| Chicago Film Festival 2012 Main Competition Jury: Danièle Cauchard, Patrice Chéreau, Alice Krige, Joe Maggio, Amr Waked |
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| Gold Hugo of the Festival: | Holy Motors, France, dir. Leos Carax |
| Silver Hugo: | After Lucía, Mexico, dir. Michel Franco |
| Special Mention: | The Repentant, France/Algeria, Merzak Allouache |
| Best Actress: | The Last Sentence, Ulla Skoog |
| Best Actor: | Holy Motors, Denis Lavant |
| Best Cinematography: | Holy Motors, Yves Cape and Caroline Champetier |
| DocuFest Gold Hugo*: |
The Believers, USA, dirs. Clayton Brown and Monica Long Ross |
| DocuFest Silver Hugo (Runner-Up)*: | Numbered, Israel, dirs. Dana Doran and Uriel Sinai |
| New Directors Gold Hugo*: |
The Exam, Hungary, dir. Peter Bergendy |
| New Directors Silver Hugo*: | Flowerbuds, Czech Republic, dir. Zdenek Jirasky |
| After Dark Gold Hugo*: |
Antiviral, Canada, dir. Brandon Cronenberg |
| After Dark Silver Hugo*: | Sleep Tight, Spain, dir. Jaume Balagueró |
| Chicago Award: | Consuming Spirits, USA, dir. Chris Sullivan |
| Silver Hugo (Career Award): | Joan Allen |
| Audience Choice Award**: | Any Day Now, USA, dir. Travis Fine Quartet, USA/UK, dir. Dustin Hoffman |
| * These awards are determined by separately constituted juries | |
| ** Voted by the public, and announced later than the other awards | |
Films I Saw at CIFF:Leaving aside competition films I saw elsewhere, and usually later
Ranked in order of preference
My Golden Hugo
The Bella Vista A– (Uruguay/Germany, dir. Alicia Cano Menoni) - Minor, subtly self-subverting semi-doc does everything right, relaying fight between soccer team and travesti club
Holy Motors A– (France, dir. Leos Carax) - This shit is bananas, like Matthew Barney's lusty stab at Céline and Julie Go Boating. Melancholy undertow a surprise.
Paradise: Love A– (Austria, dir. Ulrich Seidl) - Pitiless camera, yes, but surprisingly rich in empathy and thought. Women keep teaching men how to be better liars.
Like Someone in Love B+ (Japan/France, dir. Abbas Kiarostami) - Which kind of love? Shamed, seductive, fatherly, hourly, angry, humble—each elliptically reflects the others.
Antiviral B+ (Canada, dir. Brandon Cronenberg) - Scenario smacks of Papa but aesthetic does not. Tensely mixed and lensed. Accrues layers, scares, and wit as it unfolds.
War Witch B+ (Canada, dir. Kim Nguyen) - Harrowing if vaguely familiar child-soldier drama takes surprising turns into mythic imagery and complex introspection.
Keep the Lights On B (USA, dir. Ira Sachs) - Intriguing if sometimes costly ellipses. Tender look at an impossible bond. Sachs excels again at light, milieu.
The Final Member B (Canada, dirs. Zach Math & Jonah Bekhor) - Penis-museum doc a curio in itself, unexpectedly poignant about mortality and funny about...phallo-national pride?
The Three Disappearances of Soad Hosni B (Lebanon, dir. Rania Stephan) - Captivates as a smorgasbord of Egyptian film styles never represented in US media
Mekong Hotel B (Thailand, dir. Apichatpong Weerasethakul) - Clearly minor, but Joe has a lovely feel for laconic bonhomie, even in the face of disaster. Or of cannibal ghosts.
Clip B– (Serbia, dir. Maja Miloš) - Visuals no strong suit. Often lurid, but earns stripes and gasps as Apple-era youth study. Nikki Reed would blush, then clap.
Reality B– (Italy, dir. Matteo Garrone) - Arena nails lead role; wayward speculation is an apt theme for today's Europe. Still, second hour is one long comet tail.
Beyond the Hills B– (Romania, dir. Cristian Mungiu) - Diamantine visuals. Waves of tension. But shots, story beats over-repeat. Ideas run at a low ebb.
Once Upon a Time Was I, Verônica B– (Brazil, dir. Marcelo Gomes) - A sexy movie and intriguing character study, even if it pushes fewer envelopes than it pretends
The Repentant B– (Algeria/France, dir. Merzak Allouache) - Remorseful terrorist learns that good intentions don't open many paths in spare, slightly thin French-Algerian drama
Out in the Dark C (Israel, dir. Michael Mayer) - Scene by scene, the Serious Drama you'd expect about a handsome Palestinian guy and a handsome Israeli guy in love.
Hemel C– (The Netherlands, dir. Sacha Polak) - Lady-libido drama overconfident about thin ideas. Several sketchy provocations. With any luck, CIFF's dingiest-looking film.
Westerland C– (Germany, dir. Tim Staffel) - Opaque, third-rate Keep the Lights On, as sweet Turkish guy strives to "save" bratty dopehead. Grim stabs at allegory.
Room 237 D+ (USA, dir. Rodney Ascher) - Director puts nothing on the line—no context, no point of view—in serving unstructured slaw of very selective "readings."
