Film News: 2013 Chicago International Film Festival Schedule Announced

Submitted by BrianTT on September 17, 2013 - 11:35am

CHICAGO – The Chicago International Film Festival revealed their schedule for the 2013 incarnation, which runs from Oct. 10-24, 2013, and it’s their most impressive in years, including new works by Alexander Payne, Joel & Ethan Coen, Steve McQueen, John Wels, Abdellatif Kechiche, Dario Argento, Bill Condon, John McNaughton, Kore-eda Kirokazu, Stephen Frears, Tsai Ming-Liang, Errol Morris, and dozens more.

Nebraska
Photo credit: Paramount Vantage

Alexander Payne’s “Nebraska” will be a centerpiece film and the fest will close with the Coen’s “Inside Llewyn Davis.” Dario Argento will attend with his “Dracula 3D” and Errol Morris and Bruce Dern will both accept achievement awards. Hot off its Toronto Film Festival Award win, “12 Years a Slave” will make its Chicago premiere.

Films in competition are listed below. Stay tuned to HollywoodChicago.com for all the latest news, previews, and interviews for the 2013 Chicago International Film Festival. And go here for the full schedule andto purchase tickets.

Banklady Germany (Director: Christian Alvart) — Banklady tells the true story of Gisela Werler, a law-abiding factory worker from Hamburg who falls in love with a thief and becomes a media darling as Germany’s first and most notorious female bank robber. Cunning, sexy, and exciting, Gisela and her beloved Hermann pull off one daring heist after another. Banklady follows this outlaw who captured Germany’s imagination, boldly defying gender expectations and living a decades-long Bonnie and Clyde romance. North American Premiere.

Blue Ruin USA (Director: Jeremy Saulnier) — Blue Ruin is a classic American revenge story that recently won the FIPRESCI International Critics Prize at the Cannes Film Festival where it screened in the Directors’ Fortnight. The film follows a mysterious outsider whose quiet life is turned upside down when he returns to his childhood home to carry out an act of assassin, he winds up in a brutal fight to protect his estranged family. Chicago Premiere

How To Describe A Cloud Netherlands (Director: David Verbeek) — Liling, a hip young DJ, returns to her rural village to care for her ailing mother. On the advice of the doctor, she tries to slow her blind mother’s memory loss by describing the world around her. As Liling herself struggles to stay connected to the physical world, she begins to become subsumed in her mother’s world of mysticism and imagination. Beautifully dreamlike, this sincere and poignant film follows Liling as she grows closer to her fading mother. Chicago Premiere.

Just a Sigh France (Director: Jérôme Bonnell) — Between performances of an Ibsen play in Calais, actress Alix (exquisitely played by Emmanuelle Devos) travels to Paris for an audition. On the train, she meets a mysterious, stoic Englishman (Gabriel Byrne). Played out over the course of a day, the film beautifully chronicles the blossoming of an all-too-brief love affair between the two, a momentary romance that brings hope and passion into Alix’s harried life, and comfort to her lover. Chicago Premiere

Lifelong Turkey/Germany/Netherlands (Director: Asli Özge) — This expertly crafted, gorgeously shot drama explores the fading connection between Ela, a respected artist, and her husband Can, a successful architect. As the two grow apart, Ela worries that Can is cheating on her. Though in preparation for a major gallery show, Ela finds herself increasingly distracted. With the sophisticated tautness of a thriller and the devastating emotion of a tragedy, Lifelong tracks one relationship’s heartbreaking disintegration. North American Premiere.

A Long And Happy Life Russia (Director: Boris Khlebnikov) — Sasha, a city kid with agrarian ambitions, moved to the country to head up a collective farming project, determined to make the experiment work. A recent local government offer to buy up the farmland seems too good to resist, but Sasha becomes staunch in his decision to stay. Bolstered by the resolution of the local farmworkers, he is pitted against the stakeholders in a decision that may cost him his livelihood – or his life – in this heady social realist drama. Chicago Premiere.

The Miracle (Denmark) Director: Simon Staho — Jakob and Johanna were first loves, best friends, and ballroom dancers—until she found a better partner. Years later, embittered Jakob returns to find the once vibrant dancer wheelchair-bound and trapped in an unhappy marriage to the local priest, who makes the hoped-for miracle of her recovery the center of his ministry. Their romance rekindled, they must choose between love and security. A sense of mystery and doom pervade this gripping drama about passion, faith, and perversity. US Premiere.

