The first full day of the Chicago International Film Festival (CIFF) offered a colorful array of films both in terms of genres and international origins.

Red Carpet
Walking down the red carpet with Adam Rifkin (Where’s Waldo, Homo Erectus, Underdog and Mousehunt), were former Chicagoan, actor Hayes MacArthur (The Game Plan with the Rock and Homo Erectus), and current hot property-celebrity style magazine regular, actress Ali Larter (Heroes). Side note: It seemed as if MacArthur and Larter are actually boyfriend and girlfriend in their real lives

CIFF’s First Friday Lineup
Sweet and tender, politically charged and uniquely original, the line-up captured the true essence of filmmaking on a global scale.

From Mexico, director Fernando Sariñana’s, winner of last year’s CIFF Latino Film Festival’s Audience Choice Award for Arnar te Duele, returned with a whimsical comedy, Charm School (Niñas Mal) in which a politico’s teenage daughter rebels against his attempts to control her life. Director Simón Bross’s Bad Habits (Malos Habitos) presented a glimpse into the life of plump adult-age daughter whose mother is diet and body image obsessed.

From Brazil, Meteoro was Diego de la Texera tale’s of a bureaucracy’s efforts to take over a sub-culture of meteor worshipers.

From Bulgaria and the United States, first-time director Jim Loftus challenged audiences with his high-stakes political thriller, Trade Routes depicting a non-powerful CIA agent and her disgruntled boss attempt to team with the prime minister’s chief advisor. Well-suited to direct a political thriller, Loftus himself, having worked on six American presidential campaigns, possesses a solid background in politics.

And, from Hungary, director Károly Esztergályos’s Men in the Nude (Férfiakt) details the a married, middle aged man’s first intimate relationship with a male and how this unlocks a part of him he had thought all but disappeared.

LOOK: Home Town Premiere
However, the standout film of the evening had to have been the Midwest premiere of LOOK, which written and directed by Chicago-native Adam Rifkin, reveals images of people’s private moments while caught through the lens of surveillance cameras.

With the opening statement, “There are an estimated 24 million surveillance cameras in the United generating an average of four billion hours of video every week,” Rifkin’s well-executed voyeuristic, albeit somewhat unsettling, hits home with the fact that essentially we are never as alone as we think we are.

Receiving the Grand Jury Prize at CineVegas in June and such positive commentary as: a powerful, provocative and disturbing new film from USA Today and a fascinating feature from the Hollywood Reporter, LOOK definitely dazzled film-goers in attendance at the Midwest premiere.

With still another 12 days to go in the CIFF, I will now bid adieu for evening so that I may be at my optimal viewing potential for a fascinating weekend programming schedule ahead.