by Jian Ping
CHICAGO, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- The 56th Chicago International Film Festival (CIFF) announced winners of its 2020 competitions in a virtual live-streamed ceremony on Friday with an array of films nabbing top awards.
Taking home the top prize, Gold Hugo, in the International Feature Film Competition, was "Sweat," a Polish-language film by Swedish director Magnus von Horn. The film presents loneliness and insecurity in the digital age and chronicles three days in the life of a social media celebrity.
The jury hailed the film for its directorial vision that is "exciting and coherent, with breathtaking framing and compositional choices that work beautifully together with its art direction."
The Silver Hugo Jury Prize went to "Careless Crime" directed by Shahram Mokri from Iran, and the Silver Hugo for Best Director was awarded to Andrei Konchalovsky from Russia for his film "Dear Comrades!"
Lili Horvat from Hungary took home top prize in the New Directors Competition with "Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time," while the Silver Hugo in this competition went to Ignacio Marquez with "The Special."
Japanese actor Yakusho Koji nabbed Silver Hugo Best Performance award for his role in "Under the Open Sky." The jury praises Koji's in-depth performance and his revelation of "a true range of emotions."
This year the CIFF awarded prizes to films in the categories of International Feature Film Competition, New Directors Competition, International Documentary Competition, Out-Look Competition and Short Film Competition. The Chicago Award and the Roger Ebert Award were also presented.
The 56th CIFF runs from Oct. 14 to Sunday. The closing night will screen Chinese director Chloe Zhao's "Nomadland" to a sold-out audience at a drive-in theater in Chicago on Saturday. Enditem
