For most people, a night at the movies means Friday or Saturday at the local multiplex. But to a passionately devoted crowd, movies mean something more: They’re an international art that opens up the world, a treasure-trove from every country, a medium speaking to and about all peoples. For those dedicated audiences, film is an art of vast dimensions, and a film festival — whether in Cannes, Venice, Montreal, Toronto or Chicago — is one of the special contemporary events.
Of course, not everyone can travel to Cannes or even Sundance. But, here in Chicago, we can see many of the films that premiere in those exotic locales in our own back yard: We’re a city especially blessed with film fests. And they include not only our own local edition of the big-time world events — the Chicago International Film Festival, still strong after 36 years — but a year-round cinema smorgasbord that makes our city unique.
Almost every month, Chicagoans who keep their eyes peeled can enjoy an unrivaled selection of specialized film fests of foreign films — from Hong Kong and Poland to Iran and France — and from or for many different groups: Latino, African-American, Asian-American, gay and lesbian, women, senior citizens and children. This continual parade of film festivals is a local cultural treasure, available not just to world travelers but to any Chicagoan with the price of a ticket.
For the past four years we’ve brought you a guide to those festivals, to mark your calendars and prepare to explore their riches — expanded this year to include Midwest fests. So here’s our fifth Chicago film fest preview of the year’s offerings. Bon voyage.
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– Our guide to fests: page J
– Midwest fests: H
– Film groups: I
