Makhmalbaf, Chaplin, Yelchin Among CIFF Award Winners

By Joel Wicklund in Arts & Entertainment on Oct 20, 2014 4:00PM

Golden Hugo winner "The President" (photo courtesy Chicago International Film Festival)

The President, the latest work from acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf (Kandahar, The Silence) was honored with the Golden Hugo Award for Best Film at the 50th Chicago International Film Festival. Makhmalbaf was also at the center of a curious case of identity fraud that became the subject of fellow Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami's landmark film Close-Up.

The vagaries of what was up for competition and what was not at the festival may explain why Geraldine Chaplin was able to win Best Actress honors for a very good performance in a somewhat drab and forgettable film (Sand Dollars) instead of Juliette Binoche, who is brilliant in a much more interesting film (Clouds of Sils Maria), which was not in the Main Competition. Still, Chaplin has done fine work over a long career, and Binoche has certainly had her share of trophy glory. And in a festival looking back on its own history and movie history in general, honoring the daughter of Charlie Chaplin surely had some historical resonance.

The choice of Anton Yelchin for Best Actor seems an odd one. The 25-year-old actor (seen earlier this year in Jim Jarmusch's terrific Only Lovers Left Alive) is quite good in William H. Macy’s feature directorial debut, Rudderless, but it’s a supporting role in a tonally confused movie.

Abderrahmane Sissako won Best Director honors for Timbuktu, a drama about the aftermath of Islamic militants taking over northern Mali. The newly minted Roger Ebert Award (for a new filmmaker whose film presents "a fresh and uncompromising vision," according to CIFF notes) went to La Tirisia from Mexican director Jorge Perez Solano. Michael Keaton was given the Founder’s Award, an award chosen personally by CIFF founder and Artistic Director Michael Kutza for a film or performance representing the spirit of the festival. Keaton was honored for Alejandro G. Iñárritu's Birdman.

The awards ceremony was held Friday night, and several winning films will get extra screenings in spots allotted for Best of the Fest showings on Wednesday, the festival’s last full day before a closing night showing of the new Reese Witherspoon film Wild on Thursday. The complete list of winners is available here.