Films from the Main Competition:
More on these Competition titles available here (opens in a new window)
Listed alphabetically • Graded titles reviewed above
After Lucía (Mexico, dir. Michel Franco)
Bad Seeds (France/Luxembourg, dir. Safy Nebbou)
Beyond the Hills B– (Romania, dir. Cristian Mungiu)
Boys Are Us (Switzerland, dir. Peter Luisi)
Gimme the Loot (USA, dir. Adam Leon)
Holy Motors A– (France/Germany, dir. Leos Carax)
The Land of Hope (Japan/UK, dir. Sion Sono)
The Last Sentence (Sweden, dir. Jan Troëll)
Like Someone in Love B+ (Japan/France, dir. Abbas Kiarostami)
Marie Krøyer (Denmark, dir. Bille August)
Modest Reception (Iran, dir. Mani Haghighi)
Paradise: Love B+ (Austria/Germany, dir. Ulrich Seidl)
The Repentant B– (Algeria/France, dir. Merzak Allouache)
Rhino Season (Iran/Turkey, dir. Bahman Ghobadi)
The Sapphires (Australia, dir. Wayne Blair)
The Scapegoat (UK, dir. Charles Sturridge)
Something in the Air (France, dir. Olivier Assayas)
Tey (Senegal, dir. Alain Somis)
The Weekend (Germany, dir. Nina Grosse)
The World Is Funny (Israel, dir. Shemi Zarhin)
Films from the New Directors Competition:
Listed alphabetically • Graded titles reviewed above
Agon (Albania/France/Greece/Romania, dir. Robert Budina)
A Caretaker's Tale (Denmark, dir. Katrine Wiedemann)
The Cleaner (Peru, dir. Adrian Saba)
Clip B– (Serbia, dir. Maja Milos)
The Exam (Hungary, dir. Péter Bergendy)
Flowerbuds (The Czech Republic, dir. Zdenek Jirasky)
The Land of Eb (Marshall Islands/USA, dir. Andrew Williamson)
Meeting Leila (Iran, dir. Rabeh Agharezaei)
Out in the Dark C (Israel/Palestine, dir. Michael Mayer)
La playa DC (Colombia, dir. Juan Andrés Arango Garcia)
Shameless (Poland, dir. Filip Marczewski)
Films from Outrageous (Queer Program):
Listed alphabetically • Graded titles reviewed above
Any Day Now (USA, dir. Travis Fine)
The Bella Vista A– (Germany/Uruguay, dir. Alicia Cano Menoni)
Everybody's Got Somebody ...Not Me (Mexico, dir. Raúl Fuentes)
Keep the Lights On B (USA, dir. Ira Sachs)
Out in the Dark C (Israel/Palestine, dir. Michael Mayer)
Westerland C– (Germany, dir. Tim Staffel)
Films from Reel Women (Female Filmmakers Program):
Listed alphabetically • Graded titles reviewed above
alaskaLand (USA, dir. Chinonye Chukwu)
The Art of Conflict (USA/Northern Ireland, dir. Valeri Vaughn)
The Believers (USA, dirs. Clayton Brown & Monica Long Ross)
The Bella Vista A– (Germany/Uruguay, dir. Alicia Cano Menoni)
Bound by Flesh (USA, dir. Leslie Zemeckis)
A Caretaker's Tale (Denmark, dir. Katrine Wiedemann)
The Central Park Five (USA, dirs. Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, and David McMahon)
Clip B– (Serbia, dir. Maja Milos)
Coming of Age (Austria, dirs. Sabine Hiebler & Gerhard Ertl)
Dreams for Sale (Japan, dir. Miwa Nishikawa)
Empire Builder (USA, dir. Kris Swanberg)
Hemel C– (The Netherlands, dir. Sacha Polak)
Kern (Austria, dirs. Veronika Franz & Severin Fiala)
Off-White Lies (Israel, dir. Maya Kenig)
Otelo Burning (South Africa, dir. Sara Blecher)
Sister (Switzerland, dir. Ursula Meier)
The Three Disappearances of Soad Hosni B (Lebanon, dir. Rania Stephan)
The Weekend (Germany, dir. Nina Grosse)
More Films I'm Most Curious to See:
Full lineup of all festival films available here (opens in a new window)
Listed alphabetically • Graded titles reviewed above
The ABCs of Death (Various, dirs. Miscellaneous)
As Goes Janesville (USA, dir. Brad Lichtenstein)
Caesar Must Die (Italy, dirs. Paolo & Vittorio Taviani)
Diaz: Don't Clean Up This Blood (Italy/Romania, dir. Daniele Vicari)
Drought (Mexico, dir. Everardo González)
F*ckload of Scotchtape (USA, dir. Julian Grant)
Hometown Boy (Taiwan, dir. Yao Hung-I)
The Jeffrey Dahmer Files (USA, dir. Chris James Thompson)
Leviathan (USA, dirs. Lucien Castaing-Taylor & Véréna Paravel)
Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God (USA, dir. Alex Gibney)
Night Across the Street (Chile/France, dir. Raúl Ruiz)
Our Children (Belgium/Luxembourg, dir. Joahcim Lafosse)
Post Tenebras Lux (Mexico, dir. Carlos Reygadas)
Rat Fever (Brazil, dir. Cláudio Assis)
A Royal Affair (Denmark, dir. Nikolaj Arcel)
Sharqiya (Israel, dir. Ami Livne)
StringCaesar (UK, dir. Paul Schoolman)
Opening, Centerpiece, and Closing films are Stand Up Guys (USA, Stevens), Cloud Atlas (USA, Wachowski/Wachowski/Tykwer), and Flight (USA, Zemeckis), respectively
Special and Gala Presentations include The Central Park Five (USA, Burns/Burns/McMahon), The Impossible (Spain, Bayona), Not Fade Away (USA, Chase), Quartet (USA, Hoffman), The Sessions (USA, Lewin), and The Silver Linings Playbook (USA, Russell)