My Sweet Pepper Land Iraq/France/Germany (Director: Hiner Saleem) — After the fall of Saddam Hussein, two unlikely allies converge in a war-torn Kurdish village at the borders of Iran, Iraq, and Turkey. Both Baran, a former Kurdish independence war hero, and Govend, a beautiful young woman defying tradition by accepting a post at a newly-opened school, are hell-bent on seeing order and civilization restored to their damaged country. Elements of the Western genre combine with awe-inspiring landscapes in director Hiner Saleem’s socially-inflected frontier tale. North American Premiere.

The Notebook Hungary (Director: János Szász) — This atmospheric WWII thriller follows twin boys sent to the Hungarian countryside to wait out the war’s violent barrage with their embittered, cruel grandmother. Only 13 but grimly determined to survive, the brothers decide that the only way to endure the horrors of war is by extinguishing their own humanity. A chilling portrait of young psyches warped by inconceivable trauma, this critical and audience favorite took the top prize at the prestigious Karlovy Vary Film Festival. Chicago Premiere.

Pioneer Norway (Director: Erik Skjoldbjærg) — In this gripping, white-knuckle thriller, the Norwegian government has enlisted an American diving company to guide their efforts to tap into the North Sea’s immense oil deposits. Petter and a Norwegian team of divers take on the extremely perilous task of guiding the pipeline 500 meters below the surface. When a sudden accident leads to disaster, Petter must come to terms with the tragedy while attempting to uncover where responsibility lies, quickly running afoul of a sinister conspiracy. Chicago Premiere.

The Priest’s Children Croatia/Serbia (Director: Vinko Brešan) — Troubled by his small island’s dwindling population, the young and dogmatic Father Fabijan teams up with the local pharmacist and newsstand vendor to take family planning into his own hands. Soon the picturesque island town is awash with pregnant women and shotgun marriages, and word of the island’s fertility turns it into a vacation spot for foreign tourists. The unintended consequences of the plan soon spin out of control in this irreverent, hilarious dark comedy. US Premiere.

Stray Dogs Taiwan/France (Director: Tsai Ming-Liang) — The latest film from Taiwanese master Tsai Ming-Liang (The Wayward Cloud) tells the story of a father and his two children who live on the margins in Taipei. Squatting in an abandoned building, they get by on handouts and the father’s meager salary as a human billboard. Mysterious and affecting, the story of the father’s unwinding is told with the sublime, rapturous beauty that has come to be associated with Tsai’s work in one of his most emotionally powerful films. Chicago Premiere

A Thousand Times Good Night Norway (Director: Erik Poppe) — A Thousand Times Good Night follows driven war photographer Rebecca (Juliette Binoche in one of her most powerful performances), known for her willingness to tackle risky subjects. While photographing suicide bombers, she is badly hurt in an explosion. When she returns home to Norway, her husband (Game of Thrones’ Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and daughter are tired of her risking her life on dangerous assignments. They give her an ultimatum, making her choose between her work and her family. US Premiere.

The Verdict Belgium (Director: Jan Verheyen) — A successful businessman with a beautiful wife and daughter, Luc Segers leads an idyllic life. It all falls apart when a botched burglary leads to the murder of his wife and the death of his daughter. Luc quickly identifies the killer but a procedural error lets him off scot-free, devastating Luc even further. A taut, award-winning courtroom thriller, The Verdict follows Luc’s obsessive efforts to enact justice. US Premiere.

Walesa: Man Of Hope Poland (Director: Andrzej Wajda) — Lech Walesa, an electrician, husband, and new father, works at the Gdansk shipyard. Arrested at a protest, Walesa discovers that he is a born leader. When he speaks, people respond, and he soon becomes the voice and face of the growing Solidarity movement. Aware of the dangers his position entails, he is still determined to fight for his country. Legendary director Andrzej Wajda (Ashes and Diamonds, Katyn) tells the inspiring story of a Nobel Peace Prize-winning leader. US Premiere

Le Week-End UK (Director: Roger Michell) — An unreservedly honest, emotionally resonant love story from director Roger Michell (Notting Hill) and screenwriter Hanif Kureishi (My Beautiful Laundrette), Le Week-End follows Meg (Lindsay Duncan) and Nick (Jim Broadbent), whose 30-year marriage is dominated by routine and built up resentments. An anniversary holiday to Paris only makes matters worse, with each word and action inciting deep-seated rancor. An accidental meeting with an old American colleague (Jeff Goldblum) challenges the couple to find some way to re-ignite the spark. Chicago Premiere.