2026 EUNIC Chicago Film Festival
Film Festival
Leave One Day by Amélie Bonnin (2025)
The European Union National Institute for Culture (EUNIC) Film Festival debuts at FACETS from November 6-8, 2026, bringing a rich selection of European films to Chicago.
The EUNIC Film Festival showcases films that explore the diverse cultural landscapes of Europe, offering fresh perspectives on the continent’s evolving identities. This year’s lineup brings together heartfelt stories about family and identity set in communities across Europe.
France will present Leave One Day (Partir un jour), a musical-drama film directed by Amélie Bonnin (2025) as part of Young French Cinema, a program of UniFrance and Villa Albertine that aims to bring French films that are not distributed in the US to art house cinemas, film societies, the Alliance Française network, and American universities.
PROGRAM
Friday, Nov 6, 2026
Opening Night Reception – 6PM
Leave One Day – 7PM
DIR. Amélie Bonnin | France
LANGUAGE French
Cécile is about to open her own gourmet restaurant, finally making her dream come true, when suddenly her father has a heart attack and she is called back to the village where she was born. Far from the hubbub of Paris life, she runs into her teenage crush. The memories come flooding back, destabilizing her certainties.
Saturday, Nov 7, 2026
Olivia and the Invisible Earthquake – 4:30PM
DIR. Irene Iborra Rizo | Spain, France, Belgium, Chile, Switzerland
LANGUAGE Catalan
After their family is evicted, young Olivia turns the upheaval into a game, pretending she and her brother are filming a movie, and finds an unexpected new family along the way.
Renovation – 5PM
DIR. Gabrielė Urbonaitė | Lithuania, Belgium, Latvia
LANGUAGE English
In Vilnius, a young woman about to turn thirty begins to doubt the settled life she has built after befriending a Ukrainian construction worker, and starts writing poetry.
How Could I Live Without You – 7PM
DIR. Dénes Orosz | Hungary
LANGUAGE Hungarian
Reading her mother’s old letters, Lili relives a memorable summer at Lake Balaton, where music, love, and jealousy changed everything.
Sunday, Nov 8, 2026
Tarrac – 1PM
DIR. Declan Recks | Ireland
LANGUAGE Irish
Back in the Kerry Gaeltacht to care for her ailing father, Aoife joins her friends in a traditional rowing race and finds a chance to mend their relationship.
Pinnochio – 3PM
DIR. Enzo D’Alò | Italy
LANGUAGE Italian
An animated feature film based on the 1883 novel The Adventures of Pinocchio.
Stelios – 5PM
DIR. Yorgos Tsemberopoulos | Greece
LANGUAGE Greek
A tribute to the legendary singer, Stelios Kazantzidis, whose voice touched the hearts of all Greeks around the world.
In partnership with
EUNIC Chicago
EUNIC Chicago provides a space for European cultural institutions to come together, exchange ideas and collaborate on projects. We are dedicated to providing an authentic and meaningful European experience, bringing together the best of European cultures to share with the city of Chicago. By working together, we are able to foster an environment of mutual understanding and appreciation between Europe and the US. We strive to bring new perspectives to the forefront and provide a space for dialogue between cultures.
Unifrance
Founded in 1949 and strengthened thanks to its merger with TV France International in 2021, Unifrance is the organisation responsible for promoting French cinema and TV content worldwide.
Located in Paris, Unifrance employs around 50 staff members, as well as representatives based in the U.S., in China, and soon in Japan. The organisation currently brings together more than 1,000 French cinema and TV content professionals (producers, filmmaking talents, agents, sales companies, etc.) working together to promote French films and TV programmes among foreign audiences, industry executives and media.