The 51st anniversary of the Chicago International Film Festival is being celebrated as the fest kicks off Thursday, Oct. 15, with the Chicago premiere of the wacky French-Italian comedy Mia Madre, from actor-director Nanni Morettia movie that stars John Turturro ( who are both expected to attend the gala red-carpet event ).
The fest, which continues through Oct. 29, includes 13 entries in the festival's LGBT-themed section called Out-Look. Several of those, along with a vintage screening of particular note, are highlighted below:
Carmin TropicalDirector Rigoberto Perezcano's second feature is an intriguing variation on the typical murder mysteryand this one is set in Juchitan, a southern Mexican town that's home to a community of people who consider themselves muxe ( mixed gender ). Mabel, who is also muxe and has spent years away pursuing a career as a nightclub entertainer, returns when she learns of the disappearance of her friend Dani, another member of the trans community. But the police don't seem to get anywhere with their investigation, so Mabel decides to do a little investigating, with a sympathetic cab driver helping her. Though marred by a voiceover that soon wears out its welcome, the final sequence is a doozy. In Spanish. Screening Oct. 17, 20, 23
CarolThe long-awaited film adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's classic 1952 novel of lesbian passion The Price of Salt is finally here. And the moviescripted by Phyllis Nagy, directed by queer auteur Todd Haynes ( I'm Not There, Velvet Goldmine ) and starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara as the mismatched loverssounds sensational. Returning to the artificial 1950s milieu he so brilliantly created in his 2002 masterpiece Far From Heaven, Haynes' film has received raves at its previous festival screenings. A CIFF Special Presentation screening will take place Oct. 28; Haynes is expected to attend.
Eisenstein in GuanajuatoPeter Greenawaythe English filmmaking provocateur most renowned for his controversial 1989 indie sensation The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Loverreturns with his latest sensual broadside, a biopic about Russia's premiere filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein ( Battleship Potemkin ). When Eisenstein ( Finnish actor Elmer Back ) travels to Mexico to make a movie in 1931, he falls in love with his male guide, who takes his virginity and reinvigorates his creativity in the process. The movie's filmed with all the signature, audacious Greenway visual flourishes and copious amounts of full-frontal nudity. In English and Spanish. Screening on Oct. 27, 28
Funny GirlBarbra Streisand cemented her superstardom, winning the Oscar along the way, with her 1968 film debut in William Wyler's old-fashioned musical biopic about legendary Ziegfeld Follies comedienne and singer Fanny Brice, whose bright stage persona masked the heartbreak she was suffering offstage when her marriage to chronic gambler Nicky Arnstein ( the luscious Omar Sharif ) went on the rocks. The stirring score includes "People," "Don't Rain on My Parade," "I'm the Greatest Star" and Brice's own signature song, "My Man." A restored print will be shown. Screening Oct. 17
Henry Gamble's Birthday PartyChicago writer-director Stephen Cone again ponders faith and homosexuality, the same turf he explored in his critically acclaimed 2011 feature The Wise Kids. This time out, it's not just the teens who are questioning but their parents, too. It's 17-year-old Henry's birthday and it's pretty clear that the birthday boy ( winningly portrayed by the adorable Cole Doman ) is gay. However, whether he's ready to declare that to the worldlet alone himselfis just one of the issues touched upon during the long afternoon and evening of the pool party attended by both friends and parents.
There are a lot of other troubled folks on hand and, as the party progresses ( and a bottle of illicit wine gets drunk ), secrets are revealed and lives are irrevocably changed. Although a tad melodramatic, Cone's sure touch with his actors ( including a bunch from the Chicago theatrical community ) is always a pleasure. Cone will attend the screenings Oct. 22, 23 and 24.
I Am MichaelJames Franco plays gay again, this time as one-time gay-rights activist Michael Glatze, who renounced his homosexuality and became a conservative Christian and "ex-gay" therapist. Zachary Quinto plays Franco's long-suffering boyfriend Bennett in this true-life drama, based on a New York Times magazine article. Charlie Carver co-stars as the boy toy who moves in with the couple, American Horror Story/Scream Queens actor Emma Roberts is the conservative Christian woman Michael eventually falls for, Lesley Ann Warren plays Michael's mother and Daryl Hannah plays a Buddhist monk. With this offbeat cast, out director Justin Kelly has the makings of the juiciest of biopics.
Although the film has its diverting moments at the outset, ultimately it's oddly flat and distantowing perhaps to Kelly's insistence on handling Michael's transition so gingerly, apparently determined not to take sides. And for all of Michael's hand-wringing, the script never really gets beyond a surface explanation for his abruptand rather suspectabout-face. The film's greatest sin, though, is that we don't care much about Michaelgay or straight. Screening on Oct. 24, 27
Women He UndressedFrom award-winning Australian director Gillian Armstrong ( My Brilliant Career ) comes this glitzy portrait of the celebrated costume designer Orry-Kelly, who hailed from tiny Kiama, Australia, and rose to the top of his profession, dressing generations of film icons from Ingrid Bergman to Marilyn Monroe to Shirley MacLaine, winning three Oscars in the process.
A gay man in a world where "gay" didn't exist, this exuberant, gossipy portrait of Kelly and Hollywood fashions through the decades also lifts back the curtain on the unspoken sexual politics of showbiz, from Marlene Dietrich to Cary Grant, who ( according to Kelly's own unreleased memoirs ) was his one-time lover. Lacking any documentary footage, Armstrong comes up with a dazzling solution: Hire actors to stand in for the droll raconteur Kelly and many of his famous colleagues and place them in artfully created simulations of the highpoints of his storied life. The result is a colorful and delightfully entertaining exception to the usual talking-head documentary. Screening on Oct. 23, Oct. 28.
See www.chicagofilmfestival.com .