Chicago film festival to show 172 movies

CHICAGO, Sept. 26 (UPI) -- Rachel Weisz, Darren Aronofsky, Common, Charlie Kaufman and Colin Hanks have agreed to attend the 44th Chicago International Film Festival, organizers said.

The festival is scheduled to run from Oct. 16 through Oct. 29 and is expected to showcase 116 feature films, 38 short and student films, and 18 documentaries. The movies come from more than 45 countries.

"For 44 years, we've been committed to taking you all across the globe to discover some of the most exciting cinema the world has to offer, right here in Chicago for two weeks only," Michael Kutza, founder and artistic director of the Chicago International Film Festival, said in a statement. "This isn't your typical Saturday night out at the movies -- these are once-in-a-lifetime events. And this year we've set up camp in a new Festival Village to create an even stronger sense of community where you can come out, see the films, meet the people who make them, mingle with your fellow film fans, and most importantly see the world in a whole new way."

Among the films scheduled to screen at the festival are "The Brothers Bloom," "The Wrestler," "Happy-Go-Lucky," "Slumdog Millionaire," "Synecdoche, New York," "Good," "O'Horten," "The Human Contract" and "The Great Buck Howard."

Oscar winner Sidney Poitier is to be honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award and recording artist Common is to be presented with an Emerging Artist Award, organizers said.