CHICAGO CRITICS FILM FESTIVAL Announces Full Program Lineup, Special Guests and Recipients of 2024 Emerging Critics Grant
11th Annual Festival Opens with SING SING, starring Oscar® Nominee Colman Domingo; features Spotlight Screening of BABES with Director Pamela Adlon; and Closes with Chicago-made Sundance Hit GHOSTLIGHT
(Chicago, IL) — The Chicago Film Critics Association (CFCA), the Chicago-area print, online and broadcast critics group that celebrates the art of film and film criticism, today announces the complete lineup, schedule and special guests expected for the eleventh annual Chicago Critics Film Festival, May 3-9 at the city’s historic Music Box Theatre. The festival opens with a screening of A24’s SING SING starring Oscar® nominee Colman Domingo and closes with Chicago-made Sundance Film Festival breakout GHOSTLIGHT. Additional selected films for the 2024 festival include Chicago premieres of the most anticipated films of the year, including Jane Schoenbrun’s I SAW THE TV GLOW, Chris Nash’s IN A VIOLENT NATURE and Nicole Riegel’s DANDELION.
More information on the complete schedule and anticipated special guests is below and online; festival passes and individual tickets are also available online here.
In addition to the more than 20 acclaimed new feature films and two short film programs making their Chicago premieres, the festival will present several anniversary screenings, including a 30th anniversary screening of Gillian Armstrong’s LITTLE WOMEN (1994); a 25th anniversary screening of Martin Scorsese’s BRINGING OUT THE DEAD (1999) starring Nicolas Cage and Patricia Arquette, both in 35mm; and a 20th anniversary screening of the classic anime sci-fi drama GHOST IN THE SHELL 2: INNOCENCE (2004).
Filmmakers and special guests expected to attend and participate in post-film Q&As include Paul Raci (SING SING); Pamela Adlon (BABES); KiKi Layne (DANDELION); and Alex Thompson and Kelly O’Sullivan (GHOSTLIGHT). For Shorts Program # 1, local filmmakers Jack Dunphy (BOB’S FUNERAL) and Lori Felker (PATIENT) will be guests for a Q&A. Additional special guests are expected to be announced in the lead-up to the festival.
The program also includes three documentary features and two midnight screenings; the festival’s two short film programs feature a total of thirteen film premieres including the latest animated short film from Oscar® nominee Don Hertzfeldt (full shorts program descriptions online here).
This year, the Chicago Critics Film Festival again welcomes Rotten Tomatoes as official sponsor of the Audience Award; the two organizations together present the CFCA / Rotten Tomatoes Emerging Critics Grant, this year awarded to Laya Tate (she/they; online at badbvssy.substack.com) and Arieon Whittsey (they/them; online at arieonwhittsey.portfolio.site) will each receive a $2,500 grant, an all-access pass to the Chicago Critics Film Festival, as well as mentorship opportunities with Chicago Film Critics Association members and the opportunity to pitch story ideas to Rotten Tomatoes editorial staff. Learn more about this year’s selected honorees here. The committee recognized Ben Kaye, Jonathan Monovich, and Myle Yan Tay with special recognition for their potential and promise as film journalists.
Annually, the Chicago Critics Film Festival features a selection of acclaimed films chosen by members of the organization. The selections are a combination of recent festival favorites and as-yet-undistributed works from a variety of filmmakers, from established Oscar winners to talented newcomers. In recent years, the festival has provided Chicagoans their first opportunity to see acclaimed films like Celine Song’s Best Picture Oscar® Nominee Past Lives, Matt Johnson’s Blackberry, Cooper Raiff’s Cha Cha Real Smooth, Sean Baker’s Red Rocket, Maggie Gyllenhaal’s directorial debut The Lost Daughter and The Power of the Dog, for which Jane Campion won the Oscar for Best Director. With every indication that this year’s program will be just as promising, the best way to ensure access to every aspect of the week-long event is to secure a festival pass, just $200 and available online here. Follow the CFCA and the festival on Twitter/X at @chicagocritics, on Facebook here and on Instagram.
The complete lineup for the 11th annual Chicago Critics Film Festival is here, including screening dates/times and special guests expected to attend. Explore the entire schedule and secure tickets/passes in advance at www.chicagocriticsfilmfestival.com. Select films are available for advanced review and interviews; interested media should apply for accreditation online here.
