Oscar Submissions at ChiFilmFest 2026
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STILL FROM ROSE
Celebrating its 62nd edition from October 14 - 25, 2026, the Chicago International Film Festival is North America’s longest-running competitive international film festival and an Oscar®-qualifying festival. Once again, the festival brings an exceptional selection of international cinema to Chicago, including films representing countries in the Academy Awards’ International Feature Film race. Eleven titles and counting are being presented during this year’s festival, or twelve if you include Ildikó Enyedi’s Silent Friend, which screened at the 61st Chicago International Film Festival and has been selected as Hungary’s submission for the 99th Academy Awards, set for Sunday, March 14, 2027.
Tickets go on sale to the general public September 24th, while Cinema/Chicago members can access pre-sale tickets beginning September 18th. Memberships and passes are currently available here.
ROSE
ROSE
A woman in the early 17th century, who is disguised as a man and wants to be a good citizen at any cost.
DIRECTOR: Markus Schleinzer
AUSTRIA | 93m | OUTLOOK, SPOTLIGHT
THE DREAMED ADVENTURE
THE DREAMED ADVENTURE
Das geträumte Abenteuer
A woman who agrees to a deal to help an old acquaintance. She follows the hero on his adventure and enters dangerous territory where she is then confronted with her own desire.
DIRECTOR: Valeska Grisebach
BULGARIA | 164m | INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
MINOTAUR
MINOTAUR
A high-powered executive's meticulously controlled existence unravels when professional crises, global chaos, and marital betrayal converge, pushing him toward a dangerous breaking point.
DIRECTOR: Andrey Zvyagintsev
FRANCE | 141m | SPOTLIGHT
EVERYTIME
EVERYTIME
Follows a mother, her daughter, and a teenage boy blamed for a tragic death as they travel to Tenerife together, confronting grief, blame, and forgiveness on a family holiday that never happened.
DIRECTOR: Sandra Wollner
GERMANY | 121m | INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
THE SPIRAL
THE SPIRAL
L'Estranea
Anna arrives at her daughter Alice’s apartment with a devastating confession: their entire family history is built on a lie. Twenty years earlier, after a horrific accident that nearly cost Alice her leg, Anna claims she made a pact with a mysterious Stranger to save her. But the miracle came at a price. What she believed was a single desperate bargain has in fact unleashed a spiraling chain reaction. Anna is convinced that only Alice can break the spiral and set things right. But at what cost?
DIRECTOR: Paolo Strippoli
ITALY | 115m | INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
ALL OF A SUDDEN
ALL OF A SUDDEN
Marie-Lou runs a nursing home near Paris and strives for more humane elder care. Her friendship with Mari, a Japanese theatre director facing terminal cancer, deepens her commitment to residents' dignity.
DIRECTOR: Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
JAPAN | 196m | INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
ELEPHANTS IN THE FOG
ELEPHANTS IN THE FOG
Follows Pirati, matriarch of a Kinnar community in a Nepalese village, who dreams of escaping to a normal life. When one of her daughters disappears, she must investigate and choose between love and responsibility.
DIRECTOR: Abinash Bikram Shah
NEPAL | 108m | OUTLOOK
CITIZEN OSAMA
CITIZEN OSAMA
In besieged northern Gaza, Osama, a former artistic photographer turned war documentarian, struggles to protect his wife and newborn while capturing devastation around him. Amid hunger, loss, and trauma, he persists, driven by duty and hope, offering a raw, intimate portrait of resilience and humanity in wartime.
DIRECTOR: Ahmed Hassouna
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
PALESTINE | 69m | DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION
FATHERLAND
FATHERLAND
In 1949, German writer Thomas Mann and his daughter Erika embark on a road trip across a Germany in ruins, from US-dominated Frankfurt to Soviet-controlled Weimar.
DIRECTOR: Paweł Pawlikowski
POLAND | 82m | SPECIAL PRESENTATION
POSSIBLE LOVE
POSSIBLE LOVE
A laid-off worker and his wife cross paths with a documentary filmmaker and her spouse and confront their hidden desires.
DIRECTOR: Lee Chang-dong
SOUTH KOREA | 164m | INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
9 TEMPLES TO HEAVEN
9 TEMPLES TO HEAVEN
A man takes his sick mother and nine family members on a single-day temple pilgrimage after his boss predicts she may die soon.
DIRECTOR: Sompot Chidgasornpongse
THAILAND | 140m | DEPARTURES
