The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964 by filmmaker and graphic artist Michael Kutza, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America.
The Festival has a history of discovering and showcasing directors including Martin Scorsese, John Carpenter, Ava DuVernay, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Wim Wenders, and more.
In 2025, the Festival featured 150+ films from more than 50 countries over 12 days. Each year, the Festival welcomes more than 40,000 filmmakers and film lovers for 12 days of international and independent cinema.
Festival programming includes the International Competition, New Directors Competition, Documentary, Black Perspectives, After Dark, City & State, Shorts, and more. It is also an Academy Awards qualifying Festival in the categories of Best Live Action Short, Best Documentary Short, and Best Animated Short.
The Festival’s main venue is AMC NEWCITY 14. The Festival also hosts screenings across Chicago, including at Music Box Theatre, the Chicago History Museum, Gene Siskel Film Center, the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, Kennedy-King College, and the National Museum of Mexican Art.
Black Perspectives Program The Chicago International Film Festival’s Black Perspectives Program was founded in 1997 in collaboration with Spike Lee to highlight the excellence and diversity of African American cinema and films by the African diaspora from around the world. In addition to showcasing the work of emerging filmmakers, the program also features an annual tribute, with past honorees that include Viola Davis, Sidney Poitier, Halle Berry, Morgan Freeman, Steve McQueen, and more.
Awards Winners are awarded Hugo Awards (named after a mythological god of discovery "of shadowy origin"; not to be confused with the literary Hugo awards) in eight different competition categories.
International Feature Film Competition Gold Hugo Silver Hugo: Jury Prize Silver Hugo: Best Director Silver Hugo: Best Actor (until 2019) Silver Hugo Award for Best Actress (until 2019) Silver Hugo: Best Performance (from 2020) Silver Hugo: Best Ensemble Performance Silver Hugo: Best Cinematography Silver Hugo: Best Screenplay Silver Hugo: Best Sound Silver Hugo: Best Art Direction New Directors Competition
International Documentary Competition
Out-Look Competition
City & State Competition Chicago Award Live Action Short Film Competition
Documentary Short Film Competition
Animated Short Film Competition
Gold Hugo Year Winning film Director(s) Country 1965 The Lollipop CoverEverett Chambers 1966 Bushido (Bushidō zankoku monogatari)Tadashi Imai 1967 Here's Your Life (Här har du ditt liv) Jan Troell Award section at Svenskfilmdatabas.se (in Swedish) Swedish Film Institute 1968 Innocence Unprotected (Nevinost bez zastite)Dušan Makavejev 1969 Eeny Meeny Miny Moe (Ole dole doff)Jan Troell 1970 The Green Wall (La muralla verde)Armando Robles Godoy 1971 Mon oncle AntoineClaude Jutra 1972 Bleak MomentsMike Leigh 1973 Mirage (Espejismo)Armando Robles Godoy MorgianaJuraj Herz 1974 PirosmaniGeorgy Shengalaya 1975 Land of Promise (Ziemia obiecana)Andrzej Wajda 1976 Kings of the Road (Im Lauf der Zeit)Wim Wenders 1977 The Huntsmen (Oi kynigoi)Theo Angelopoulos 1978 To an Unknown God (A un dios desconocido)Jaime Chávarri 1979 Angi VeraPál Gábor 1980 Camera Buff (Amator)Krzysztof Kieślowski 1981 The German Sisters (Die bleierne Zeit)Margarethe von Trotta 1982 Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy DeanRobert Altman 1983 The South (El Sur)Victor Erice 1984 Khandhar (The Ruins)Mrinal Sen 1985 The Official Story (La historia oficial)Luis Puenzo 1986 Welcome in Vienna (Wohin und zurück)Axel Corti 1987 Whooping Cough (Szamárköhögés) 1988 Little Vera (Malenkaya Vera)Vasili Pichul 1989 Zerograd (Gorod Zero)Karen Chakhnazarov 1990 Ju DouZhang Yimou 1991 DelicatessenJean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro 1992 Dream of Light (El sol del membrillo)Victor Erice 1993 Twinkle (Kira kira hikaru)Joji Matsuoka 1994 71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance (71 Fragmente einer Chronologie des Zufalls)Michael Haneke 1995 Maborosi (Maboroshi no Hikari)Hirokazu Koreeda 1996 Ridicule Patrice Leconte 1997 The Winter Guest Alan Rickman 1998 The Hole (Dong)Tsai Ming-liang 1999 Sachs' Disease (La maladie de Sachs)Michel Deville 2000 Amores perros Alejandro González Iñárritu 2001 Fat Girl (À ma soeur!)Catherine Breillat 2002 Madame Satã Karim Aïnouz 2003 Crimson Gold (Talaye Sorkh) Jafar Panahi 2004 Kontroll Nimród Antal 2005 My Nikifor (Mój Nikifor) Krzysztof Krauze 2006 Fireworks Wednesday (Chaharshanbe Suri) Asghar Farhadi 2007 Silent Light (Stellet Lijcht) Carlos Reygadas 2008 Hunger Steve McQueen 2009 Mississippi Damned Tina Mabry 2010 How I Ended This Summer (Kak ya provyol etim letom) Alexei Popogrebski 2011 Le HavreAki Kaurismäki 2012 Holy MotorsLeos Carax 2013 My Sweet Pepper LandHuner Saleem 2014 The PresidentMohsen Makhmalbaf 2015 A ChildhoodPhilippe Claudel 2016 SieranevadaCristi Puiu 2017 A Sort of FamilyDiego Lerman 2018 Happy as LazzaroAlice Rohrwacher 2019 Portrait of a Lady on FireCéline Sciamma 2020 SweatMagnus von Horn 2021 MemoriaApichatpong Weerasethakul 2022 GodlandHlynur Pálmason 2023 Explanation for EverythingGábor Reisz 2024 VermiglioMaura Delpero 2025 SirātOliver Laxe
Silver Hugo
Jury Award 2025 – The Voice of Hind Rajab, dir. Kaouther Ben Hania (Tunisia, France) 2024 – All We Imagine as Light, dir. Payal Kapadia (India) 2023 – The Delinquents, dir. Rodrigo Moreno (Argentina) 2022 – Close, dir. Lukas Dhont (Belgium) 2021 – Drive My Car, dir. Ryusuke Hamaguchi (Japan) 2020 – Careless Crime, dir. Shahram Mokri (Iran) 2019 – Vitalina Varela, dir. Pedro Costa (Portugal)
Best Director 2025 – Mascha Schilinski (Germany) for Sound of Falling 2024 – Miguel Gomes (Portugal) for Grand Tour 2023 – Aki Kaurismäki (Finland) for Fallen Leaves 2022 – Maryam Touzani (Morocco) for The Blue Caftan 2021 – Peter Kerekes (Slovakia) for 107 Mothers 2020 – Andrei Konchalovsky (Russia) for Dear Comrades! 2019 – Maya Da-Rin (Brazil) for The Fever
Best Actor 2025 – Wagner Moura (Brazil) for The Secret Agent 2024 – Benjamin Voisin (France) for The Quiet Son 2021 – Bouli Lanners (Belgium) for Nobody Has to Know 2019 – Bartosz Bielenia (Poland) for Corpus Christi 2018 – Jesper Christensen (Denmark) for Before the Frost 2017 – Aleksandr Yatsenko (Russia) for Arrhythmia 2016 – Adrian Titieni (Romania) for Graduation 2015 – Alexi Mathieu and Jules Gauzelin (France) for A Childhood 2014 – Anton Yelchin (USA) for Rudderless 2013 – Robert Wieckiewicz (Poland) for Walesa: Man of Hope 2012 – Denis Lavant (France) for Holy Motors 2011 – Maged El Kedwany (Egypt) for 678 2010 – Youssouf Djaoro (Chad) for A Screaming Man 2009 – Filippo Timi (Italy) for Vincere 2008 – Michael Fassbender (Ireland) for Hunger 2007 – Sam Riley (United Kingdom) for Control 2006 – Jürgen Vogel (Germany) for The Free Will 1989 – Jörg Gudzuhn (GDR) for Fallada, letztes Kapitel 1987 – Avtandil Makharadze (Georgia) for Monanieba 1972 – José Luis López Vázquez (Spain) for My Dearest Senorita 1971 – José Luis López Vázquez (Spain) for The Ancines Woods
Best Actress
