The Most Chicago Films at the 2023 Chicago International Film Festival

Cinephiles are flocking to theaters as the Chicago International Film Festival kicks off Wednesday. More than 100 feature films and 60 short films will be shown at venues across the city over 11 days — including several with ties to Chicago.

‘We Grown Now’

🎥 Music Box Theater Wednesday at 7 p.m.

🎟️ $40 (rush only)

The fest opens up with a film following the friendship of two boys growing up in the Cabrini-Green complex in the early ‘90s. After violence escalates, the boys’ whole worlds could change as adults decide whether to move.

‘Departing Seniors’

🎥 Music Box Theater Wednesday at 10 p.m.

🎟️ $15

In a modern-day Chicago teen slasher, a queer Mexican American high schooler develops psychic abilities after being bullied, which he has to use to stop a serial killer from targeting his classmates.

‘All Happy Families’

🎥 AMC NewCity Thursday at 6 p.m.

🎥 Gene Siskel Film Center Friday at 5:45 p.m.

🎟️ $22

Do you regress to your younger self when you’re back home? That’s the premise of the family comedy set in a crumbling Chicago two-flat. Chandra Russel from “South Side” stars.

‘Food Roots’

🎥 AMC NewCity Thursday at 8:30 p.m. and Oct. 21 at 6 p.m.

🎟️ $22

Watch Chicago restaurateur Billy Dec travel to the Philippines to learn about his culture and culinary traditions — as well as family recipes and secrets in this documentary.

‘Bike Vessel’

🎥 AMC NewCity Saturday at 5 p.m. and Oct. 21 at 12:45 p.m.

🎥 Hamlin Park Oct. 20 at 6:30 p.m.

🎟️ Free to $22

After three open-heart surgeries, filmmaker Eric D. Seals’ father became an avid cyclist. Twenty years later, the father-son duo biked from St. Louis to Chicago on a trip highlighting the U.S. health disparities and the wellbeing of Black men.

The Chicago International Film Fest runs through Oct. 22.