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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