Last year, the Chicago International Film Festival included an opportunity to browse the mobile Criterion Closet, a truck-based version of the DVD closet that celebrities visit at Criterion’s New York offices. Though it’s not returning this year, it was such a hit that it sparked the idea for a physical media fair at the 2026 event, which runs Oct. 14-25.
The premise may seem counterintuitive for a film fest, which exists as an opportunity to get out of the house and see movies in a theater.
Even so, this also feels like a natural evolution of the modern film fest. Perhaps we’ve reached a point where there’s something almost synonymous — at least in spirit — with the idea of seeking out physical media and going to the movies. Both exist at the opposite end of the spectrum from the more banal experience of scrolling somewhat resignedly through an endless list of streaming options.
That got the wheels turning among festival staff when planning for the 2026 festival.
“There is a lot of overlap between going to a theater to see a film and actually owning the physical object,” said Mimi Plauché, the festival’s artistic director. “So how do we create something that recreates that experience and excitement from last year, but do something new? And that’s where the idea of this physical media fair came from. We’re trying to connect our audience with the vendors who are doing the work to keep physical media alive.”
There will be roundtable discussions, as well as a swap, wherein people can bring DVDs, Blu-rays and even VHS tapes to trade with one another.
This is an experiment for CIFF. “We’ll obviously see how it goes,” said Plauché, “but we’ve gotten a great reaction to the announcement, so we’re excited to see what happens.” If there’s enough interest, this could become a regular feature of the festival going forward.
The fest tends to focus on new films, but resurfaces older movies as well.
The annual Black Perspectives program this year features two foundational classics of queer Black cinema that are celebrating their 30th anniversary: “The Watermelon Woman” from writer-director Cheryl Dunye, who stars as a video store employee making a documentary about a Black actress from the ’30s, and “Chocolate Babies,” from director Stephen Winter, about a group of HIV-positive activists in New York.
“What’s interesting is that these movies are comedies in their own ways, with a lot of sharp satire and wit,” said Plauché. Both Dunye and Winter will be at the fest for in-person conversations.
The program also includes an evening with Marlon Wayans (Oct. 19), who will receive the festival’s career achievement award for his work in everything from comedies such as the “Scary Movie” franchise to the 2000 drama “Requiem for a Dream.”
Actress Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor will receive the tour de force award at the world premiere screening of her latest film, the biopic “Liz Here Now,” in which she plays a nanny to white children who are abused by their parents, set against the backdrop of racial tensions in 1960s Oakland.
Ava DuVernay will also be at the fest with an early look at her upcoming Netflix documentary “14th” (which will be available to stream starting in December) wherein she talks with scholars, politicians and legal experts about the 14th Amendment, which concerns citizenship rights and equal protection under the law.
Overall, Plauché stresses approaching the festival with a sense of serendipity. “I love when we have audience members who have been coming to the festival for decades who will say, ‘Mimi, I remember 30 years ago I saw this film and I still can’t forget it.’ That experience can be really impactful because you’re taking a chance.
“My favorite way of seeing a film is to not know very much about it before I go in, because I love that sense of being surprised. The one thing I always encourage is that you take a chance on something. Pick a title and go. We have a board member who took a day and figured out which four films he could fit in, and he said it was one of the best days of his life.”
Here are other films on the lineup recommended by Plauché:
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“Club Kid” (Oct. 14): This is the festival’s opening night film and one with a lot of “pre-buzz,” said Plauché. It stars writer-director Jordan Firstman as a club promoter in New York living the high life. “As he’s aging into his 30s, he’s feeling the wear and tear of that lifestyle, and then his life is upended when a 10-year-old is brought to his doorstep and it’s revealed that he’s the father of this child and he has to learn what it means to be a father and shift his priorities. It’s really heartfelt and really funny.” (In theaters in November.)
“Finding Your Laughter” (Oct. 15): A documentary co-directed by Brittany Alsot and Chicago comedian Arlieta Hall. “Arlieta and her father are the subjects of the film. Just as her career is starting to rise, she quits her day job to take care of her father, who has Alzheimer’s. And it’s about the way that she uses improv techniques to care for him. It’s both funny and touching.”
“All of a Sudden” (Oct. 16 and 17): Plauché said this is one of her favorite films of the festival, from Japanese director Ryusuke Hamaguchi (“Drive My Car”). “It’s set between France and Japan, and it’s about the director of an elder care facility in the suburbs of Paris who is trying to introduce this new, more humanistic way of caring for people as they age.” Her trajectory takes a new direction when she meets a Japanese playwright at the end of his life. In French, Japanese and English. (In theaters in November.)
“Tender Loving Care” (Oct. 17 and 25): Mike Leigh’s latest is about a social worker who moves in with her best friend, also a social worker, after a breakup. “In 1972, the festival showed Mike Leigh’s first film, ‘Bleak Moments,’ and it won the top prize that year.” Leigh has said “Tender Loving Care” is his last film, so its appearance in the fest is something of a full-circle moment. “I think he always has a very special way of looking at human relations and the way in which social structures impact how we interact with each other. And he always has such lovely touches of comedy in his films and the absurdity that comes with a lot of human interactions.” (In theaters in December.)
“The Echo Chamber” (Oct. 20): Bernardo Bertolucci’s last unproduced script before his death in 2018, it’s an Italian film mostly in English. “It’s about a very successful music producer played by Luca Marinelli, and he is struggling with an injury that causes chronic pain.” He forms a relationship with his physical therapist (Alicia Vikander), which is complicated by his addiction and her role in that. “Susan Sarandon is also in it as a storied songstress and she also lends a different view on love and life to them.”
“The Liberation” (Oct. 23): Starring one-time Chicagoan Carrie Coon (of “The Gilded Age”), who will be in attendance, as a New Jersey mother who becomes involved in a cult. Set in the 1980s, the story is inspired by the experiences of writer-director Guy Nattiv’s grandmother. Tracy Letts, Coon’s husband in real life, also stars. (In theaters in January.)
“Behemoth!” (Oct. 25): This is the fest’s closing night film, directed by Tony Gilroy (“Andor,” “Michael Clayton”). “It’s a film about music and music composition for the screen,” said Plauché. “And it’s really playful about the way it uses music in the film itself. The lead character is played by Pedro Pascal and he’s a celebrated cellist, and the story interweaves his present with his past as he’s gone from different orchestras, starting with the one in Chicago, and makes his way back to L.A., where he’s from, and starts playing in orchestras that are playing scores for films. Olivia Wilde plays a brilliantly unhinged patron of one of the orchestras and Will Arnett plays his lovable but maybe not-so-lovable loser of a brother.” (In theaters in December.)