57th Chicago International Film Festival Announces Audience Choice Awards, Presented By Xfinity

Audiences Respond to Stories of Drive, Devotion, and Human Connection; International Oscar Contenders Among Competition Award Winners

CHICAGO, Illinois -- The Chicago International Film Festival closed its 57th edition on Sunday October 24, and today announces the winners of the Audience Choice Awards in four categories: International Fiction, English-Language Film, Documentary, and Short Film. The Festival’s Audience Choice Awards are presented by Xfinity.
 
 The Audience Choice Award for English-Language Film goes to the Festival’s Closing Night presentation, KING RICHARD, Reinaldo Marcus Green’s inspiring story of an undeterred father who raised two of the most extraordinarily gifted athletes of all time, and the Audience Choice Award for Best Documentary goes to PUNCH 9 FOR HAROLD WASHINGTON, Joe Winston’s chronicle of Chicago’s first Black mayor, which held its World Premiere at the Festival. The International Fiction winner is Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s DRIVE MY CAR, which also won the Silver Hugo Jury Prize.
 
 The Audience Choice for Short Film is shared by Black Perspectives entry ARTISTIC by director Nina Lee, and DEATH AND THE LADY from directors Geoff Bailey and Lucy Struever, which played in the Family-Friendly Animation program.
 
 “In a year of uncertainty for in-person events, audiences embraced the return to theatres as they awarded two films that were only available in-theater this year,” said Chicago International Film Festival Artistic Director Mimi Plauché. “Filmmakers have demonstrated their irrepressible creativity and enormous resilience making and putting their films out this year, and audiences embraced and celebrated them, whether screening at the drive-in, at the multiplex, at the art-house, or even at home virtually.”
 
 In a live broadcast via the Festival’s YouTube page on Friday October 22, the Chicago International Film Festival announced the winners of this year’s jury competitions.
 
 The Gold Hugo in the International Competition went to Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s beguiling, beautiful MEMORIA, while Ryuske Hamaguchi’s DRIVE MY CAR took the Silver Hugo Jury Prize; both films are their respective countries’ selections for the Academy Awards® Best International Feature category. Hamaguchi’s WHEEL OF FORTUNE AND FANTASY also came out a winner, picking up the Silver Q-Hugo in the Festival’s OutLook Competition.
 
 The Gold Hugo in the New Directors Competition went to BROTHER’S KEEPER from director Ferit Karahan, with Simón Mesa Soto’s AMPARO taking the Silver Hugo in that category. SKÁL, from Cecille Debell and Maria Tórgarõ, won the Gold Hugo in the International Documentary Competition and Sergei Loznitsa’s BABI YAR. CONTEXT took the Silver Hugo.
 
 The Gold Q-Hugo in the Festival’s OutLook Competition went to GREAT FREEDOM from Sebastien Miese, Austria’s official Academy Awards® submission for Best International Feature. This year’s Chicago Award, presented to the director of an outstanding film in the Festival’s City & State program, went to Margaret Byrne for her documentary ANY GIVEN DAY. The complete list of jury honorees is as follows:
 
 International Feature Film Competition

Gold Hugo
 MEMORIA (Colombia)

Dir. Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Silver Hugo - Jury Award
 DRIVE MY CAR (Japan)
 Dir. Ryusuke Hamagushi
 
 Silver Hugo - Best Director
 Peter Kerekes
 107 MOTHERS (Slovakia, Czech Republic, Ukraine)

 Silver Hugo - Best Male Performance
 Bouli Lanners
 NOBODY HAS TO KNOW (France, Belgium, U.K.)

Silver Hugo - Best Female Performance
 Michelle Fairley
 NOBODY HAS TO KNOW (France, Belgium, U.K.)
 
 Silver Hugo - Best Screenplay
 Aleksandre Koberidze
 WHAT DO WE SEE WHEN WE LOOK AT THE SKY? (Germany, Georgia)
 
 Silver Hugo - Best Cinematography
 Kasper Tuxen
 THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD (Norway)
 
 Silver Plaque - Best Art Direction
 Sergey Fevralev
 CAPTAIN VOLKONOGOV ESCAPED (Russia, France, Estonia)
 
 Honorable Mention
 PRAYERS FOR THE STOLEN (Mexico, Germany, Brazil, Qatar)
 Dir. Tatiana Huezo
 
 New Directors Competition

 Gold Hugo
 BROTHER’S KEEPER (Turkey, Romania)
 Dir. Ferit Karahan
 
 Silver Hugo
 AMPARO (Colombia, Sweden, Qatar)
 Dir. Simón Mesa Soto
 
 International Documentary Competition

 Gold Hugo
 SKÁL (Faroe Islands, Denmark)
 Dirs.: Cecilie Debell and Maria Tórgarõ
 
 Silver Hugo
 BABI YAR. CONTEXT (The Netherlands, Ukraine)
 Dir: Sergei Loznitsa

OutLook Competition
 
 Gold Q-Hugo
 GREAT FREEDOM (Austria, Germany)
 Dir. Sebastien Miese
 
 Silver Q-Hugo
 WHEEL OF FORTUNE AND FANTASY (Japan)
 Dir. Hamaguchi Ryusuke
 
 Special Mention
 PARIS, 13th DISTRICT (France)
 Dir. Jacques Audiard

 Chicago Award
 

ANY GIVEN DAY (U.S.)
 Dir. Margaret Byrne
 
 Honorable Mention
 CLOSE TIES TO HOME COUNTRY (U.S.)
 Dir. Akanksha Cruzynski

Animated Short Film Competition

Gold Hugo
 AFFAIRS OF THE ART (U.K.)
 Dir. Joanna Quinn
 
 Silver Hugo
 NUEVO RICO (U.S.)
 Dir. Kristian Mercado

Documentary Short Film Competition

Gold Hugo
 GREETINGS FROM MYANMAR (Norway)
 Dirs. Sunniva Sundby, Andreas J. Riiser
 
 Silver Hugo
 LISTEN TO THE BEAT OF OUR IMAGES (France)
 Dirs. Audrey Jean Baptiste, Maxime Jean Baptiste
 

Live Action Short Film Competition

Gold Hugo
 SIDERAL (Brazil)
 Dir. Carlos Segundo
 
 Silver Hugo
 FILIPIÑANA (Philippines)
 Dir. Rafael Manuel

For more information, visit our website at https://www.chicagofilmfestival.com/.

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