John C. Reilly to Lead Chicago Film Festival Jury
John C. Reilly will lead the five-person international competition jury at the 62nd Chicago International Film Festival, which runs Oct. 14-25, The Hollywood Reporter reported on Oct. 1.
He will not decide alone. Joining Reilly on the panel are Italian filmmaker Carolina Cavalli, Cambodian-French director Davy Chou, Hungarian director Ildikó Enyedi and German writer Henk Handloegten. Enyedi is a Golden Bear winner whose most recent film is Silent Friend. Handloegten is a showrunner on Babylon Berlin and the screenwriter of Fatherland, which is in the festival selection.
Their job is the festival's main prizes. The international competition jury awards the Gold Hugo for best film, the top honour. It also awards Silver Hugos recognising directing, acting, cinematography and screenwriting.
Other juries will handle the rest of the programme. Karla Badillo, Marya E. Gates and Nicky Ni will judge the New Directors competition, for first and second features. The documentary jury comprises Alina Marazzi, Curtis Miller, Bruno Santamaría Razo and Katy Scoggin. The OutLook jury awards the Q-Hugo for LGBTQ+ cinema.
The festival has also set a retrospective and an industry talk. Stephen Winter's debut feature Chocolate Babies will receive a 30th anniversary retrospective screening. The fourth annual International Contenders Panel will take place on Oct. 17, moderated by The Hollywood Reporter senior writer Seth Abramovitch.
Reilly has done this kind of work before. He served as president of the jury of the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival in 2023, according to the Golden Globes site. Festival listings describe an Opening Night film, Club Kid, on Oct. 14 at 6:00 pm, and a Centerpiece screening of Mouse, with star Sophie Okonedo attending for a tribute on Oct. 21 at the Music Box, according to the festival. Industry Days are scheduled for Oct. 15-18, 2026.
What makes this stand out for audiences is simple. Juries meet the films before the buzz settles. Their choices often decide which new directors get noticed next.
