Judson readies for 10th annual Imago Film Festival
Judson University's 10th annual Imago Film Festival will be held April 1-5 at Marjorie Hall Thulin Performance Hall, 1151 N. State St., Elgin. The Imago Film Festival showcases independent film that deals with faith issues, emphasizing image and story.
The film festival will celebrate its 10th year of screening films and featuring nationally known speakers. In addition to original short films and a pre-release screening, this year's festival will feature actor Marshall Allman as a special guest and speaker.
The festival will open Tuesday, April 1 with screenings of new films in the festival competition. Those films will include the short film "Recalculating" starring the well-known actor, Ron Dean ("The Fugitive," "The Dark Knight"), who will lead a question-and-answer session.
A retrospective program featuring some of the best films from the festival's first nine years will begin the evening on Wednesday, April 2. Screenings of new films in competition will round out the evening.
Cass, the first feature-length film by former Imago award-winner Hugh Schulze, will be shown on Thursday, April 3. Hugh Schulze will introduce and lead a Q&A session for his film about a family whose lives are changed by the artist who moves into the abandoned house next door. The film stars James McDaniel and David Dastmalchian.
Marshall Allman speak on Friday, April 4. He has starred in movies such as the "Blue Like Jazz" and Jayne Mansfield's Car and television series such as "True Blood" and "Prison Break." New films in the festival competition will also be shown this evening.
Braden Heckman, CEO of Wanderlust Productions, will lead a workshop on crowdfunding and his company's highly successful Kickstarter campaign in the afternoon on Saturday, April 5.
A red carpet celebration will be held in the evening on Saturday, April 5, featuring food and live music. Afterward, a new documentary about the festival's first 10 years will be premiered, the first recipient of the Imago Lifetime Achievement Award will be announced, and the award-winning films will be announced and screened,
Winning films shown at the festival will be chosen by a panel of local university film professors as well as other professionals in the field. The prizes for the winning films are as follows: Best of Show - $1,000, first prize (1-15 minutes) - $300, first prize (15-30 minutes) - $300, and Audience Choice Award - $150.
Evening events begin at 7 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. On Saturday, the workshop begins at 3 p.m.; the red carpet celebration begins at 5:30 p.m. and the evening events follow at 7 p.m.
Tickets for the festival are $6 for Tuesday through Friday and $10 for Saturday; a full-event pass is $20. For Judson students and faculty, tickets are $3 for Tuesday through Friday and $5 for Saturday; a full-event pass is $12. Tickets can be reserved by phone (847) 628-1131 or email filmfestival@judsonu.edu.
For detailed information about scheduled events, visit imagofilmfestival.com. For specific questions, contact Terrence Wandtke (festival director) at filmfestival@judsonu.edu.