Chicago International Film Festival

The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964 by Michael Kutza, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. Its logo is a stark, black and white close up of the composite eyes of early film actresses Theda Bara, Pola Negri, and Mae Murray, set as repeated frames in a strip of film.

In 2010, the 46th Chicago International Film Festival presented 150 films from more than 50 countries. The Festival's program is composed of many different sections, including the International Competition, New Directors Competition, Docufest, Black Perspectives, Cinema of the Americas, and Reel Women.

Its main venue is the AMC River East 21 Theatre in the Streeterville neighborhood of Chicago, although it has dropped that venue during the most recent festival as of 2023 (59th), instead using the AMC Newcity 14.

International Connections Program
The International Connections Program was created in 2003 in order to raise awareness of the international film culture and diversity of Chicago, and to make the festival more appealing to audience and staff of various ethnicities. Foreign films are screened for free throughout the city weekly from July through September.

Awards
Winners are awarded Hugo Awards in eight different competition categories. • :Gold Hugo
 * International Feature Film Competition
 * Gold Hugo
 * Silver Hugo: Jury Prize
 * Silver Hugo: Best Director
 * Silver Hugo: Best Actor (until 2019)
 * Silver Hugo: Best Actress (until 2019)
 * Silver Hugo: Best Performance (from 2020)
 * Silver Hugo: Best Ensemble Performance
 * Silver Hugo: Best Cinematography
 * Silver Hugo: Best Screenplay
 * Silver Hugo: Best Sound
 * Silver Hugo: Best Art Direction
 * New Directors Competition

• Silver Hugo

• Roger Ebert Award • :Gold Hugo
 * International Documentary Competition

• Silver Hugo • :Gold Q-Hugo
 * Out-Look Competition

• Silver Hugo • :Gold Hugo
 * City & State Competition
 * Chicago Award
 * Live Action Short Film Competition

• Silver Hugo • :Gold Hugo
 * Documentary Short Film Competition

• Silver Hugo • :Gold Hugo
 * Animated Short Film Competition

• Silver Hugo

Jury Award

 * 2023 - The Delinquents, dir. Rodrigo Moreno (Argentina)
 * 2022 – Close, dir. Lukas Dhont (Belgium)
 * 2021 – Drive My Car, dir. Ryusuke Hamaguchi (Japan)
 * 2020 – Careless Crime, dir. Shahram Mokri (Iran)
 * 2019 – Vitalina Varela, dir. Pedro Costa (Portugal)

Best Director

 * 2023 - Aki Kaurismäki (Finland) for Fallen Leaves
 * 2022 – Maryam Touzani (Morocco) for The Blue Caftan
 * 2021 – Peter Kerekes (Slovakia) for 107 Mothers
 * 2020 – Andrei Konchalovsky (Russia) for Dear Comrades!
 * 2019 – Maya Da-Rin (Brazil) for The Fever

Best Actor

 * 2021 – Bouli Lanners (Belgium) for Nobody Has to Know
 * 2019 – Bartosz Bielenia (Poland) for Corpus Christi
 * 2018 – Jesper Christensen (Denmark) for Before the Frost
 * 2017 – Aleksandr Yatsenko (Russia) for Arrhythmia
 * 2016 – Adrian Titieni (Romania) for Graduation
 * 2015 – Alexi Mathieu and Jules Gauzelin (France) for A Childhood
 * 2014 – Anton Yelchin (USA) for Rudderless
 * 2013 – Robert Wieckiewicz (Poland) for Walesa: Man of Hope
 * 2012 – Denis Lavant (France) for Holy Motors
 * 2011 – Maged El Kedwany (Egypt) for 678
 * 2010 – Youssouf Djaoro (Chad) for A Screaming Man
 * 2009 – Filippo Timi (Italy) for Vincere
 * 2008 – Michael Fassbender (Ireland) for Hunger
 * 2007 – Sam Riley (United Kingdom) for Control
 * 2006 – Jürgen Vogel (Germany) for The Free Will
 * 1989 – Jörg Gudzuhn (GDR) for Fallada, letztes Kapitel
 * 1987 – Avtandil Makharadze (Georgia) for Monanieba
 * 1972 – José Luis López Vázquez (Spain) for My Dearest Senorita
 * 1971 – José Luis López Vázquez (Spain) for The Ancines Woods

