– May 9, 2016

Although the art of filmmaking is not a competition, The Chicago Underground Film Festival does give awards. The festival jury will present six awards to films and videos selected as best or most interesting in whatever categories they see fit. Additionally “Made in Chicago” and Audience Choice awards will also be presented.

2016 Festival Jurors

Jeffrey Bowers

Jeffrey Bowers is Senior Manager of Curation at Vimeo and also curates VICE media’s VICE Shorts and writes their column, “I’m Short, Not Stupid.” In the past he has programmed for Tribeca Film Festival, Hamptons Film Festival and Rooftop Films.

Rebecca Hall

Rebecca Hall is Executive Director of the Northwest Chicago Film Society and Operations and Digital Communications Manager at the Gene Siskel Film Center.

Tim Kinsella

Tim Kinsella is the author of two novels, Let Go and Go On and On (2014, Curbside Splendor) and The Karaoke Singer’s Guide to Self-Defense (2011, Featherproof Books) and one book of non-fiction All Over and Over (2015, Joyful Noise / Featherproof Books). In 2014 he became the publisher and editor at Featherproof Books. Since 1996 his band Joan of Arc and its related projects have released dozens of albums and they continue to tour internationally on a regular basis. In 2015 he was both the Artist-in-Residence at Joyful Noise Records and the Visiting Writer at Roosevelt University, as well as serving on the programming committee at Chicago Filmmakers. Recent projects include multiple commissions for the MCA Chicago and The Museum of Contemporary Photography, as well as his ongoing collaborations with the experimental theater company Every house has a door.

Spencer Parsons 

Spencer Parsons has been screening his short films at CUFF for over a decade, including 2015’s Bite Radius (named one of the top 5 short films of the year in New City). He has also directed the features I’ll Come Running(2008) and Saturday Morning Massacre (2012), and also served as Senior Programmer, and then as a curator for the Cinematexas International Short Film and Video Festival in Austin, TX, from 2000-2007. He is an Associate Professor in media production at Northwestern University.