The 53rd Chicago International Film Festival (CIFF) is Oct. 12-26, featuring 36 films directed by women. The two-week festival will screen 140 films at the AMC River East downtown during the two-week festival, 25 percent of which have women at the helm.
Cinema/Chicago is the presenting organization of CIFF, “A year round non-profit arts and education organization dedicated to fostering better communication between people of diverse cultures through the art form of the moving image.” Their mission to promote diversity in film is evident in the festival’s representation of not only ethnicities, but gender – from award-winning director Petra Volpe’s The Divine Order to Zaida Bergroth’s sister epic Miami.
Full list of women directors represented at this year’s CIFF:
Zaida Bergroth (Finland) Miami
Nancy Buirski (U.S.) The Rape of Recy Taylor
Laura Checkoway (U.S.) Edith and Eddie
Claire Denis (France) Let the Sunshine In
Natalia Garagiola (Argentina/France) Hunting Season
Eva Gardos (Hungary) Budapest Noir
Anahita Ghazvinizadeh (U.S./Qatar) They
Sofia Gomez-Cordova (mexico) The Blue Years
Maryam Goormaghtigh (Switzerland/France) Before Summer Ends
Valeska Grisebach (Germany, Bulgaria, Austria) Western
Kaouther Ben Hania (Tunisia/France/sweden/Norway) Beauty and the Dogs
Kathleen Hepburn (Canada) Never Steady, Never Still
Monika Hielscher (Germany) Pre-crime (co-director)
Atsuko Hirayanagi (Japan, U.S.) Oh, Lucy!
Agnieszka Holland (Poland) Spoor
Catherine Hunter (Australia) Glenn Murcutt: Spirit of Place
Carolina Jabor (Brazil) Liquid Truth
Joanna Kos-Krauze (Poland) Birds Are Singing in Kigali
Ruth Mader (Austria) Life Guidance
Marta Meszaros (Hungary) Aurora Borealis
Laura Mora (Colombia/Argentina) Killing Jesus
Lucia Murat (Brazil/Argentina) Paris Square
Lissette Orozco (Chile) Adriana’s Pact
Vanessa Redgrave (UK) Sea Sorrow
Maria Sadowska (Poland) The Art of Loving
Marcela Said (Chile/France) Los Perros
Laura Schroeder (Luxemborg/Belgium) Barrage
Carla Simon (Spain) Summer 1993
Tracy Heather Strain (U.S.) Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart
Camille Thoman (U.S.) Never Here
Ayse Toprak (France/Germany/Turkey) Mr. Gay Syria
Ana Urushadze (Georgia/Estonia) Scary Mother
Paula Van Der Oest (Netherlands) Younger Days
Agnes Varda, Jr (France) Faces Places
Petra Volpe (Switzerland) The Divine Order
Ina Weisse (Germany) The Neue Nationalgalerie
Tickets and passes for CIFF are now available at https://www.chicagofilmfestival.com/.
Featured photo: Agnieszka Holland’s Polish feature Spoor.
Middle photo: Vanessa Redgrave’s directorial debut Sea Sorrow.