Best Actress

 * 2021 – Michelle Fairley (Ireland) for Nobody Has to Know
 * 2019 – Debbie Honeywood (UK) for Sorry We Missed You
 * 2018 – Zhao Tao (China) for Ash Is Purest White
 * 2017 – Jowita Budnik (Poland) and Eliane Umuhire (Rwanda) for Birds Are Singing in Kigali
 * 2016 – Rebecca Hall (UK) for Christine
 * 2015 – Lizzie Brocheré (France) for Full Contact
 * 2014 – Geraldine Chaplin (United States) for Sand Dollars
 * 2013 – Nadeshda Brennicke (Germany) for Banklady
 * 2012 – Ulla Skoog (Sweden) for The Last Sentence
 * 2011 – Olivia Colman (UK) for Tyrannosaur
 * 2010 – Liana Liberato (USA) for Trust
 * 2009 – Giovanna Mezzogiorno (Italy) for Vincere
 * 2008 – Preity Zinta (India) for Heaven on Earth
 * 2007 – Yu Nan (China) for Tuya's Marriage
 * 2006 – Viktoriya Isakova, Darya Moroz, Anna Ukolova (Russia) for The Spot
 * 2005 – Inka Friedrich, Nadja Uhl (Germany) for Summer in Berlin
 * 2003 – Ludivine Sagnier (France) for Little Lili

Best Performance

 * 2023 - Ilinca Manolache (Romania) for Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World
 * 2022 – Vicky Krieps (Luxembourg) for Corsage
 * 2020 – Yakusho Koji (Japan) for Under the Open Sky

Best Cinematography

 * 2023 - Hélène Louvart (France) for La Chimera
 * 2022 – Maria von Hausswolff (Iceland) for Godland
 * 2021 – Kasper Tuxen (Denmark) for The Worst Person in the World
 * 2020 – Tobie Marier Robitaille (Canada) for Night of the Kings
 * 2019 – Vladimír Smutný (Czech Republic) for The Painted Bird

Best Screenplay

 * 2023 - Gábor Reisz and Éva Schulze (Hungary) for Explanation for Everything
 * 2022 – Alice Diop, Amrita David, and Marie NDiaye (France) for Saint Omer
 * 2021 – Alexandre Koberidze (Georgia) for What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?
 * 2020 – Christos Nikou and Stavros Raptis (Greece) for Apples
 * 2019 – Pema Tseden (China) for Balloon

Best Art Direction

 * 2022 – Marcela Gómez and Daniel Rincon (Colombia) for The Kings of the World
 * 2021 – Sergey Fevralev (Russia) for Captain Volkonogov Escaped
 * 2020 – Jagna Dobesz (Poland) for Sweat

Best New Director

 * 2023 – Ena Sendijarević (Netherlands) for Sweet Dreams
 * 2022 – Ann Oren (Germany) for Piaffe

Lifetime Achievement Awards
Winners of the festival's Lifetime Achievement Award include Steven Spielberg, Helen Hunt, Dustin Hoffman, Martin Landau, Shirley MacLaine, Lord Richard Attenborough, François Truffaut, Jodie Foster, Sigourney Weaver, Robin Williams, Manoel de Oliveira, and Clint Eastwood.

Career Achievement Awards

 * Bruce Dern (2013)
 * Terrence Howard (2005)
 * Susan Sarandon (2005)
 * Shirley MacLaine (2005)
 * Robert Zemeckis (2004)
 * Irma P. Hall, Robert Townsend and Harry J. Lennix (2004)
 * Annette Bening (2004)
 * Robin Williams (2004)
 * Nicolas Cage (2003)

Television awards
The Television Awards started with the idea of honoring television commercials in a special event of the film festival, but over time evolved and grew into a bigger event, comprising not only commercials but also television productions, series, and online television. In 2003, a separate ceremony was launched for the TV awards, and in 2017, the event became a separate event, named the Chicago International Television Festival. Winners and runners-up for the various categories, which include Gold and Silver Hugos, are listed on the film festival website.