LA LA LAND to Open 52nd Chicago International Film Festival

The Chicago International Film Festival today announces Opening and Closing Night selections, as well as the full slate of films included in the Festival's U.S. Indies, Spotlight: Musicals and After Dark categories. Chicago will play host to gala screenings of DAMIEN Chazelle's La La Land and Denis Villeneuve's Arrival as respective bookends to the 52nd Festival, opening on October 13 and closing on October 27. A full list of these newly announced programs can be found at www.chicagofilmfestival.com. Tickets for these events and all film screenings go on sale September 21 for Cinema/Chicago members and September 23 for the general public.

La La Land, starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone and hailed as a "musical masterpiece" (The Guardian), kicks off the Festival as a whole (details on tickets, time and location below), as well as this year's Spotlight: Musicals category, featuring the newest global contributions to this timeless genre. Joining the previously announced Junction 48 in this category is the North American premiere of Elis, the energetic, pulsating musical biopic about Elis Regina, arguably the biggest Brazilian singer of all time; a new restoration of 1930's King of Jazz, featuring soon-to-be-superstar Bing Crosby in a fascinating Technicolor time capsule from the big-band era; and a special presentation of Trolls in 3-D, the new animated feature from 20th Century FOX about those optimistic creatures with a dance in their hips and a song on their lips.

As the Festival closes on October 27, audiences will enjoy a Closing Night presentation of Arrival, the stirring and thoughtful drama starring Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner and Forest Whitaker as an elite team enlisted to help humankind communicate with aliens. The selection complements the Festival's After Dark program, featuring the best in new science-fiction, thrillers and horror films from around the world. In addition to The AUTOPSY of Jane Doe and Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (celebrating its 30th anniversary re-release at the Festival where it first premiered), featured After Dark selections include Prevenge, the venomous dark comedy about a pregnant woman convinced her unborn baby is urging her to murder; Raw, winner of the FIPRESCI Prize at Cannes Film Festival's Critics' Week and the feminist horror tale that follows a young vegetarian who discovers an insatiable taste for meat; and first-time filmmaker Nicolas Pesce's The Eyes of My Mother, the elegant, visually striking nightmare about a young woman's isolated adulthood.

Also announced today is the full U.S. Indies category, highlighting the emerging and established voices of filmmakers from across the country. Recently announced Middle Man is joined by Hunter Gatherer, the story of a newly-released convict (Andre Royo, The Wire and Empire) trying to get back on his feet; Women Who Kill, Ingrid Jungermann's deadpan mystery about two Brooklyn-based podcasters and the suspicious new woman in their life; and The View From Tall, the Chicago-based production about a high schooler reeling from a very public affair with her teacher and the therapist she makes an unexpected connection with.

The 52nd Chicago International Film Festival is October 13-27. Additional selections and full categories will be announced throughout September with a complete lineup and schedule released September 19. Passes are on sale now at www.chicagofilmfestival.com.

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