The 39th Annual Chicago International Film Festival (CIFF) opens Thursday, October 2, 2003, with a tribute to Robert Benton and a screening of his new film "The Human Stain," starring Anthony Hopkins and Nicole Kidman. The rich drama of a professor whose past transforms his present will open the festival at the Chicago Theatre where Benton (Kramer vs. Kramer, Superman) will be presented with a lifetime achievement award.

Some of the festival offerings that were available for preview and recommended include Reconstruction, a literary romantic examination of a writer, his wife, the stranger she falls for and his girlfriend. From Denmark, the film explores the nature of differing viewpoints of men and women about love, juxtaposed with the nature and freedom of constructing a film. Also from Denmark, Noi Albinoi, the story of a bright but bored teenager who yearns to escape his life in a small village by the sea, combines wit and deadpan humor with aching human anguish, and crashes down in a devastating conclusion. From Australia, Alexandra's Project, is a scathing disclosure of the animosity that lurks under the tidy veneer of an apparently happy marriage. Alexandra gives her clueless husband, Steve, a birthday surprise he will never forget. From New Zealand, Perfect Strangers, starring Sam Neill and Rachel Blake, is a psychological thriller that reaches beyond conventional dimensions to reveal complexities of plot and character that keep you guessing right up to the end.

Other festival highlights include a personal appearance and tribute to Robert Downey Jr. at a screening of his film The Singing Detective on October 6 at the Music Box Theatre. Wild River, an underrated classic from legendary and controversial director Elia Kazan, who passed away this week at age 94, is one of the presentations in the Critics Choice series. Chicago Tribune movie critic Michael Wilmington will lead a discussion, question and answer session following the screening on Sunday, October 12. Wrapping up the season of film festivals, the focus of the CIFF is to present a selection of films considered by an international panel to be the very best from Cannes, Berlin, Toronto and other major festivals around the globe. The festival continues through October 16 with the closing night feature, Shattered Glass, a disturbing report on the state of contemporary news, the media, and truth. For detailed information and a complete schedule visit the festival web site at www.chicagofilmfestival.org