"All Happy Families" from Haroula Rose was shot all over the city. The movie is about parents coming to terms with their kids as adults.
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There's a struggling writer-actor who lives in the shadow of his brother, a TV star whose privileged life is about to explode.
Rose is a musician and filmmaker raise din Lincolnwood, and a graduate of the University of Chicago. She's lived all over the city and her father has a Greek restaurant on the North Side.
"I just feel like Chicago is such a beautiful city, and there's such an array of people," she said. "Telling a family story in the town where I grew up was really meaningful to me. I hope people can relate to the characters, and homecoming in a way, and being confronted with issues from childhood that never got resolved. "
The film also showcases many different neighborhoods, all chosen with purpose.
"Our main location is in Irving Park, we needed a traditional Chicago two flat," Rose said. "Then Lincoln Square, Logan Square, a bunch of shots throughout the city, I lived in Hyde Park for a while, there's stuff in Old Town."
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Rose said the story she wanted to tell in the film is, "There are issues about masculinity and femininity and what does this mean in our modern society, but looking at it in a lighthearted way - and not telling people how to feel."
She hopes people take this message away after the credits roll.
"We are all multitudes of things, good and bad with questionable and awesome qualities in all of us," Rose said. "I hope people come away from it feeling a little bit seen and more like, let's think about redemption, you know."
The Chicago Film festival is showing "All Happy Families" Thursday night at AMC New city, and Friday at the Siskel Film Center.