top of page
Writer's pictureTeam Acacia

Chicago International Film Festival Announces Centerpiece, Teases Highlights of 59th Edition

SALTBURN Selected as Centerpiece of North America’s Longest-Running Competitive Festival


Chicago, Illinois (September 6, 2023) – The 59th Chicago International Film Festival today announced select highlights of this year’s festival, running October 11 - 22, 2023. Films will be presented at venues throughout the city including the AMC NEWCITY 14, the Music Box Theatre, the Gene Siskel Film Center, the Chicago History Museum, the Hamilton Park Cultural Center in Englewood, Harrison Park in Pilsen, the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts at the University of Chicago, and the Museum of Contemporary Art, as well as virtually via the Festival’s streaming platform.


With Festival Centerpiece film SALTBURN, Academy Award-winning filmmaker Emerald Fennell(PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN) brings us a beautifully wicked tale of privilege and desire. Struggling to find his place at Oxford University, student Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan) finds himself drawn into the world of the charming and aristocratic Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi), who invites him to Saltburn, his eccentric family’s sprawling estate, for a summer never to be forgotten. Fennell will be celebrated at the screening on Thursday, October 19 with this year’s Visionary Award.



Academy Award-nominated Chicago actor Michael Shannon is also set to appear on October 13 with his directorial debut, ERIC LARUE, adapted from Brett Neveu’s 2002 play which had its bow at Shannon’s A Red Orchid Theatre in Chicago. The film follows the shell-shocked Janice (Judy Greer) as she attempts to navigate the aftermath of a shooting spree perpetrated by her son. Also starring Alexander Skarsgård, Paul Sparks, Alison Pill, and Tracy Letts, ERIC LARUE is a penetrating psychological drama about grief, guilt, and atonement that builds to a profound and cathartic conclusion.


In director David Fincher’s highly anticipated THE KILLER, partially shot in Chicago, Michael Fassbender plays an assassin who, after a fateful near-miss, battles his employers (and himself) on an international manhunt he insists isn't personal.

Cannes Palme d’Or winner ANATOMY OF A FALL, Justine Triet’s tension-filled opus, is a bracing, Hitchcockian showstopper following a wife suspected of murdering her husband in the French Alps. The film appears in the Women in Film program.


Also coming off its highly acclaimed Cannes premiere, where it won the Grand Prix and International Film Critics Awards, THE ZONE OF INTEREST, from writer-director Jonathan Glazer (UNDER THE SKIN, BIRTH) tells the story of a commandant of Auschwitz, Rudolf Höss, and his wife Hedwig, who strive to build a dream life for their family in a house and garden next to the camp. The film will screen as a Spotlight Presentation on October 18 with actor Christian Friedel in attendance.


Directed by five-time Tony Award winner George C. Wolfe (LACKAWANNA BLUES, MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM) and starring Emmy winner Colman Domingo in a towering and electrifying performance, RUSTIN tells the story of Bayard Rustin, the architect of the 1963 March on Washington and one of the greatest activists and organizers the world has ever known. The film appears in the Festival’s acclaimed Black Perspectives program.


The Chicago International Film Festival runs October 11 - 22, 2023 with film screenings and programs presented at venues across the city including AMC NEWCITY 14, the Music Box Theatre, the Gene Siskel Film Center, the Chicago History Museum, the Hamilton Park Cultural Center in Englewood, Harrison Park in Pilsen, the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts at the University of Chicago, and the Museum of Contemporary Art. The full slate of films for the 59th edition of North America’s longest-running competitive film festival will be announced September 18, 2023. Tickets for Opening Night are on sale now, with tickets to the rest of the Festival’s presentations going on sale September 22, 2023. Cinema/Chicago members’ pre-sale tickets go on sale September 19, 2023; memberships now available at www.chicagofilmfestival.com/membership.


For more information, visit the Festival’s website at https://www.chicagofilmfestival.com/.


# # #

13 views0 comments

Comments


bottom of page