2015 Chicago International Film Festival Poster
Chicago, Illinois (October 15, 2024) – Governor JB Pritzker has proclaimed tomorrow, October 16, 2024 as “Chicago International Film Festival Day” in the state of Illinois, in honor of the Opening Night of this year’s Festival, the 60th edition of the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. Opening Night will take place at the iconic Music Box Theater, with a 6:30 p.m. showing of John David Washington’s and Maicolm Washington’s new film, “The Piano Lesson.” (John David and Malcolm are the sons of Denzel Washington.)
The Chicago International Film Festival made its debut November 9, 1965 at the original Carnegie Theatre at Rush and Oak Streets in Chicago, Illinois; The Festival runs from October 16 – 27, 2024 at venues throughout the city.This year, its 60th, the Chicago International Film Festival presents 122 feature films and 71 short films, and welcomes more than 200 filmmakers, actors, artists, and industry professionals to Chicago over the course of the Festival. It is my 21st Chicago International Film Festival, many of them as Press, all as Cinema Chicago member and film enthusiast.
I’ve been trying to get ahead of the rush (especially on documentaries) of films being shown this year.
“Memoir of a Snail”
Today, I finally got to see “Memoir of a Snail,” an Australian animated film that I’ve been just missing at various film festivals, most recently in Nashville. The New York Times gave it a glowing review and it has been racking up nominations and wins for Best Animated Film in places like London, Ottawa and Catalonia. Writer/Director Adam Elliot is coming to Chicago with the film and it is definitely one of the more unusual animated films I’ve seen (Disney it isn’t.)
The film’s release date was June 12, 2024. It is an R-rated animated story of the lives of twins Grace and Gilbert Pudel. Told Primarily by Grace, her largely unhappy life left me feeling fairly gloomy by the end of the 94-minute biographical tale. It did have a take-away message for all of us: “The worst cages are the ones we create for ourselves.” And there was a bit of a “surprise” happy ending that helped alleviate the sadness of this melancholy piece.
Original it is. It’s not every animated film that has a pyromaniac, a kleptomaniac, and an alcoholic with sleep apnea folded into a family tale of loss and heartache, with some adult humor thrown in to leaven the mix. One of the things that makes this film so unusual (besides the tear-filled eyes of the animated figures in nearly every scene) are the voice actors who represent them. It’s not often that you see a voice cast any more talented or well-known than this one, which has Sarah Snook, Eric Bana, Jackie Weaver and Kodi Smit-McPhee participating.
DOCUMENTARIES: SNEAK PEAK
But my purpose in posting tonight, one day before the film festival gets underway, was to rank order four documentaries that I have seen, in case you venture out. These are not complete reviews, but small sneak peaks, as some are not yet released and embargoed until those dates.
Marius the giraffe at the Copenhagen zo
- “Life and Other Problems:” I absolutely loved this documentary. It is filled with age-old questions like “What is the meaning of life?” and they arise because the head of the Copenhagen zoo in Denmark plans to euthanize a perfectly healthy 2-year-old giraffe at the zoo. This sets off a firestorm of controversy. My complete review of the documentary will appear on October 20th (Sunday), the date of its official release.
Adam Kinzinger.
- “The Last Republican” – Adam Kinzinger was a rising star in the Republican party until he stood up for what he believes in and called out Donald J. Trump on his instigation of January 6th. I read Kinzinger’s book (“Renegade: Defending Liberty and Democracy in Our Divided Country”) and he represented an area in Illinois quite near where I live. Plus, his successor (Darrin LaHood) grew up practically next door. I also found the fact that Director Steve Pink previously directed “Hot Tub Time Machine” interesting. It’s a well-done look at the price that those who stand up for their principles may have to pay in the face of the cult-like following of a Donald J. Trump. It was 88 minutes of a repetition of history that all voters should see before November 5th. Most interesting little-known fact: when Kinzinger was 12 years old, he was so “in” to politics (even then) that he dressed up as Jim Edgar (Illinois Governor) for Halloween. (I wonder if anyone knew who he was supposed to be?) See this one if you want a reminder of what went down on January 6th and how truth has fallen victim to the cult of personality.
‘Slice of Life: The American Dream. In Former Pizza Huts.” North American Premiere at 60th Chicago International Film Festival (Oct. 16-27,
- “Slice of Life: The American Dream. In Former Pizza Huts” (83 minutes) – This one gives us the history of the founding of Pizza Hut in 1958, with one of the actual founders onscreen (Dan Carney). It is a North American Premiere. It is also a look at the rise and fall of the Pizza Hut franchise, which was sold to PepsiCo for $319 million. Since then, former Pizza Hut buildings have been converted into churches, BBQ joints, taco restaurants, karaoke bars and everything in between. It’s interesting and informative. (My husband and I wondered what happened to all the Pizza Hut restaurants we used to frequent.) My favorite anecdote from the documentary was how the founding Carney brothers (Dan and Frank), trying to save money, accepted the offer of a free oven being discarded by another restaurant, which had thrown it out. They took the oven and installed it for the opening of their new business, but somebody forgot to clean it out. The bird’s nest inside caught fire on the Big Opening Night, filling the room with smoke, so they had to cancel the festivities. Anecdotes like that will keep you watching.
- “My Stolen Planet” – This documentary from Iran reminded me of one I saw at another CIFF that had been shot entirely on a cell phone. That one was documenting how Palestinians had to go to great lengths to enter Israel to work and the technical quality, of course, was raw. That didn’t affect the important information that seeing the documentary conveyed, which has added immensely to my understanding of the current Gaza Strip hostilities and how they arose. Likewise, this documentary contains important insight into the life of a woman in Iran, but much of it is gleaned from abandoned Super 8 film left behind by those who have fled the country because of its repression of women. No singing. No music No dancing and rules about dress and deportment that have famously cost innocent victims their lives. The problem I had with the film is that the old Super 8 clips jumped so badly that I have not yet finished it, because I began to get a terrible headache from the jumpy frames. Or perhaps it was just the sheer desperation and gloom of seeing entire classes of young Iranians being taught to shout (in unison) “Death to America!” (or that slogan on buildings as a car passes by.) Director Farahnaz Sharifi, who is a much honored Iranian filmmaker and was forced into exile in 2022, is to be applauded for her bravery in sharing her story. I will finish the 82-minute film because it is an important glimpse of a people crying out for help in the fact of an oppressive regime. However, it comes in at #4 because it was the last of the ones I have seen, to date, and my eyes need to recover. My soul will still be tearing up for the women depicted in this film, but my eyes will be fine after a brief respite.
“My Stolen Planet.”