Forget Montreal. Screw Sundance. The best film festival in North America is right here.

Independent films debuts each year at the Chicago Independent Film Festival, a two-week event in its 37th season. This year’s festival closes Oct. 18, and features David Lynch’s “Mulholland Drive” (reviewed on this page) and Richard Linklater’s “Waking Life.”

Founded by fillmmaker and graphic designer Michael Kutza, the Chicago International Film Festival is the oldest competitive international film festival in North America.

Since its 1965 inauguration, the event has grown in reputation and size. Martin Scorsese, John Carpenter, Alan Parker and German director Wim Wenders all made their names at the Chicago Film Festival.

Though not a household name on the level of Cannes, the Chicago Festival is frequented by such prominent Hollywood figures as Geoffrey Rush and Spike Lee.

Recent additions include Black Perspectives, a program celebrating black cinema and centered around an actor or director. Previous honorees include Morgan Freeman and Laurence Fishburne.

Here is nyou’s guide to the best films of the Chicago Festival’s second week, running through the end of the festival:

Thursday

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