So that’s a wrap. Chester International Film Festival has finished for another year.
And what a varied, challenging, and unique set of films they were. The scores have all been tallied and we can announce the winner of the audience award for 2024 was Green Border, Agnieszka Holland’s intense, intelligent broadside against injustice and terror on the borders of the EU.
A big THANK YOU to all that attended across the week! And thanks to Vain Hair and Beauty for sponsoring our opening and closing drinks receptions.
Chester International Film Festival 2024
The 2024 Chester International Film Festival, highlighting the very best in international cinema (including pre-release previews) will take place from 1st March to 8th March 2024.
The Chester International Film Festival 2024 (CIFF 2024), incorporating the Animation Festival, is curated by Chester Film Society in partnership with Storyhouse and The University of Chester. Drinks Receptions are kindly sponsored by VAIN Hair and Beauty, Chester.
Each film will have no trailers and will be introduced by a lecturer from the University of Chester’s Department of Languages and Cultures.
The Audience Awards will be presented to best film in the season and best entry to the Animation Festival.
Below are details of the full programme of feature films
1 March 2024
Monster (preview)
When her son Minato starts to behave strangely, Saori suspects that there is something wrong. Hearing that one of his teachers is responsible, she confronts the teacher and school admin. The truth is revealed to be more complex from the perspectives of not only Saori, but also the teacher and Minato.
2 March 2024
Totem
Sol, a seven-year-old girl, goes to her grandfather’s home, where her aunts Nuri and Alejandra are throwing a surprise birthday party for her father. It is probably his last, so in a sense it is also a farewell ceremony. With the onset of dusk, an unfamiliar and unrestrained atmosphere takes over, breaking the family bonds. For Sol, the world is about to change as she learns the essence of letting go and feels the breath of life.
3 March 2024
Animation Festival
Chester International Animation Festival 2024 has welcomed entries from animators across the world. Come and join us for a screening of the competition finalists, then vote for the Audience Award winner for this year’s competition
5 March 2024
Io Capitano (preview)
An African refugee survival story inspired by true events, it tells the story of two young Senegalese men, Seydou and Moussa, who embark on a harrowing and brutal journey from Dakar to Europe in search of a better life. A trek that increasingly more people find themselves forced into making.
6 March 2024
Tarrac
A woman returns to her hometown to care for her father in this Irish drama and finds herself drawn back into the local rowing team. A gentle film punctuated by outbursts of language, and a recurring theme of grief.
7 March 2024
The Green Border (preview)
In the treacherous and swampy forests of the “green border” between Belarus and Poland, refugees from the Middle East and Africa trying to reach the EU are caught in a geopolitical crisis triggered by Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko. To provoke Europe, refugees are lured to the border by propaganda promising easy passage. Pawns in this hidden war, the lives of Julia, who has given up her comfortable life, Jan, a young border guard, and a Syrian refugee family intertwine.
8 March 2024
The Teacher’s Lounge (preview)
When one of her students is suspected of theft, teacher Carla Nowak decides to get to the bottom of the matter. Caught between her ideals and the school system, the consequences of her actions threaten to break her.