Documentary

CHICAGO – The Chicago International Film Festival (CIFF) is competitive, and the 56th edition presented its awards on October 23rd, 2020, as a live virtual and online event on the CIFF YouTube page. The winner of the Gold Hugo as Best International Film was “Sweat” (France), directed by Magnus von Horn.

CHICAGO – The 56th Chicago International Film Festival will honor a prime comic force on its Opening Night on Wednesday, October 14th, 2020. The premiere of the Showtime documentary “Belushi” is a chronicle of John Belushi, directed by R.J. Cutler.

CHICAGO – The 56th Chicago International Film Festival will honor the town and one of its favorite sons on its Opening Night on Wednesday, October 14th, 2020. The premiere of the Showtime documentary “Belushi” is a chronicle of John Belushi, directed by R.J. Cutler.

CHICAGO – It’s one week to go until the Opening Night of the 56th Chicago International Film Festival, as this year’s fest goes virtual and online. But also as a “hybrid,” the fest mixes in special events, eight drive-in screenings and opportunities/programming in a wide range of special offerings. Although the structure of the Festival may be different, the scope of their film selection for cinema fans is still in place.

CHICAGO – In the landscape of life, not many have experienced a journey like Jian Ping. Raised in China, she was a child during the political reign of Chairman Mao Zedong. Eventually ending up in Chicago, she wrote her 2008 memoir “Mulberry Child” about her childhood, which was made into a documentary and directed by Susan Morgan Cooper. The doc is now on Amazon Prime.

CHICAGO – Back in 2017, I had the honor to talk to one of my favorite Chicago filmmakers, absorbing his highly tuned perspective. Lonnie Edwards broke out in 2014 with the award-winning short film “Parietal Guidance,” and from there has commented on black and societal issues with his films “A Ferguson Story,” “Exodus: Sounds of the Great Migration” and his latest “Periphery.”

CHICAGO – “The show must go on … “ That became the rallying cry of the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival, which was physically postponed because of the Covid pandemic (it was originally scheduled from April 15-26). Despite that unexpected turn, the Festival went online, named juries and awarded honors to films on April 29th.

CHICAGO – It has almost become a sure fact of life that film documentaries have become a focused way to receive vital news/information. Documentarian Lauren Greenfield (“Generation Wealth”) exposes a revelation in “The Kingmaker” … that the Marcos family, once part of a dictatorship, is coming back to power in the Philippines.

CHICAGO – Closing Night of the 55th Chicago International Film Festival was a celebration of a great one, the legendary Blues Man Buddy Guy, who came to Chicago in 1957 and made his mark on music from then on and forever. Filmmaker Jim Farrell captures it all in “The Torch,” the Closing Night documentary.

CHICAGO – The Chicago International Film Festival is competitive, and the 55th edition presented its awards on October 25th, 2019, at CHEZ venue in Chicago. The winner of the Gold Hugo as Best International Film was “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” (France), directed by Céline Sclamma.