DAY SIX Podtalk: Chinonye Chukwu for ‘Clemency’ at 55th Chicago International Film Festival

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CHICAGO – “I’m a filmmaker” proclaimed director Chinonye Chukwu on the Red Carpet at the 55th Chicago International Film Festival, before the screening of her new film “Clemency.” That exchange took place on Black Perspectives Night, October 19th, 2019, and it expressed the passion of creating the film.

Director Chinonye Chukwu at the 55th Chicago International Film Festival for ‘Clemency’
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto at HollywoodChicago.com

The Chicago International Film Festival Celebrates DAY SIX of the City-with-the-Big-Shoulders movie spectacular. Today is the day for the short films program as SHORTS 1 (“Here Now”), 3 (“Up All Night”), 5 (“Life and Something More”) all screen at various times, and notable fall films like JO JO RABBIT and JUST MERCY are also shown, with Red Carpets for those casts.Click here for a complete rundown of DAY SIX screenings and events.

Alfre Woodard delivers a searing performance as Bernadine Williams, a prison warden who dutifully carries out executions in a maximum-security prison. After a botched procedure, cracks begin to surface in her stoic demeanor, and her growing bond with a doomed inmate pushes Bernadine toward a powerful personal reckoning. In only her second feature and winner of the Sundance Grand Jury Prize, director Chinonye Chukwu crafts an astute character study of a strong-willed woman trying to salvage what remains of her soul.

Alfre Woodard in ‘Clemency’
Photo credit: ChicagoFilmFest.com

In a Podtalk with Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com – on the Black Perspectives Red Carpet of the 55th Chicago International Film Festival – director Chinonye Chukwu talks prep work for “Clemency” and her journey as a filmmaker.

By PATRICK McDONALD Editor and Film Writer HollywoodChicago.com pat@hollywoodchicago.com