THE CHICAGO FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION
announces first wave of titles for the
CHICAGO CRITICS FILM FESTIVAL
MAY 12-18, 2017
THE MUSIC BOX THEATRE
3733 North Southport
Chicago, IL 60013
Festival favorites starring Allison Brie, Sam Elliott, Aubrey Plaza, Zoe Lister-Jones, Jaime King, Dave Franco, Fred Armisen, John C. Reilly, Nick Offerman, Jason Ritter and Adam Pally to have their Chicago premieres.
To kick off the celebration of its fifth year, the Chicago Critics Film Festival is pleased to announce the first wave of titles that will be screening as part of this year’s event. The first film festival to be created and curated entirely by film critics, this year’s lineup will include a collection of award-winning favorites from around the globe featuring stars like Allison Brie, Sam Elliott, Aubrey Plaza, Molly Shannon, John C. Reilly, Dave Franco, Nick Offerman, Adam Pally, Fred Armisen and Brooklyn Decker, all of which will be making their local debuts. The festival will run May 12-18, 2016 and will be held once again at Chicago’s historic Music Box Theatre. Passes are now on sale on the Music Box Site.
Created by the Chicago Film Critics Association in 2013, the festival offers a selection of films comprised of recent festival favorites and as-yet-undistributed works from a wide variety of filmmakers ranging from award winners to talented newcomers chosen by members of the organization, the only current example of a major film critics group hosting its own festival. The seven titles announced today come from around the world and offer viewers an eclectic variety of films that includes wild comedies, introspective dramas and a couple of selections that almost defy description and which come from a diverse group of storytelling voices. This is only a preview of a program that will include over 25 feature films and shorts.
The CCFF is proud to announce that the following titles will be a part of this year’s program:
BAND AID
Married couple Anna (Zoe Lister-Jones) and Ben (Adam Pally) fight constantly. It doesn’t help that they’ve each come to a standstill in their careers, or that, together, they’ve suffered a heartbreak neither wants to face. But one day they come up with a brilliant idea they actually agree on: Why not start a band and use their arguments as songwriting inspiration? Almost as soon as they dig out their old electric guitars from the garage, their musical partnership starts to jell, but it soon becomes apparent this is only a temporary distraction from their real problems. (Synopsis courtesy of Sundance.)
BEACH RATS
Frankie, an aimless teenager on the outer edges of Brooklyn, is having a miserable summer. With his father dying and his mother wanting him to find a girlfriend, Frankie escapes the bleakness of his home life by causing trouble with his delinquent friends and flirting with older men online. When his chatting and webcamming intensify, he finally starts hooking up with guys at a nearby cruising beach while simultaneously entering into a cautious relationship with a young woman. As Frankie struggles to reconcile his competing desires, his decisions leave him hurtling toward irreparable consequences. Winner: Best Director, Sundance Film Festival 2017.
BIRDBOY: THE FORGOTTEN CHILDREN
There is light and beauty, even in the darkest of worlds. Stranded on an island in a post-apocalyptic world, teenager Dinky and her friends hatch a dangerous plan to escape in the hope of finding a better life. Meanwhile, her old friend Birdboy has shut himself off from the world, pursued by the police and haunted by demon tormentors. But unbeknownst to anyone, he contains a secret inside him that could change the world forever. Winner: Best Animated Feature, Goyas.
BITCH
“Bitch” is the provocative tale of a woman (Marianna Palka) who snaps under crushing life pressures and assumes the psyche of a vicious dog. Her philandering, absentee husband (Jason Ritter) is forced to become reacquainted with his four children and sister-in-law (Jaime King) as they attempt to keep the family together during this bizarre crisis.
DINA
Dina’s getting married in a few weeks and there’s still so much to do. She has to move her boyfriend, Scott, from his parents’ house to her apartment, and settle him in to only the second home he’s ever had, all while juggling his schedule as an early morning Walmart door greeter. She has to get her dress, confirm arrangements with the venue, and make peace with her family, who remain nervous for their beloved Dina after the death of her first husband and the string of troubled relationships that followed. Throughout it all, in the face of obstacles large and small, Dina remains indomitable. She’s overcome tragedy and found the man she wants and, at age 48, is bent on building the life for herself that she believes she deserves. Dina is unstoppable, a force of nature, and as the star of her own life story, she’s an unconventional movie protagonist the likes of which hasn’t been seen before. Winner: Grand Jury Prize, Sundance Film Festival 2017.
THE HERO
THE HERO stars the legendary Sam Elliott as an aging actor confronting mortality in the moving new film from writer/director Brett Haley (I’LL SEE YOU IN MY DREAMS). Lee Hayden (Elliott) is a Western icon with a golden voice, but his best performances are decades behind him. He spends his days reliving old glories and smoking too much weed with his former-co-star-turned-dealer, Jeremy (Nick Offerman), until a surprise cancer diagnosis brings his priorities into sharp focus. He soon strikes up an exciting, contentious relationship with stand-up comic Charlotte (Laura Prepon), and he attempts to reconnect with his estranged daughter, Lucy (Krysten Ritter), all while searching for one final role to cement his legacy. THE HERO is a beautiful and poignant celebration of life and the legacies we all leave behind.
THE LITTLE HOURS
Medieval nuns Alessandra (Alison Brie), Fernanda (Aubrey Plaza), and Ginevra (Kate Micucci) lead a simple life in their convent. Their days are spent chafing at monastic routine, spying on one another, and berating the estate’s day laborer. After a particularly vicious insult session drives the peasant away, Father Tommasso (John C. Reilly) brings on new hired hand Massetto (Dave Franco), a virile young servant forced into hiding by his angry lord. Introduced to the sisters as a deaf-mute to discourage temptation, Massetto struggles to maintain his cover as the repressed nunnery erupts in a whirlwind of pansexual horniness, substance abuse, and wicked revelry. (Synopsis courtesy of Sundance.)
Now in its fifth year, CCFF has attracted an impressive array of films and talent over its first four years, including appearances by Sarah Polley with her award-winning documentary “Stories We Tell”; James Ponsoldt with his acclaimed dramas “The Spectacular Now” and “The End of the Tour”; legendary filmmaker William Friedkin with a rare 35mm presentation of his 1977 masterpiece “Sorcerer”; Craig Robinson with “Morris from America”; Michael Pena with “War on Everyone”; director Patrica Rozema with “Into the Forest”; B-movie icon Dick Miller with a double-feature of the career-spanning documentary “That Guy Dick Miller” and the 1959 Roger Corman classic “A Bucket of Blood”; and Bobcat Goldthwait, who has presented two of his directorial efforts, the horror film “Willow Creek” and “Call Me Lucky.” Last year’s crop of films gave Chicago its first look at such talked-about films as “Goat,” “The Fits,” “Beauty and the Beast,” American Fable,” “Disorder” and “Hunt for the Wilderpeople,” which received the festival’s Audience Award. The festival’s board of directors is currently at work putting together additional titles and guests for this year’s event and further details will soon be made available.
The Chicago Critics Film Festival 