Scrappers by Ben Kolak, Brian Ashby, and Courtney Prokopas -

Best Documentary Feature Award

Stay the Same, Never Change by Laurel Nakadate -

Best Narrative Feature Award
Modus Operandi by Frankie Latina -

Honorable Mention

Congrats to all the Film Makers!

Awards for best narrative feature and best documentary feature are still being determined but here is what was announced at last night’s festival party:

Made in Chicago Award – Kent Lambert, Fantasy Suite
Best Animation – Everybody, Steve Reinke and Jesse Mott
Best Experimental Film – L’Internationale, Marianna Milhorat
Best Documentary Short – Sincerity: The Character of Ronald Reagan, Chris Royalty
Best Narrative Short – Home Movie, Braden King
Audience Award – Scrappers, Ben Kolak, Brian Ashby and Courtney Prokopas

Honorable Mentions

Golden Hour, Robert Todd
This Is My Show, Lori Felker
Voice on the Line, Kelly Sears

I’ll post the feature winners as soon as the jury gets them to me.

FESTIVAL JURY

Ross Nugent hails from wilds of Western Pennsylvania. He earned a BA in Film Studies at the University of Pittsburgh and studied film and video production at Pittsburgh Filmmakers, where he began working in media exhibition in 2003. Ross served as the Exhibition Coordinator from 2005-2008, and matriculated to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to pursue an MFA in Film. He is also the Program Manager of the UWM Union Theatre, the Faculty Advisor for the Milwaukee Underground Film Festival, and an instructor in the Film Dept.

Spencer Parsons is a filmmaker based in Chicago, and he teaches media production at Northwestern University. He has made such award-winning short films as “Resolution” (2002) and “Once and Future Asshole” (2005), and his feature film, “I’ll Come Running,” will soon be available on DVD from IFC. From 2000-2004, he was senior programmer for the late and lamented Cinematexas International Short Film Festival in Austin, TX.

Brigid Reagan is the Assistant Director of Video Data Bank, the country’s largest archive and distributor of video art and artist interviews. As AD, Brigid manages submissions, acquisitions, public programs, marketing and promotion for the organization. She was VDB’s Distribution Manager prior to her current appointment and previously worked in both programming and educational outreach for Cinema/Chicago, presenter of the Chicago International Film Festival. Brigid has presented VDB work at festivals and conferences throughout the world, and has sat on various panels and juries in the media arts field. She holds a BA in Film and Television from the University of Notre Dame and an MA in Arts Management from Columbia College Chicago, where she was a Dwight Follet Fellow.

1:00pm – ERIE + HOME MOVIE
1:15pm – SHORTS PROGRAM FOUR: EAST MEETS WEST
3:00pm – SHORTS PROGRAM FIVE: NIGHT WATCHING
4:45pm – SCRAPPERS
6:00pm – SHORTS PROGRAM SIX: THE UNCONSCIOUS UNCORKED
7:00pm – CLOSING NIGHT FILM! PUTTY HILL
9:00pm – CUFF Closing Night Party

The Empty Bottle
1035 N. Western

6:00pm – WORLD’S LARGEST + GUIDED TOUR
8:15pm – VISIONARIES: JONAS MEKAS AND THE (MOSTLY) AMERICAN AVANT-GARDE
9:15pm – SHORTS PROGRAM ONE: SCHOOL OF VELOCITY
10:30pm – MODUS OPERANDI

11:00pm- CUFF Friday Night Party

Beauty Bar
1444 W. Chicago

The Chicago Underground Film Festival is honored to present the Midwest Premiere of THE WILD HUNT, directed by Alexandre Franchi. Winner of best Canadian first feature at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival and the Audience award for best feature at this year’s Slamdance, THE WILD HUNT is set in the fantastic world of live action role playing games (LARPS). Eric Magnusson is a desperate young man who follows his estranged girlfriend Evelyn into the middle of a medieval reenactment game. The presence of this non-participant disrupts the game¹s alternate reality and angers the dedicated players who refuse to break character in their encounters with him. When one of the players, the mysterious shaman Murtagh, shows a very real interest in Evelyn, the boundaries between reality and fantasy collide, and what begins as geeky fun turns into a tragedy of mythic proportions. To achieve atmosphere on a budget, Franchi and his crew entered the Duché de Bicolline, an actual role-playing venue near Shawinigan, Quebec, turning the game’s players into his extras and creating a mise-en-scene of nerd authenticity.

Get your tickets here.

CUFF2010Trailer [satrom] from jonsatrom on Vimeo.

Thanks to jonsatrom.

CUFF TRAILER 2010 from Jerzy Rose on Vimeo.

Thanks to Jerzy Rose.

After the movies meet us at Beauty Bar for drinks and dancing.

Spandexxx, Beauty Bar’s monthly electro dance party, feautures DJ duo Moneypenny, Zebo, and Dominique Young Unique will provide the tunes.

Facebook invite link.