CHICAGO, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) — The 59th Chicago International Film Festival (CIFF) kicked off Wednesday with a gap evening film on the Music Box Theatre in downtown Chicago.
The opening movie “We Grown Now” tells the story of two younger boys discovering the thrill and hardships of rising up in Chicago’s Cabrini-Green public housing advanced round 1992.
“Every year, the Chicago International Film Festival brings films from all over the world to Chicago, highlighting the stories of people from different backgrounds, ethnicities, and countries to expand our understanding of the world and further the critical discourse,” stated Charles Droege, CIFF board chair. “This year, we are showcasing 150 plus films from 50-plus different countries.”
CIFF is North America’s longest-running aggressive movie pageant. This yr’s theme is Critics Welcome, which embraces questions and conversations on the movies.
“We invite Chicago audiences to awaken their inner film critic,” stated Mimi Plauche, Artistic Director of CIFF. Such conversations would make audiences’ expertise “more enriching, more engaging and more layered,” she stated.
The pageant program contains an International Competition, New Directors Competition, Documentary Competition and Short Film Competition.
“Only the River Flows,” a Chinese movie directed by Wei Shujun, who additionally co-wrote the screenplay, is chosen for the International Competition, a class CIFF defines as movies which can be “masterful, stylish, and bold” and “represent the best in modern filmmaking from around the globe.”
Films chosen from different Asian international locations embrace India, Indonesia, Japan and South Korea.
The 59th CIFF runs till Oct. 22, with movies proven at seven venues throughout town.