Japanese master filmmaker Kore-eda Hirokazu is set to receive the Career Achievement Award at the 60th Chicago International Film Festival, it was announced today. Featuring a retrospective program of six selected films, the acclaimed writer-director will receive the award on Friday, October 18, at a tribute screening of NOBODY KNOWS, presented in 35mm, and participate in a conversation exploring his storied career. The 60th Chicago International Film Festival runs October 16 – 27, 2024 at venues across the city. The Kore-eda Hirokazu Tribute and Retrospective is co-presented in partnership with the Japan Foundation New York. Additional support is provided by ANA.
In addition to NOBODY KNOWS, which screened at the 2004 Festival, the 60th Chicago International Film Festival retrospective program features films that were showcased in past editions, including 2013’s LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON; the 2016 film AFTER THE STORM; 2018’s SHOPLIFTERS; and BROKER in 2022. 1998’s AFTER LIFE marks that title’s Chicago International Film Festival debut.
“Beginning with his eloquent entry onto the international stage with MABOROSI, Kore-eda Hirokazu has presented a uniquely distinctive and distinguished voice in contemporary cinema, and is beloved and admired around the world,” said Chicago International Film Festival Artistic Director Mimi Plauché. “He is a key figure in the history of the Chicago International Film Festival, and it is fitting that we pay tribute to him and honor his incredible body of work at our 60th anniversary celebration.”
The Chicago International Film Festival has brought Kore-eda’s work to U.S. audiences for decades, beginning in 1995 with his feature debut, the Gold Hugo-winning MABOROSI. In addition to the films screening as part of the retrospective, AIR DOLL appeared in 2009; and comedy drama THE TRUTH screened in the 2019 program. In 2011, KAIDAN HORROR CLASSICS, a compilation of Japanese national broadcaster NHK’s “Ghost Story” episodes, featured his short THE DAYS AFTER. Most recently, Kore-eda’s MONSTER won the Festival’s Gold Q-Hugo in last year’s competition.
Also appearing at past Festivals are the Kore-eda produced ENDING NOTE: DEATH OF A JAPANESE SALARYMAN, which won the Festival’s Certificate of Merit in 2011; while Bunbuku, his production company, presented Takuma Saito‘s ANY CRYBABIES AROUND? and Nishikawa Miwa‘s UNDER THE OPEN SKY, which both screened in the 2020 program with the latter going on to win the Audience Award for Best International Feature and the Best Performance Award for actor Yakusho Koji.
About the Retrospective Films
AFTER LIFE (1998)
A cast of characters waiting in limbo must decide which memory they want to preserve before moving on in this fantastical and poignant drama. 119 min.
NOBODY KNOWS (2004)
When their mother disappears, a young boy and his three siblings must figure out how to get by on their own in this at once heartfelt and heartbreaking drama. 141 min; presented in 35mm
LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON (2013)
A couple learns that, due to a hospital mix-up years ago, they must welcome their unknown biological son — and bid farewell to the boy they’ve long loved. 121 min.
AFTER THE STORM (2016)
A deadbeat dad is trapped with his family waiting out a typhoon. There, the fractured clan reckons with their past as they look to an uncertain future. 118 min.
SHOPLIFTERS (2018)
A tight-knit unit of petty thieves and outsiders comes together to shelter an abandoned child, but an unforeseen incident threatens to tear apart their newfound family. 121 min.
BROKER (2022)
An overwhelmed new mother partners with two baby traffickers to find the perfect well-paying parents for her infant in this heartbreaking human story. 129 min.
The full slate of films for the 60th edition of North America’s longest-running competitive film festival will be announced September 23, 2024. Tickets for the Opening Night presentation of THE PIANO LESSON are on sale now; tickets for the full slate of films presented at the 60th Chicago International Film Festival will go on sale September 27, 2024. Cinema/Chicago members’ pre-sale tickets go on sale September 24, 2024; memberships now available at www.chicagofilmfestival.com/membership.
For more information, visit the Festival’s website at https://www.chicagofilmfestival.com/.
