2023 Schedule

  • Thursday, April 27, 7:00 pm - Festival Kickoff with Professional Filmmakers Doug Spilatro and Griffin Hammond (more information below).

  • Friday, April 28, 7:00 pm - Illinois State University Student Filmmakers Night.

  • Saturday, April 29, 3:00 - 5:00 pm - DIY independent filmmaking workshop led by Griffin Hammond (public welcome).

  • Saturday, April 29, 7:00 - High School & College competition films followed by Awards Ceremony.

Professional Filmmakers

  • Doug Spilatro, VP of Visual Effects, Company 3

    Doug Doug Spilatro, VP of Visual Effects, Company 3, Santa Monica, CA

    Doug Spilatro is a visual effects artist, having received his degree in Film and TV at Illinois State University in 1979. He spent his first 12 years in the industry doing visual effects work on commercials in the Chicago area and now leads the VFX department for Company 3. He has supervised visual effects work on an impressive number of features, including Oscar-winning dramas such as The Revenant, Birdman, The Post, and Fences. Visit Doug’s IMDB page to see the hundreds of Hollywood films he has worked on.

  • Griffin Hammond, Documentary Filmmaker

    Griffin Hammond, Independent Documentary Filmmaker, Chicago, IL

    Griffin Hammond is a freelance documentary filmmaker, known for sharing DIY filmmaking tutorials, and his award-winning hot sauce documentary Sriracha. As a journalist, he covered the 2020 U.S. presidential election at The Recount, and the 2016 campaign for Bloomberg News. Through partnerships with Panasonic, and the U.S. State Department, he’s taught filmmaking workshops in 14 countries. Griffin graduated Illinois State University in 2007, and earned a Masters in Communication from Illinois State University in 2009.

  • Illinois State University Student Films, April 28 at the Normal Theater beginning at 7:00 pm.

    Audience members will vote for the Fan Favorite Award which will be announced at the awards presentations on Saturday, April 29.

  • Masterpiece

    Natalie Glennon

  • Hopeless Lover

    Beckett

  • Nostalgia

    Anna Gsell

  • Untitled

    Ileana Stavropoulos

  • Promise

    Flunkie

  • Waiting Room

    Braden Kralis

  • Para-Somnia

    Madeline Sievers

  • Atomicon Project

    Jadon Crowther

  • Cloud Nine

    Audrey Maxey & Jay Johnston

  • The Wonder Filled Box of Wishes

    Jessica Peterson

  • Caution

    Wyatt Saia and Henry Horton

  • Saint Valentine

    Clara Pogue

  • Story of an Artist

    Adam Bloemer

  • Everything In Between

    Janie Greenwald

  • Coffee, Concerts & Community

    Emily Bollinger, Christopher Luden, Will Schneider, Michael Farley and Tyler Ledford

  • The Castle Theater: Live Music's Journey Through the Pandemic

    Cash Cady, Hannah Grawe, Eleanor Bland and Jason Cook

  • Portrait of Jelani: Grief, Art & Memory

    Anthony Fisher, Courtney Ossola, Marcus Pruitt and Aracely Zarco

  • High School & College Competition Films, Saturday, April 29 at the Normal Theater beginning at 7:00 pm.

    Best of Category Award Ceremony to follow the Saturday night screenings.

  • Rooted

    directed by Own Michael Elliott (High School Animation / Palatine, IL)

  • Roadkill

    directed by Ava Fumarolo (High School Narrative / Palatine, IL)

  • A Day in the Life

    directed by Sophia Winters (High School Narrative / Zionsville, IN)

  • Voice

    directed by Sophia Winters (High School Narrative / Zionsville, IN)

  • Sanatorium

    directed by Davis Kersey and Alexnader Hilzim (High School Narrative / St. Petersburg, Florida)

  • Delivery

    directed by Zaknafein Luken (Unviersity Narrative / Lincoln, IL)

  • Shuvit

    directed by Kyleigh Brooks (University Documentary / Oakville, Ontario Canada)

  • Hate is Not Welcome Here

    directed by Zaknafein Luken (University Documentary / Lincoln, IL)

  • To Be Frank

    directed by Derek Hackert (University Documentary / Detroit, MI)

  • Creating: An Adventure

    directed by Jamie R. Wunning (University Animation / Peoria, IL)

  • The Beneficiary

    directed by Zachary Dover (University Animation / Peoria, IL)

  • The Trail Beyond Highland Road

    directed by Eli Copperman (University Animation / Baltimore, MD)

  • The Plan

    directed by Zaknafein Luken (University Narrative / Lincoln, IL)