Normal Theater Marquis

2024 Schedule

  • Thursday, April 25, 6:00 pm - Festival Kickoff with screening of Qatar Stars followed by Q&A with filmmaker Danielle Beverly (more information below).

  • Friday, April 26, 3:00 pm - Danielle Beverly documentary workshop at the Normal Theater.

  • Friday, April 26, 7:00 pm - ISU student showcase followed by Q&A.

  • Saturday, April 27, 7:00 - High School & College competition films followed by Q&A and Awards Ceremony.

  • Danielle Beverly, Documentary Filmmaker

  • Danielle Beverly, Documentary Filmmaker and Assistant Professor at Northwestern

    Danielle Beverly is an independent filmmaker who works as a one-person crew to craft observational documentaries. Her latest is Qatar Stars (2023), the first feature documentary about girls in Qatar. It offers a textured story of girlhood in all its joys and growing pains, through intimate access to a multinational, girls-only rhythmic gymnastics school in Doha, led by a former Russian gymnast. Girls from Qatar, Lebanon, Eqypt, Ukraine, and UK grow up onscreen over four years, changing from wiggly nine year olds to maturing teens who must navigate a complicated gendered world around them.

  • Illinois State University Student Films, April 26 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 27.

  • ISU Showcase Lineup

    “Life” by Clara Pogue (4:42)

    “Trip to the End” by Madeline Sievers (2:29)

    “Midnight Snack” by Allen Chiu (3:34)

    “VlaVlaCar” by Crystal Garcia and John Yacko (5:08)

    “Ghost Activities” by Eli Jeppeson (1:15)

    “Feet Splashing” by Ilse Miller (0:34)

    “Knuckle Drop” by Wyatt Saia (10:28)

    “Threads of Consciousness” by Jameel Mukarram (2:57)

    “The Flute Man” by Adam Bloemer (2:50)

    “Liminal” by Anna Gsell (8:40)

    “Blanket” by James McGurk (1:05)

    “Human Nature” by Kallie McMillan (2:38)

    “Where Do I Fall” by Victoria Lavalier (2:23)

    “From a Girl” by Cambria Wuethrich (2:59)

    “To Be Woman” by Lexy West (2:44)

    “I Know the End” by McKenzie Schmidt and Katia Savelyev (6:22)

  • INTERMISSION

  • ISU Showcase Continued

    “Gamers: Esports Culture and Inclusion” by Curren O’Connell (10:00)

    “Harambee Pre Kwanzaa Festival” by Zion Cobb (5:00)

    “I Hate Tennis” by Allen Chiu (7:09)

    “Underrepresented Genders in Music: They ‘Actually’ Rock” by Emily Bollinger (35:23)

  • High School & College Competition Films, Saturday, April 27 at the Normal Theater beginning at 7:00 pm.

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

  • High School Narrative

    "Brushstrokes" by Simon Finkel (5:15)

    "Manners & Mannerisms" by Alex Fako (4:44)

    "Seven Miles West" by Miles Fogleman and Beck McDonald (14:04)

  • High School Documentary

    "metamorphosis" by Max Rideout (2:24)

  • High School Animation

    "American Dream" by Renee Shi (2:55)

  • University Animation

    "Before is over" by Yana Fidan (1:59)

    "Dreamwalker" by Marissa Hicks (2:24)

    "Saint Brigid’s Cloak" by Brigid Slevin (4:00)

  • University Documentary

    "VHS Girl: Movie Paintings on Wood" by Johnny Martinez (6:16)

    "Quinn: Using DIY Instruments to Discover New Sounds" by Drake Martin (9:18)

    "The American Friend" by Imogen Pranger, Despina Rizopoulos, Jace Mason, and Rowan Gould-Bayba (13:19)

  • INTERMISSION

  • University Narrative

    “No. 1” by Owen Elliott (6:00)

    “Love is a Crime” by Minghao He (11:03)

    “An Error Has Occurred” by Austin Shopinski (7:00)

    “Feeding Tube” by Kaylee Johnson and Aashish Thakur (16:54)

    “One Day Without Him” by Oleksandra Vinnichuk (14:00)