A new movie starring Will Ferrell will mark the beginning of over two weeks of films from the United States and around the world as the Chicago International Film Festival opens for the 42nd year. Opening night will be held at the historic Chicago Theater with a screening of the new film, Stranger Then Fiction, from Mark Forster, the director of Monster’s Ball and Finding Neverland. The film, based in Chicago, stars Ferrell and Emma Thomson, as well as Dustin Hoffman, who will receive the prestigious Career Achievement Award before the festival screening.

The Chicago International Film Festival was founded in 1964 by award-winning filmmaker Michael Kutza. The festival’s goal is to discover and present to Chicago films by talented filmmakers from around the globe, and this year is no exception.

Students at Northeastern need look no further then this year’s Chicago International Film Festival to find a film that has some connection to their personal experience of the world. The festival, which opens on Oct. 5, will showcase documentaries, short films, and over 100 feature films from the United States, Greece, Poland, Egypt, France, South Korea, Mexico and dozens of other countries from around the globe.

This year’s festival will also feature the first annual Anime Focus. This year’s focus, being presented in conjunction with the Japan America Society of Chicago, will feature the North American premier of director Yoshiyuki Tomino’s Mobile Suit Z Gundam trilogy. The Anime Focus will be an all-day event on Saturday, Oct. 7, and it will provide festival goers with the opportunity to participate in a question and answer session with the film’s director.

The festival will also be screening the new film by Amores Perros director Alejandro González Iñárritu. Babel, which stars Brad Pitt and Gael García Bernal, is the third installment in Iñárritu’s death trilogy.

The films of this year’s festival will be screened at three locations: the Landmark Century at 2828 N. Clark, the AMC River East at 322 E. Illinois, and Northwestern’s Thorne Auditorium at 375 E. Chicago Avenue. Tickets can be purchased at each screening or in discounted blocks.

The Chicago International Film Festival is a great way to see the world without leaving Chicago. For more information on the 42nd Annual Chicago International Film Festival, visit www.chicagofilmfestival.org.