In
keeping with the largely celebratory nature marking its half-century of
existence as North America’s longest-running competitive international film
festival, the Chicago International Film Festival spread the wealth around
during its award ceremony last night. Held at the Sofitel Chicago Water Tower
and hosted by entertainment reporter/film critic Bill Zwecker, the show
presented prizes to a wide variety of feature films, documentaries and shorts
from around the world and also featured festival founder Michael Kutza
presenting a special award to a Hollywood favorite on the eve of the release of
his highly praised new film and the introduction of a special award named
after the late Roger Ebert.
The
winner of the festival’s top prize, the Golden Hugo, was “The
President,” the dark political satire that saw acclaimed Iranian filmmaker
Mohsen Mahkmalbaf travel to Georgia to tell the story of the dictator of a
former Russian Republic who is overthrown in a coup, and who, along with his
grandson, winds up living amongst the people he once ruled with an iron fist, getting a close-up look at what they have had to endure over the years
because of his whims. The award was announced by actress Kathleen Turner,
president of the International Feature Film Competition jury, and was accepted
by Mahkmalbaf through a pre-recorded video.
Following
the Golden Hugo reveal, Kutza announced that he was presenting The Founder’s
Award, a special prize that is “given to that one film or performance
across all categories that captures the spirit of the Chicago International
Film Festival for its unique and innovative approach to the art of the moving
image, to Michael Keaton for his already-celebrated performance in the trippy
dark comedy “Birdman,” which will be screening at the festival
tonight and which will open locally next week. According to Kutza, Keaton’s
performance “moved me deeply; it confirmed that Keaton is not only one of
our greatest American actors, but one whose work will soon be reevaluated and
further appreciated.”
Among the
other prizes presented by the International Feature Film jury, the Special Jury
Prize, essentially the runner-up award, went to the Argentinian psychological
drama “Refugiago.” Abderrrahmane Sissako won the Best Director award for
“Timbuktu,” his drama about a small Arab town overrun by Islamic
extremist. The Best Actor award went to Anton Yelchin for his work in
“Rudderless,” the directorial debut of William H. Macy which just
opened in theaters this weekend. Geraldine Chaplin, the daughter of Charlie
Chaplin and an acclaimed actress in her own right, was named Best Actress for
her performance as an older French woman involved in a tricky relationship with
a much younger woman in the Dominican Republic. Best Screenplay went to
siblings Ronit and Shlomi Elkabetz for “Gett: The Trial of Viviane
Amsalem,” the powerful tale of an Israeli woman’s five-year struggle to
obtain a divorce from her recalcitrant husband. John Christian Rosenlund received the award for
Best Cinematography for his work on the quirky Norwegian comedy-drama
“1001 Grams.” Additional prizes were given to the Italian drama
“Human Capital” for Mauro Radaelli’s art direction, the Danish
coming-of-age drama “Speed Walking” for the costume design by Pia
Myrdal and Anne-Dorthe Eskildsen and to Adilkhan Yerzhanov’s dark comedy from
Kazakhstan, “The Owners.”
Among the
sidebar collections handing out awards, the New Directors
Competition–involving first or second feature films receiving their U.S.
premieres at the festival–gave its Gold Hugo to the Swedish drama
“Underdog” and its Silver Hugo to “Next to Her,” an Israeli
film dealing with a young woman who is the sole caretaker for her mentally
handicapped sister. That same jury honored “La Tirisia” with the Roger Ebert Award. Docufest, a program of new documentaries, gave its Gold
Hugo to “Echo of the Mountain,” a film celebrating the life and work
of Mexican muralist Santos de la Torre. Outfest, a collection of LGBT-themes
features, gave its Gold Q Hugo to the Greek film “Xenia” and its
Silver Q Hugo to “Something Must Break.” The Chicago Award, a prize
given to the best feature or short from an Illinois-based artist, went to
emerging director Marie Ullrich’s “The Alley Cat.”
In the
Short Film competition, the Gold Hugo” went to the Norwegian film
“Amazon” and the Silver Hugo to the American entry “In
August.” Other live-action shorts that received awards included the U.S.A.
film “Skunk,” Iceland’s “Artun,” France’s “The
Immaculates” and “Prehistoric Cabaret” and Greece’s
“Washingtonia.” The documentary short prizes went to the Russian film
“Love, Love, Love,” Australia’s “Ghost Train” and Cuba’s
“A Paraadise. In the animation category, the Silver Hugo went to the Irish
film “Coda” and other prizes went to Hungary’s “Symphony No.
42,” the U.S.A’s “Drifting” and South Korea’s “Man on the
Chair.”
Many of
the winners of this year’s awards have either yet to have their official
festival screenings or will be brought back on Wednesday night as part of the
Best of the Festival program and the screenings will take place at the AMC
River East 21 theaters. TIckets and passes can be purchased in person at the
theater or the Festival Office (300 E. Adams, Suite 600), over the phone at
(312) 332-FILM or online at chicagofilmfestival.com For further information on
titles, running times, ticket prices and availability and program changes, not
to mention a full schedule of events, go to the festival site at chicagofilmfestival.com
