
Silver Hugo
LIVE (Poland)
Dir. Mara Tamkovich
Documentary Short Film Competition
Gold Hugo
NAZARBAZI (Iran)
Dir. Maryam Tafakory
Silver Hugo
REVOLVER (U.S.)
Dir. Crystal Z Campbell
Animated Short Film Competition
Gold Hugo
ICE MERCHANTS (Portugal)
Dir. João Gonzalez
Silver Hugo
MY YEAR OF DICKS (U.S.)
Dir. Sara Gunnarsdóttir
For more information, visit the Festival’s website at https://www.chicagofilmfestival.com/.