CIFF: Catch This Year's Festival Winners Wednesday

By Steven Pate in Arts & Entertainment on Oct 18, 2011 9:40PM

This is part of Chicagoist's coverage of the Chicago International Film Festival.

We had our ups and downs this year at the Chicago International Film Festival. One thing we can't argue with is the Gold Hugo for Best Film being handed to Aki Kaurismäki's wonderful Le Havre, which we gushed about a bit last week. There's nothing edgy or experimental about it, but the sure-handed, offbeat Finnish master's tale of one community's engagement with the plight of an illegal immigrant is steeped in a intelligent, non-patronizing optimism that audiences are powerless to resist. Hats off to the jury, presided over by Nimród Antal, whose Kontroll snagged its own Gold Hugo in 2003.

Best Actor nod went to Maged El Kedwany in Cairo 678 (a film which also won the Silver Hugo for runner-up in the main competition) and Olivia Coleman will walk away with a Best Actress Hugo for Tyrannosaur. Zaida Bergroth's The Good Son snagged the top prize in the New Directors Competition, and Mira Turjalic's Cinema Komunisto took top honors in the Docufest portion of the festival. The CIFF site has a complete list of winners.

The winning films will be screened Wednesday night at AMC River East, along with some popular and in-demand titles (among them Hotel Swooni, The Slut, Andrew Bird: Fever Year and Juan of the Dead), a special screening of Claude Lelouch's What Love May Bring, a final "Chicago Connections" program, and other assorted events.

Finally, as always, there will be a surprise screening of a top-secret film that is free to anyone wearing CIFF t-shirts or hoodies. Overall, it looks like an especially good day to play catchup if you've missed out on the festival or if (like us) some things fell through the cracks.

All events are at the AMC River East 21, 322 E. Illinois Street, Wednesday, October 19. View a complete schedule on the CIFF website. Tickets are available online.