2025 – Eszter Tompa (Romania) for Kontinental '25 2024 – Elín Hall (Iceland) for When the Light Breaks 2021 – Michelle Fairley (Ireland) for Nobody Has to Know 2019 – Debbie Honeywood (UK) for Sorry We Missed You 2018 – Zhao Tao (China) for Ash Is Purest White 2017 – Jowita Budnik (Poland) and Eliane Umuhire (Rwanda) for Birds Are Singing in Kigali 2016 – Rebecca Hall (UK) for Christine 2015 – Lizzie Brocheré (France) for Full Contact 2014 – Geraldine Chaplin (United States) for Sand Dollars 2013 – Nadeshda Brennicke (Germany) for 2012 – Ulla Skoog (Sweden) for The Last Sentence 2011 – Olivia Colman (UK) for Tyrannosaur 2010 – Liana Liberato (USA) for Trust 2009 – Giovanna Mezzogiorno (Italy) for Vincere 2008 – Preity Zinta (India) for Heaven on Earth 2007 – Yu Nan (China) for Tuya's Marriage 2006 – Viktoriya Isakova, Darya Moroz, Anna Ukolova (Russia) for The Spot 2005 – Inka Friedrich, Nadja Uhl (Germany) for Summer in Berlin 2003 – Ludivine Sagnier (France) for Little Lili
Best Performance 2023 – Ilinca Manolache (Romania) for Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World 2022 – Vicky Krieps (Luxembourg) for Corsage 2020 – Yakusho Koji (Japan) for Under the Open Sky
Best Screenplay 2025 – Paolo Sorrentino (Italy) for La grazia 2024 – Mohammad Rasoulof (Iran) for The Seed of the Sacred Fig 2023 – Gábor Reisz and Éva Schulze (Hungary) for Explanation for Everything 2022 – Alice Diop, Amrita David, and Marie NDiaye (France) for Saint Omer 2021 – Alexandre Koberidze (Georgia) for What Do We See When We Look at the Sky? 2020 – Christos Nikou and Stavros Raptis (Greece) for Apples 2019 – Pema Tseden (China) for Balloon
Best Editing 2024 – Telmo Churro and Pedro Filipe Marques (Portugal) for Grand Tour
Best Cinematography 2025 – Gergely Pálos (Hungary) for Silent Friend 2023 – Hélène Louvart (France) for La Chimera 2022 – Maria von Hausswolff (Iceland) for Godland 2021 – Kasper Tuxen (Denmark) for The Worst Person in the World 2020 – Tobie Marier Robitaille (Canada) for Night of the Kings 2019 – Vladimír Smutný (Czech Republic) for The Painted Bird
Best Sound 2025 – Sound of Falling (Germany)
Best Art Direction 2022 – Marcela Gómez and Daniel Rincon (Colombia) for The Kings of the World 2021 – Sergey Fevralev (Russia) for Captain Volkonogov Escaped 2020 – Jagna Dobesz (Poland) for Sweat
Best New Director 2023 – Ena Sendijarević (Netherlands) for Sweet Dreams 2022 – Ann Oren (Germany) for Piaffe
Special Mention 2025 – My Father's Shadow 2024 – Ensemble Performance for On Becoming a Guinea Fowl
Lifetime Achievement Awards Winners of the festival's Lifetime Achievement Award include Steven Spielberg, Helen Hunt, Dustin Hoffman, Martin Landau, Shirley MacLaine, Lord Richard Attenborough, François Truffaut, Jodie Foster, Sigourney Weaver, Robin Williams, Manoel de Oliveira, and Clint Eastwood.
Career Achievement Awards Marlon Wayans, Cheryl Dunye (2026) Bruce Dern (2013)Chicago International Film Festival - News & Events - Bruce Dern Comes Home to Chicago for the Centerpiece Presentation of Alexander Payne's "Nebraska". Chicagofilmfestival.com (2013-08-27). Retrieved on 2014-05-25. Terrence Howard (2005) Susan Sarandon (2005) Shirley MacLaine (2005) Robert Zemeckis (2004) Irma P. Hall, Robert Townsend and Harry J. Lennix (2004) Annette Bening (2004) Robin Williams (2004) Nicolas Cage (2003)
Television awards
The Television Awards started with the idea of honoring television commercials in a special event of the film festival, but over time evolved and grew into a bigger event, comprising not only commercials but also television productions, series, and online television. In 2003, a separate ceremony was launched for the TV awards, and in 2017, the event became a separate event, named the Chicago International Television Festival. Winners and runners-up for the various categories, which include Gold and Silver Hugos, are listed on the film festival website.
See also Chicago International Children's Film Festival Chicago International Documentary Film Festival Chicago International REEL Shorts Festival Chicago Underground Film Festival List of film festivals
References
External links Chicago International Film Festival