The Chicago International Film Festival has announced the full lineup for its 62nd edition, which will take place from October 14–25, 2026. North America’s longest-running competitive film festival will present 113 feature films and 57 shorts, including four World Premieres, 15 North American Premieres, and 21 U.S. Premieres, with films from more than 60 countries.
The opening film will be Club Kid, directed by Jordan Firstman, an A24 production that premiered at Cannes and follows a club promoter whose life is upended by the arrival of a ten-year-old son he never knew he had. Firstman will also receive the Festival’s Breakthrough Award. The After Dark opening presentation will be Victorian Psycho, directed by Zachary Wigon, while Mouse, by Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson — directors of Ghostlight and Saint Frances — will serve as the festival’s Centerpiece, with a tribute to its star Sophie Okonedo.
The festival will close with Behemoth!, directed by Tony Gilroy and starring Pedro Pascal in a story that combines music and memory and features contributions from nine composers. Oscar-nominated composer Michael Abels (Get Out) will attend a post-screening conversation.
This year’s tributes include Carrie Coon, who will receive the Artistic Achievement Award; Ira Sachs, recipient of the Q-Hugo Artistic Achievement Award; Andrew Haigh, who will receive the Spotlight Award; and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, who will receive the Tour de Force Award. Marlon Wayans and Cheryl Dunye will also be honored, with Dunye receiving a special retrospective screening of The Watermelon Woman as part of the 30th anniversary celebration of the Black Perspectives program.
The lineup also features new films by filmmakers including Mike Leigh, Pedro Almodóvar, Paweł Pawlikowski, Martin McDonagh, Danny Boyle, Marie Kreutzer, Brad Bird, and Guy Nattiv, alongside films by Alex Gibney, Nanni Moretti, and Peter Farrelly. International competition titles include All of a Sudden, by Ryûsuke Hamaguchi; Possible Love, by Lee Chang-dong; Congo Boy, by Rafiki Fariala; and Mariinka, by Pieter-Jan De Pue.
The festival will also feature a strong presence of filmmakers and productions connected to Chicago and Illinois, as well as the Departures: Global Cinema section, dedicated to emerging voices and international filmmaking. The 57 selected shorts include fiction, documentary, animation, and experimental works.
As part of its special events, the festival will host its first Physical Media Fair, dedicated to the exchange and collecting of LaserDiscs, VHS tapes, DVDs, Blu-rays, and 4K discs, alongside another edition of Industry Days, which will include a masterclass on directing actors led by Tim Blake Nelson.
Screenings will take place at venues across Chicago from October 14–25. General ticket sales for the full lineup begin on September 24.