See international Oscar submissions at Film Fest

Zoom in: Here's a run down of some international submissions that caught our eyes. Check out the CIFF schedule for the full list.

• "Universal Language" (Canada): "Three slice-of-life stories emerge" in a Canada where the official language has become Farsi. Director Matthew Rankin is scheduled to attend.
• "Emila Pérez" (Mexico): Using song, dance and bold visuals this film follows four Mexican "women pursuing their own kinds of happiness."
• "Flow" (Latvia): This animated journey "through realms natural and mystical, follows a courageous cat after his home is devastated by a great flood."
• "Vermiglio" (Italy): "This WWII drama from director Maura Delpero chronicles a harrowing year in the life of three sisters" in a remote mountain village.

• "Three Kilometres to the End of the World" (Romania): When a teen "returns home one night badly beaten, his parents pursue the culprits — but justice fades when they learn that he was brutalized because he was seen kissing another man."

Local hero: "Time Passages," a Chicago-made documentary by Northwestern professor Kyle Henry, exploring his relationship with his elderly mother in the early days of the pandemic, will make its local premiere on Oct. 26 at the Chicago History Museum.