By

Marc Rivers

The longest running competitive film festival in North America isn't in Los Angeles or New York, it's in Chicago. The Chicago International Film Festival marks its 62nd year.

SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST:

The longest-running competitive film festival in North America isn't in Los Angeles or New York. It's in Chicago. NPR's Marc Rivers is there reporting for us from the 62nd annual Chicago International Film Festival.

MARC RIVERS, BYLINE: To get the most out of the Chicago International Film Festival, you have to stay on the move.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: This is North and Clyburn.

RIVERS: I take the Chicago's L train to the Lincoln Park neighborhood, where the AMC theater is screening some of the more than 100 films in competition. Nearby, I took part in the festival's physical media fair, a first. It's a spot to trade or buy DVDs and even VHSes. The festive scene attracted serious film buffs.

IAN ROBERTSON KIBBE: It's just been a really pleasant day of seeing people get really excited over DVDs.

RIVERS: I sit next to Ian Robertson Kibbe from Kartemquin Films, the U.S.'s oldest documentary production company. He says, you can drink in the spirit of the festival at events like this one.

KIBBE: It's a reflection of Chicago in that it's a festival that is earnest. It brings together real fans who - you know, they're not here for any particular scene. They're just here to celebrate their love of film.

RIVERS: The word that many here use to describe the festival is community.

MIMI PLAUCHE: One of the things I think that we've loved is the way that we really connect with the different audiences and communities in Chicago and bring people together.

RIVERS: That's Mimi Plauche, the festival's artistic program director. I met her around the corner from the media fair. She said that after the COVID pandemic, they wanted to broaden the festival's accessibility.

PLAUCHE: We changed the model of the festival to really be out in the city. We have some great partner venues in different neighborhoods. Everything from a couple of museums - the Chicago History Museum and the National Museum of Mexican Art - to universities, like the University of Chicago.

RIVERS: That's where they hosted a screening for director Ava Duvernay's new documentary "14th," about the Reconstruction-era Constitutional amendment. Up north in the Lakeview neighborhood, I met Oscar-nominated actress Sophie Okonedo at the legendary Music Box Theatre. Her new coming-of-age film "Mouse" had just screened. The audience response left her giddy.

SOPHIE OKONEDO: This kind of level of understanding from the audiences, the questions that I've been getting - I felt like people got every nuance.

RIVERS: Back at the AMC in Lincoln Park, David Greaves and Liani Greaves, the filmmakers behind the buzzy new documentary "Once Upon A Time In Harlem," spoke to some of the attendees after the movie ended. Among those attendees was 34-year-old Damilola Laguda, a Chicago lawyer.

DAMILOLA LAGUDA: I think that, unlike a Sundance or a Tribeca or a Cannes, it is very approachable.

RIVERS: The festival leans into its international brand. Over 60 countries are represented this year. Italian director Andrea Pallaoro has brought every single one of his feature films here, including his latest, "The Echo Chamber."

ANDREA PALLAORO: It's a great opportunity to travel all over the world from theater to theater.

RIVERS: The festival puts work by Black filmmakers front and center in its Black Perspectives program. Director and actor Sterling Macer Jr.'s latest film, "Liz Here Now," was part of the series.

STERLING MACER JR: That's one of the wonderful things about this festival. There's sensitivity and ability to know that certain films are going to have special meaning to various different communities.

RIVERS: Program director Mimi Plauche says, as much as organizers want the festival to grow, they don't want to lose what makes it so special.

PLAUCHE: When we think about growth, we want to think about smart growth and not lose our identity as a festival, you know, the intimacy or the access that we can provide.

RIVERS: The Chicago Film Festival concludes this Sunday with plans next year to bring even more of the world's cinema to the Windy City's neighborhoods. Marc Rivers, NPR News, Chicago.

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