Author: chicagofilmfestival

A showcase of the best new films from around the world today.

AUDIENCE AWARDS (from audience feedback festival):
Best Feature Film: ALASKA RESCUE STORY
Best Short Film: THE WAR ON ART – THE DOOMSDAY POETS
Best Story: NASTY
Best Animation: THE BATTLE OF RED / BLUE
Best Performances: BLUE
Best Micro-Short Film: THE AUGE

NASTY, 40min., USA
Directed by John Gerald Scaletta
Nasty tells the story of Lt. Col. Daniel Nash, an F-15 pilot who was scrambled from Otis Air National Guard Base at supersonic speed on the morning of September 11, 2001, to intercept what was believed to be a hijacked commercial airliner. Although the attacks ended that day, their effects on Dan did not.

https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-nasty

The Battle of Red / Blue, 3min., USA
Directed by Law Jones
In the heat-soaked city of Kurogane, a wandering student named Kaine chases two things with equal obsession—perfect rice bowls and perfect fights.

https://www.instagram.com/laws_ai_punch

https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-the-battle-of-red

The war On Art – The Doomsday Poets, 20min., Canada
Directed by David Joyce
A group of musicians take issue with the devastating role Social Media and Streaming services has on music and art. The band uses incredible music, comedy and raw truth to shun complacency in the industries.

https://www.instagram.com/Way

https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-the-war

Alaska Rescue Story, 45min., USA
Directed by Mark Rose

http://www.alaskarescuestory.com/

https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-alaska

BLUE, 22min., USA
Directed by Nathan Porter
Past, present, and an uncertain future blend together as a woman struggles to manage the weight of grief and love in the wake of a great loss.

https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-blue

THE AUGE, 5min., Germany
Directed by Rudolf “Ronny” Augenheimer
Camera specialist Ronny J. Augenheimer presents his latest invention: A camera helmet that can turn even the most daring POV shots into reality. At the same time we learn about his struggles and dreams as a filmmaker.

https://www.instagram.com/dropout_films

https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-the-auge

A showcase of the best new films from around the world today.

AUDIENCE AWARDS (from audience feedback festival):
Best Feature Film: THE QURAN
Best Short Film: BURNOUTS
Best Story: DESERT REFORESTATION
Best Direction: TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT

THE QURAN, 100min., USA
Directed by Masood Ali
A Chicago‑based family, once agnostic, embarks on a transformative journey to uncover the true meaning and timeless values of the Quran. Their quest inspires them to bring this exploration to the screen, resulting in a heartfelt film that celebrates faith, understanding, and universal humanity.

https://www.instagram.com/hollywood2bollywoodpictures

https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-the-quran

Desert Reforestation: Rivals and the Dropped Camera, 5min., Czechia
Directed by Stanislav Skricka
The film captures real, unplanned moments in which divided communities — rivals in politics, work, and sport — come together in a desert reforestation project. In a place where conflict might be expected, tension unexpectedly transforms into strong bonds of friendship.

https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-desert-reforestation-chicago

Take It Or Leave It, 3min., USA
Directed by Alex Chacon
This music video speaks to the all-too-common matter of people dealing with rejection simply because they have decided to be true to themselves, to be authentic and be who they are. It is a project designed to bring hope, energy and resilience to those who are marginalized and minimized by others who choose to, nor cannot accept them or make any attempt to understand and love them. Our target audience it turns out to be the emerging generations.

https://instagram.com/sarahjames_music

https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-take-it-or-leave-it-chicago

BURNOUTS, 28min., USA
Directed by Jeff Poindexter
2 directionless losers in their late 20’s that have never mentally left 2005, decide to take control of their lives for the first time, resulting in one disaster after another.

https://www.instagram.com/midnightboardwalkproductions

https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-burnouts

A showcase of the best new films from around the world today.

AUDIENCE AWARDS (from audience feedback festival):
Best Short Film: Cheap$kate
Best Direction: If Only For Memories
Best Story: Controller
Best Micro-Short Film: Desert Reforestation: Rivals and the Dropped Camera
Best Performances: Sugar

If Only For Memories, 6min., USA
Directed by Ari Roman
A grieving young man searches his dreams for a few more sweet memories with his fiancé

https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-if-only-for-memories

Cheap$kate, 6min., USA
Directed by Calvin Catania
While a crafty detective teaches you his unique style of catching criminals, another criminal is on the run and heading down a dark alley he shouldn’t be going down. In the end, someone has to pay for their crimes.

https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-cheapskate

CONTROLLER, 7min., USA
Directed by Clint Younkin
In this dark and unknown universe, an age of consumption has enslaved society and almost all are bound by their obsessions. A particular man desires new levels to his relationship with his own obsession: technology.

https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-controller

Desert Reforestation: Rivals and the Dropped Camera, 5min., Czechia
Directed by Stanislav Skricka
The film captures real, unplanned moments in which divided communities — rivals in politics, work, and sport — come together in a desert reforestation project. In a place where conflict might be expected, tension unexpectedly transforms into strong bonds of friendship.

http://www.lucernavision.com/

https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-desert-reforestation

SUGAR, 20min., USA
Directed by Sutton Alexander Fry
A boy and his estranged father settle their differences in the ring

https://www.wildsound.ca/videos/audience-feedback-sugar

CAST LIST:

Narrator: Sean Ballantyne
Spike: Geoff Mays
Andrei: Shawn Devlin
Nadine: Elizabeth Rose Morriss

In the storm-ravaged summer of 1816, young Mary Godwin arrives at Lord Byron’s villa for a ghost story competition. What begins as creative rivalry becomes something darker when Mary channels a nightmare into the pages of Frankenstein.

CAST LIST:

Narrator: Elizabeth Rose Morriss
Mary: Val Cole

CAST LIST:

Narrator: Elizabeth Rose Morriss
Malcolm: Shawn Devlin
Sahara: Hannah Ehman
Mary: Val Cole

England in the fifteen-thirties. Superstition clashes with the institutional corruption of the church and the State clashes with the status quo as Henry V111 is becoming psychotic. In the dark forests, the animals and their gods walk freely amongst those people who accept their place in the world.

CAST LIST:

Narrator: Shawn Devlin
Tasmin: Val Cole
Susan: Elizabeth Rose Morriss

The true story of the trials and tribulations of Dred and Harriet Scott’s fight for freedom and the Supreme Court decision that changed America.

CAST LIST:

Narrator: Val Cole
Taylor Blow: Shawn Devlin
Dred Scott: Sean Ballantyne

Alex Mercer just wanted a steady government job — dental, pension, and no explosions. Instead, he reports to the Department of Unseen Affairs: a crumbling bureaucracy where ghosts punch timecards, werewolves complain about overtime, and the coffee machine occasionally levitates. His new colleagues include Claude, a centuries-old vampire with the attitude of a jaded tax auditor; Lila, a caffeine-fueled witch running HR like a crisis hotline; Gary, a snarky werewolf perpetually one paperwork error away from a full moon meltdown; and Gail, a human receptionist who’s seen too much and stopped caring around 1958.

https://www.instagram.com/sarantosmelogia/

CAST LIST:

Narrator: Val Cole
Gary: Shawn Devlin
Claude: Geoff Mays
Alex: Sean Ballantyne

A haunted Missouri musician searches for the cursed Paganini music that killed his parents — and uncovers a sinister plot involving Baba Yaga, steampunk vampires, and a psychopathic immortal to use it to summon the Devil and destroy NYC.

CAST LIST:

Narrator: Elizabeth Rose Morriss
Flynn: Sean Ballantyne
Stone: Geoff Mays