Events

Time and Location

October 15-26
Multiple Locations (Chicago, IL)

About

Join us this October for the 61st edition of North America’s longest-running competitive film festival.

New Group

Directed by  Yûta Shimotsu
Countries: Japan    
Run Time: 82 minutes

Synopsis
If Invasion of the Body Snatchers traded pods for human pyramids and took place in a Japanese high school, it would be New Group.

Ai is an ordinary schoolgirl easily swayed by the opinions of her peers. But her worldview begins to change with the arrival of nonconformist newcomer Yu, who returns from living abroad just in time to witness a series of unexplained events taking hold in their community. The bizarre phenomenon begins with a student freezing on all fours in the middle of a soccer field; soon, others join in, positioning themselves alongside and on top of him. Before long, the entire town is overrun with human pyramids. In a world where no one is safe from these random gymnastic formations—or the self-styled fascist leadership aligning itself with these “new groups”—Ai and Yu must renounce individualism and assimilate or face destruction.

A disarming and strange second feature from director Yûta Shimotsu, New Group takes body horror in grotesque directions to create an eerie new entry in the contemporary J-horror canon. The uncanny contortions gleefully captured by the filmmaker’s kinetic camera are both funny and disturbing—but the film’s astute commentary on the rise of authoritarianism in today’s world is what’s most unsettling.

Fri, Oct 17 @ 10:00pm
at Music Box Theatre

Mon, Oct 20 @ 2:45pm
at Gene Siskel Film Center, Screen 1

For tickets, please visit New Group.

Brand New Landscape

Directed by  Danzuka Yuiga
Countries:  Japan
Run Time: 115 minutes

Synopsis
Set against the backdrop of an ever-changing Tokyo, Brand New Landscape is an assured, complex debut inflected with an ingenious injection of the surreal. Reeling after the death of their mother and long estranged from their father, twenty-something siblings Ren and Emi are left to their own devices. Making ends meet delivering flowers, Ren spends his days carrying the weight of his mother’s absence and simmering in anger over his father’s silence. Meanwhile, Emi is about to marry and put the past behind her. When an urban development project compels their father to return to the city, the siblings are forced to reckon with their painful family history as they are offered one last chance at reconciliation.

Featuring a collection of stunning performances and beautifully composed images, the film draws parallels between Tokyo’s shifting landscape and the family’s tumultuous path toward reunion. Filmmaker Yuiga Danzuka crafts a mesmerizing reflection on the price of progress and change at scales both large and small.

Wed, Oct 22 @ 7:45pm
at AMC NEWCITY 14, Screen 04

Thu, Oct 23 @ 7:30pm
at Gene Siskel Film Center, Screen 2

For tickets, please visit Brand New Landscape.

The screenings of Brand New Landscape and New Group are co-presented by the Chicago International Film Festival and the Japan Foundation, New York.