The Chicago International Film Festival is coming up soon and the line up of movies playing is spectacular. After going through the guide, I have compiled a list of over 33 movies that I would love to see during the festival. I know that 33 is a huge number, so I will need to cut some out and try to view the ones that might go under the radar.
There are some big studio films playing the festival that have already premiered elsewhere. These films are already being praised and talked about a lot. While I will try to see these, I feel that seeing the smaller, independent ones is a good way to expose them to our audience.
Here is our short list of the movies that I hope get distribution in the U.S. and more people talk about them after the film festival. Click on the titles to purchase tickets for that film.
Tasked with writing an essay for her college application, high school senior Morgan (Ella Rubin) is at a loss. With no real sense of who she is or what she wants, the 17-year-old is hopeful that her much-older half-siblings will provide some inspiration. But after their mother heads off to Europe on a long overdue vacation, the sheltered teen quickly realizes that they might be even more off balance as she is. Charged with keeping brother Josh (Thomas Sadoski) from going off the deep end yet again, Morgan and sisters Lisa (Betsy Brandt) and Dahlia (Aya Cash)—each with their own issues and secrets—struggle to maintain equilibrium as the misadventures mount.
The Book of Sijjin and Illiyyin
In the Islamic faith, the Book of Sijjin tallies transgressions while the Book of Illiyyin keeps track of pious deeds. In this blood-soaked tale of a stepdaughter’s brutal retribution against the family that tormented her for twenty years, the once-meek Yuli transforms from docile servant to hell-bent destructress. When her stepmother’s death leaves her at the mercy of her even crueler stepsister, Yuli seeks the help of a shaman who instructs her in a ritual that will send a powerful jinn after Yuli’s tormentors. One by one, the family members die horrific deaths. Only the devout granddaughter stands in the way of the force of black magic as the narrative culminates in a fierce battle between heaven and hell, religion and folk tradition.
High in a remote community in the Bolivian Andes, a tender Quechua song ushers a new life into the world. Young Clara has learned these songs, and the sacred ways of midwifery, from her adoptive mother Ana, with whom she cares for the pregnant women of the surrounding villages. Despite her sense of duty to her people and respect for their midwifing tradition, Clara is a smart and curious girl tempted by the outside influences creeping into the community. When she runs off to the city to become a singer, she leaves a dark void in her wake.
Disruptions to the idyllic lives of the people in Remis, also known as the happiest town in Italy, are rare. But when Sergio, a former Judo champion with a tragic past, arrives to take over the school’s physical education program, his palpable pain puts him at odds with the town’s otherwise supernaturally cheerful inhabitants. Soon, he is initiated into Remis’s best-kept secret: once a week, the townspeople gather in a church to meet Matteo, a fifteen-year-old with some secrets of his own. His embrace promises to free its recipient of all their suffering, but this healing touch comes with consequences. Being the town’s savior is soul-crushing work and leaves little room for Matteo to live a life of his own or explore his blossoming queer desires. As the pressures on Matteo mount, Sergio searches for answers about this so-called angel, and the darkness inside his gift comes into disturbingly detailed focus.
Brazil, 1977. Marcelo, a university researcher, is on the lam. He holes up in the seaside city of Recife, hoping to reconnect with his young son before ultimately escaping the country. Fearing for his life, he assumes an alias to avoid attracting the attention of Brazil’s military dictatorship. As he awaits his opportunity to flee, mysterious forces beyond his control start to close in around him.
On January 29, 2024, Red Crescent volunteers in Gaza field a call from a family trapped inside a car that is under Israeli military fire. Moments later, six-year-old Hind Rajab remains alone on the line, terrified and pleading for rescue. As the emergency volunteers keep her talking, dispatchers must determine if they will be able to send a rescue team across the embattled terrain to save her life.
I will be writing short reviews on these as I see them and will be posting them on our Facebook and Twitter pages. Tickets are still available to many of these movies and you can see the schedule on their website. Take a moment, check it out and hopefully I will see you at a screening.