Next week begins the 56th Chicago International Film Festival and Reel Chicago will bring you coverage of the films.
This year, we can look forward to two award-winning films from Kino Lorber.
THE REASON I JUMP
Directed by Jerry Rothwell
**WINNER! Sundance 2020 Film Festival Audience Award,World Cinema Documentary**
Based on the best-selling book by Naoki Higashida, The Reason I Jump is an immersive cinematic exploration of neurodiversity through the experiences of nonspeaking autistic people from around the world.
The film blends Higashida’s revelatory insights into autism, written when he was just 13, with intimate portraits of five remarkable young people.
It opens a window for audiences into an intense and overwhelming, but often joyful, sensory universe.
Moments in the lives of each of the characters are linked by the journey of a young Japanese boy through an epic landscape; narrated passages from Naoki’s writing reflect on what his autism means to him and others, how his perception of the world differs, and why he acts in the way he does: the reason he jumps.
The film distils these elements into a sensually rich tapestry that leads us to Naoki’s core message: not being able to speak does not mean there is nothing to say.
RT: 82 / Color
ALSO READ: 56th Chicago International Film Festival announces juries
THERE IS NO EVIL
Directed by Mohammad Rasoulof
**WINNER! Golden Bear, 2020 Berlin Film Festival**
Four thematically connected, meticulously constructed stories follow characters whose decisions to carry out executions (or not) have life- and soul-altering consequences.
Devoted family man Heshmat cares for his aging mother, wife, and daughter—but where does he go every morning before dawn? Young soldier Pouya, who has been assigned to the prison death penalty unit, will do anything to escape his military duty.
Javad gets a short leave to surprise his beloved Nana on her birthday—but when he arrives, he receives an even bigger shock.
Bahram must explain to his niece why he has abandoned his medical career to live as a beekeeper. At once sobering and heady, Mohammad Rasoulof’s brilliant anthology film offers a humanistic reflection on the exacting social, psychological, and emotional toll of taking another’s life.
RT: 150 min / Color / Germany, Czech Republic, Iran / Farsi with Eng. subtitles
The 56th Chicago International Film Festival is a bit different than you may have experienced in the past due to the ongoing pandemic. This year, the fest is combining streaming on-demand and appointment screenings and an in-person drive-in theatre experience along with virtual filmmaker Q&As and a completely online Industry Days.
Stay with Reel Chicago to bring you all the news from CIFF.
SOURCE: Kino Lorber
