62nd CHICAGO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES “ETTA LERAE” AS WINNER OF THE PITCH AT INDUSTRY DAYS
Five New Projects Selected for Year-Long Lab and The Pitch 2027
CHICAGO, Illinois (October 20, 2026) - The 62nd Chicago International Film Festival today announced ETTA LERAE as the winner of The Pitch at the 12th edition of Industry Days, the Festival’s annual conference for filmmakers and industry professionals to connect, share ideas, and find inspiration. The Pitch at Industry Days is the culmination of the annual Chicago Industry Exchange Lab (CIX:Lab), which invites filmmakers with narrative features in late stage development to present their projects in front of a live audience and a panel of industry judges. CIX:Lab project filmmakers participate in quarterly workshops focusing on script development, directing, producing, and pre-production, with the winner of The Pitch receiving an awards package of in-kind services, including consultation, production, and post-production.
Written and directed by Jana Smith and produced by Adia Ivey, ETTA LERAE follows a filmmaker whose obsession with a documentary subject who does not want to be bothered leads to compromised morals, jeopardized relationships, and revelations into her complicated past.
The project was selected from a competitive lineup of five narrative feature projects developed during the 2025–2026 CIX:Lab. The other featured projects in this year's Pitch are available to see here.
The film was selected by this year’s distinguished Pitch jury, composed of Adrienne Becker, CEO of of Level Forward and producer of Sundance winner LADY; Corey Deckler, producer of films such as JAMES WHITE, IT COMES AT NIGHT, and the television show JOHN MULANEY AND THE SACK LUNCH BUNCH; and Kenneth Yu, co-producer of SINNERS and executive producer of NICKEL BOYS.
ETTA LERAE received an awards package of in-kind goods and services worth over $270,000. Contributors include Panavision, The Fields Studio, MBS Equipment, Quicksilver Color, Journeywork Entertainment, Independent Studio Services, Noisefloor, Anachrony Post, AJ Casting Consultation, and Ramo Law.
Past projects from the Chicago Industry Exchange and The Pitch have gone on to completion, including Jennifer Reeder’s SIGNATURE MOVE and KNIVES AND SKIN, Haroula Rose’s ONCE UPON A RIVER, and Alex Heller’s THE YEAR BETWEEN.
The Festival has also announced a slate of five narrative feature film projects that will take part in next year’s edition of CIX: Lab, a year-long development program that will culminate at The Pitch at Industry Days in 2027. This year's selection committee included Winter Davis (Women in Film Chicago), Sarah Marie Flores (Anarchists United), and Anthony Kaufman (Chicago International Film Festival).
Now entering its 6th year, CIX:Lab is proud to establish a strategic partnership with Lily Wachowski’s production company, Anarchist United. The collaboration unites both organizations behind a shared mission to empower emerging voices across an ever-evolving media landscape.
Representing a diversity of perspectives that reinforce the strength and vitality of the Chicago filmmaking community, the selected 2026–2027 CIX:Lab projects are:
OTAKUS
Director: Shane Chung
Producer: Jennifer Jeselma
Two middle schoolers embark on a suburban odyssey across Illinois to attend an anime convention, dodging older brothers, internet strangers, and the cops along the way.
RAUNCH HOP
Director: Jet Harris
Producer: Meghan Shannon
An aimless ex-basketball player and daughter of an Illinois hop farmer discovers an aphrodisiac hop, creating a raunchy beer that ignites a horny zeitgeist to win back her Chicago ex-girlfriend.
TRANSCENDENT
Director: George Segress
Producer: Beah Travis
In a dying Western Kansas town, a washed-up painter watches a local psychic hand his oldest friend the talent he's always coveted.
THE LAST OUNCE
Directors: Terrence Thompson
Producer: Raphael Nash
As a pair of creatively repressed “stoner-bestie-cinephiles” set out to make a movie together, their day-jobs and mental health (and WEED) threaten to tear them apart.
WORK: THE NOVELA, THE UNAUTHORIZED MUSICAL NO ONE ASKED FOR
Director: Joelle Velez
Producer: Megan Janak
Sofia, a repressed corporate Latina, gets her body snatched by her inner alter-ego... who happens to be a sexy novela villain.
FESTIVAL INFORMATION
Celebrating its 62nd edition October 14 - 25, 2026, the Chicago International Film Festival is North America's longest-running competitive international film festival and an Oscar® and BAFTA-qualifying festival. Showcasing acclaimed and exciting new films from around the world, the 62nd edition will be held in theaters and at venues across the city, featuring a select program of films with open and closed captions. From dramas and thrillers to documentaries and comedies, the Festival’s lineup spans a range of genres. Signature competitive sections include International Feature Film, New Directors, International Documentary, and Shorts, alongside curated programs such as Black Perspectives, Comedy, OutLook, After Dark, and City & State, which showcases films made in Chicago and throughout Illinois.
