CHICAGO – The Chicago International Film Festival (CIFF) is competitive, and the 56th edition presented its awards on October 23rd, 2020, as a live virtual and online event on the CIFF YouTube page. The winner of the Gold Hugo as Best International Film was “Sweat” (France), directed by Magnus von Horn.
The 56th Chicago International Film Festival Celebrates DAY TEN of the movie extravaganza, with films available for 2020 virtually and online. Click here [19] for a complete how-to guide on navigating the 2020 CIFF. Go to PAGE TWO for the schedule of October 23rd, 2020.
The awards were presented by the various jury members in each film category, and were hosted by Artistic Director Mimi Plauché, Managing Director Vivian Teng, as well as programmers Anthony Kaufman and Sam Flancher. The Festival’s highest honor is the Gold Hugo, named for the mythical God of Discovery.
International Feature Film Competition
The Gold Hugo for Best Film: “Sweat” (Poland/Sweden) Directed by Magnus von Horn
The Silver Hugo – Jury Prize: “Careless Crime” (Iran), directed by Shahram Mokri
The Silver Hugo – Best Director: Andrei Konchalovsky of “Dear Comrades!”
(Russia)
The Silver Hugo – Best Performance: Yakusho Koji of “Under the Open Sky” (Japan)
The Silver Hugo – Best Emsemble: Mala Emde, Noah Saavedra, Tonio Schneider, Luisa-Céline Gaffron, Andreas Lust, Nadine Sauter, Ivy Lissack and Hussein Eliraqui of “And Tomorrow the Entire World” (Germany)
The Silver Hugo – Best Screenplay: Starvros Raptis and Christos Nikou of “Apples” (Greece)
Best Cinematography: Tobie Marier-Robitaille of “Night of the Kings” (France/Canada/Senegal)
Best Sound Design: “Night of the Kings” (France/Canada/Senegal)
Best Art Direction: “Sweat” (Poland/Sweden)
New Directors Competition
The Gold Hugo: Director Lili Horvát of “Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time” (Hungary)
The Silver Hugo Director Ignacio Márquez of “Bombay Rose” (Venezuela)
The Roger Ebert Award for New Directors Director João Paulo Miranda Maria of “Memory House” (Brazil/France)
Documentary Competition
The Gold Hugo: “ Things We Dare Not Do” (Mexico), directed by Bruno Santamaria
The Silver Hugo: “Little Girl” (France), directed by Sébastian Lifshitz
Gold Q Award (LBGTQ Films)
The Gold Hugo: “Things We Dare Not Do” (Mexico), directed by Bruno Santamaria
The Silver Hugo: “Days,” (Taiwan), directed by Tsai Ming-Liang
Chicago Award
Short Film Competition
The Gold Hugo – Narrative: “The End of Suffering (a proposal)” (Greece), directed by Jacqueline Lentzou
The Silver Hugo – Narrative: “Gramercy (USA), directed by Jamil McGinnis and Pat Heywood
The Golden Hugo – Documentary: “We Have One Heart” (Poland), directed by Katarzyna Warzecha
The Silver Hugo – Documentary: “How to Disappear” (Austria), directed by Robin Klengel, Leonhard Müllner and Michael Stumpf
The Gold Hugo – Animated: “Tie” (Portugal/France), directed by Alexandra Ramires
The Silver Hugo – Animated: “Step Into the River” (China/France), directed by Weijia Ma
UPDATE: The Audience Awards, presented by Xfinity, were announced on October 26th, 2020. CLICK HERE [20] for those results.
Go to PAGE TWO for Events and Appearances for October 23rd, 2020
DRIVE IN: “One Night in Miami” at 6:30pm, Chi-Town Drive-In, 2343 South Throop Street, Chicago. Adapted from the award-winning play of the same name, the film is a fictional account of the incredible night in 1964 when underdog Cassius Clay, soon to be called Muhammad Ali (Eli Goree), defeats heavyweight champion Sonny Liston at the Miami Convention Hall, and afterward Clay memorialized the event with three of his friends … Malcolm X (Kingsley Ben-Adir), Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom Jr.) and Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge).
APPEARANCES OF THE DAY: 9:00pm: “Twilight’s Kiss” … Livestream Q&A with director Ray Yeung. Suggested Streaming Start Time, 7:15pm. (For more info, click here [21])
FILM(S) OF THE DAY: “City/State Shorts 1” – A potpourri of local Chicago and Illinois talent are on display in this shorts program (one of many in the festival). “Patois” – directed by Andre Muir and Danielle Alston – is a heartfelt story of trying to fit in. “The Reversal – Jennifer Boles – is an imaginative rewind into a Chicago engineering project … reversing the Chicago River. “Swipe Up Vivian!” – Hannah Welever – is a redemptive near future match game. “Pegasus” – Orlando Leroi – imagines a unique escape path for a profiled young black man. “The Ephemeral Orphanage” – Lisa Barcy – is a clever animation using old timey imagery. “Sacred Brick Technology” – Ian Bertorelli – considers the 19th/20th Century art of the brick. And “Grizzly” – Alex Heller – regards a mother who essentially won’t let go. (click here [22]).
 [24] | By PATRICK McDONALD [25] |
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[20] https://www.chicagofilmfestival.com/56-audience-awards/
[21] https://www.chicagofilmfestival.com/events/
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