CIFF 2016 Preview: “La La Land,” “Moonlight” and More
Movie lovers in the Windy City have a massive treat in store for them when the Chicago International Film Festival kicks off this week. Boasting the strongest line-up in recent […]
Tag Archives: Chicago International Film Festival
Gaite Jansen on “Supernova”
There are few films that provide as fitting an accompaniment to the waning days of summer as Tamar van den Dop’s “Supernova.” It was made and released in the Netherlands […]
Indie Outlook: Fourth Anniversary
Four years ago, I began this independent film blog as a labor of love dedicated to covering the latest gems in recent cinema. Talking with filmmakers about their work has […]
Dietrich Brüggemann on “Heil”
In the fall of 2014, I was covering the Chicago International Film Festival when I stumbled upon Dietrich Brüggemann’s German drama “Stations of the Cross.” It was a shattering portrait […]
Deniz Gamze Ergüven on “Mustang”
Watching Deniz Gamze Ergüven’s feature directorial debut, “Mustang,” at last year’s Chicago International Film Festival was the sort of experience moviegoers yearn to have every time they step foot in […]
Top 20 Films of 2015: Part I
It’s a weird time to be talking about movies. We are perched at a precarious point in the history of our species, with cultural divisions and ideological extremism threatening to […]
Valerie Weiss on “A Light Beneath Their Feet”
“By turns endearing, unsettling, and ultimately moving, ‘A Light Beneath Their Feet’ is a triumph of empathetic filmmaking. There are no heroes and villains in this story, just ordinary people […]
Rebecca Parrish on “Radical Grace”
Few films this year have left me feeling more elated and hopeful than Rebecca Parrish’s sublime documentary, “Radical Grace.” It follows three key members of the “Nuns on the Bus” […]
CIFF 2015: Eight Films to Remember
Jury duty is a term that has aggravated random citizens and demolished carefully coordinated schedules for generations. Yet in the case of my experience on the New Directors jury at […]
CIFF 2015: Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson on “Anomalisa”
“Apparently I like to have people not understand each other,” mused Charlie Kaufman during our conversation prior to the Chicago International Film Festival’s October 21st screening of his latest masterpiece, […]
