Chicago International Film Festival Unveils Its 61st Program

Billed as “North America’s longest-running competitive film festival,” the 61st Chicago International Film Festival (CIFF) will take place Oct. 15 – 26, showcasing feature films, documentaries and short films from around the world. 

The 2025 lineup features over 100 films across 13 different programs and spans seven venues around Chicago, with its hub at AMC NEWCITY 14. Announcing CIFF’s full film program at a preview Sept. 18, the programming team said they watched over seven thousand films submitted to the festival, whittling them down to the best of the best. 

The program boasts the North American premiere of over 30 films, four of them being world premieres. CIFF also serves as an important indicator for the following year’s Academy Awards, with 16 of last year’s films being nominated at the 2025 Oscars.

The festival will open at Music Box Theatre with the world premiere of “One Golden Summer,” a documentary detailing the historic rise and eventual fall of the 2014 Jackie Robinson West Little League team — the first all-Black team to win the U.S. Little League Baseball Championship. 

Starring Brendan Fraser, the comedy “Rental Family” was chosen as the festival’s Centerpiece Film, screening Oct. 21. Directed by HIKARI, the film explores a popular Japanese service that allows patrons to rent actors to stand in for family members.

David Freyne’s “Eternity” will close the festival, a comedy in which a woman (Elizabeth Olsen) must choose who she will spend the afterlife with — the man she spent her entire life with (Miles Teller) or her first love (Callum Turner).

Other high-profile screenings include 2025 Cannes Film Festival’s Palme d’Or winner “It Was Just An Accident,” Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone’s fourth collaboration “Bugonia,” the long-rumored “Frankenstein” adaptation by Guillermo del Toro and the third installment in the “Knives Out” universe, “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery.” 

Director Kelly Reichardt will be in attendance for an in-person retrospective of her work, including a screening of her new movie “The Mastermind,” starring Josh O’Connor and Alana Haim. 

Aside from special presentations and competition films, unique programs such as OutLook — showcasing LGBTQ+ centred films and filmmakers —, After Dark — pulling back the curtain on traditionally taboo topics — and City & State — highlighting local and state movies and directors — set CIFF apart from any other festival.

The famed Criterion Closet, a mobile collection of over 1,700 movies in the Criterion Collection, will make its first-ever appearance in Chicago CIFF’s opening weekend. Festival-goers will be able to experience the same closet renowned directors and actors, like Bong Joon-ho, Martin Scorsese and Mikey Madison have. Admission to the closet is free, however long lines are anticipated.
Festival passes and individual tickets for the 61st Chicago International Film Festival are available for purchase. The complete film list is available on the festival’s website.