The 57th Chicago International Film Festival announced the esteemed members of the juries for its competitions, featuring acclaimed filmmakers and industry luminaries from around the globe.
Juries shall award Gold and Silver Hugo Awards in the following competitions: International Competition; OutLook; City & State; and Short Film Competitions.
The International Competition Jury will award the Gold Hugo for Best Film, as well as Silver Hugos and Plaques in categories including Best Director, Best Actor and Actress, Best Cinematography, and Best Screenplay.
The 2021 Jury includes Iranian director, screenwriter, and film critic Shahram Mokri, 2020 Silver Hugo Jury Prize winner for CARELESS CRIME; celebrated filmmaker Gianfranco Rosi of Italy, whose NOTTURNO has been selected as Italy’s official submission for the 2021 Academy Awards; writer/director Patricia Rozema, director of Netflix’s Golden Globe-winning MOZART IN THE JUNGLE and SEX/LIFE and whose first comedy feature, I’VE HEARD THE MERMAIDS SINGING has been voted one of Canada’s top ten films of all time; journalist and film programmer Juan Manuel Dominguez of Argentina, whose work has appeared in magazines and newspapers in the U.S., U.K., France, and across Latin America; and Barbara Klinger, former Chair of the Film Department at Indiana University and author of award-winning books and essays on American cinema.
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The New Directors Competition Jury includes Art Institute of Chicago Associate Curator and School of the Art Institute of Chicago visiting lecturer Robyn Farrell; Hungarian filmmaker Lili Horvát, whose PREPARATIONS TO BE TOGETHER FOR AN UNKNOWN PERIOD OF TIME won the 2020 New Directors Competition Gold Hugo at the Chicago International Film Festival and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award; and Rwandan filmmaker Joël Karekezi, New Directors Competition Silver Hugo winner for his THE MERCY OF THE JUNGLE in 2018.
The International Documentary Competition Jury includes Sari Braithwaite, whose 2016 film PAPER TRAILS earned a Directors Guild Award and an audience award at the Human Rights Arts and Film Festival and whose first feature-length experimental work [CENSORED] won Best Documentary at the 2018 Chicago International Film Festival; Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning producer Julie Goldman, who has produced films directed by Steve James, Nanfu Wang, Roger Ross Williams, and Todd Haynes, including this year’s Opening Night at the Drive-In feature THE VELVET UNDERGROUND; award-winning documentary filmmaker Bruno Santamaría of Mexico, whose THINGS WE DARE NOT DO took home the top documentary prize at the 2020 Chicago International Film Festival; and Emmy-winning Israeli documentary filmmaker and journalist Maya Zinshtein, whose work has been seen at more than 100 festivals around the world.
The OutLook Competition Jury, which awards the Q Hugo Award for superbly crafted films reflecting the myriad perspectives and experiences of LGBTQ+ individuals, is comprised of visual storyteller Emily Harris, whose CARMILLAwas nominated for the Michael Powell Award for Best British Feature Film in 2019; French actor Stéphane Rideau (LA MAUVAISE RÉPUTATION, OUR PARADISE), who was selected as the gay community’s favorite male figure by Pink TV; and 2021 Hong Kong Arts Development Council Artist of the Year and Chairman of the Hong Kong Lesbian and Gay Film Festival Ray Yeung, whose TWILIGHT’S KISS earned nine Hong Kong Film Awards nominations including Best Film, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay.
The City & State Competition Jury, which selects the best project made in Chicago, Illinois or by a local filmmaker, includes recipient of the Sundance Institute’s Inaugural Uprise Grant Fund Andre Muir, whose short PATOIS won the Chicago Award at the Chicago International Film Festival in 2020; Chicago-based documentary filmmaker and video journalist Jenny Shi, whose debut FINDING YINGYING won numerous awards including a China Academy Award of Documentary Films in 2020; and Siskel/Jacobs Productions co-founder Jon Siskel, the production company behind LOUDER THAN A BOMB and 102 MINUTES THAT CHANGED AMERICA, winner of three Primetime Emmy Awards including Outstanding Nonfiction Special.
The Shorts Competition is divided into Live Action, Documentary, and Animation competitions. The Live Action Shorts Jury includes Blair Barnes, Merawi Gerima, and Monica Sorelle; the Documentary Shorts Jury includes D.S. Chun, Morgan Elise Johnson, and Nevo Shinaar; and the Animation Shorts Jury includes Candice Majors, Alexandra Ramires, and Josh Mabe.
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