The Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival is thrilled to announce the 48 short and feature-length films that have been officially selected for exhibition and competition. The traditional Shorts and Features Competitions will be presented in April over the course of seven days beginning April 14-23.
The festival will be held at Classic Cinemas Elk Grove XQ between April 14-23. Classic Cinemas is a family-owned, Illinois-based movie theatre. “Our team is thrilled to be presenting our 14th annual event with Classic Cinemas,” said Legat in the announcement this morning.
Shorts Competition
The Shorts Competition will consist of 27 films: 21 narratives, 3 documentaries, and 3 music videos.
Apolitical (United States), dir. Mishu Hilmy
The Bend (United States), dir. Sarah McCarron
Blue Hour (United States), dir. J.D. Shields
Caught on Tape (United States), dir. Alexander Jeffrey & Chris Alan Evans
Cottage Grove (United States), dir. George Ellzey Jr.
Favorite Things (United States), dir. Michael Paris Stone
The Fire in Me (United States), dir. Terah K. Hensley
Geezers (United States), dir. Jason Cooper
Ivania (Spain), dir. Luigi Abanto
Katele (Mudskipper) (Australia), dir. John Harvey
Life is Elsewhere (United States), dir. Jiamin Zhao
Maybe It Was Me (United States), dir. Nicholas McDonough
Mississippi Mud: A Natural History of the Blues (United States), dir. Phil Duncan
Náttúrubönd (United States), dir. Sven Peetoom, Gríma Irmudóttir & Jonathan Damborg
No Matter How Much (United States), dir. Dorian Weinzimmer
Not the Same Clarence (United States), dir. Brian Russell & Samuel B. Russell
Or, The Whale (United States), dir. Mark Kiefer
Seasalter Road (United Kingdom), dir. Will Kenning
Seatbelts (United States), dir. Michael John Dunker
Things I’ve Made My Roommate Do (United States), dir. Mylissa Fitzsimmons
Tilt (United States), dir. Ben Nissen
Trying (United States), dir. Emily Alpren
Twenty (United Kingdom), dir. Jason Hogan
Unibrow (Canada), dir. Nedda Sarshar
The Visit (United States), dir. Sean Patrick Folster
Wider Than the Sky (United Kingdom), dir. Philip Taylor
Won’t Be Around (United States), dir. Terry Blade
Features Competition
The Features Competition will consist of 7 films: 4 narratives and 3 documentaries.
Breakup Season (United States), dir. H. Nelson Tracey
The Fight for Black Lives (United States), dir. Micere Keels
The House That Stood (Italy), dir. Antonella Spirito
Marco Polo (Spain), dir. Pablo Riesgo Almonacid
The Problem of the Hero (United States), dir. Shaun Dozier
Roger (France), dir. Ben Shweky
Undivide Us (United States), dir. Kristi Kendall
“This season, we will be offering a third competition category,” said Operations Director Jonathan C. Legat during this morning’s announcement. “One that allows us to extend the festival beyond our first seven nights of screenings.”
BWiFF 2024 Beyond official selections will be presented throughout the year at a variety of venues in the Chicagoland area.
Beyond Competition
The Beyond Competition will consist of 14 films: 7 features and 7 shorts.
Chicken (Canada), dir. Lucy McNulty & Emma Pollard
Continue (United States), dir. Nadine Crocker
Exhale (Sweden), dir. Rouzbeh Noori
Fire Department, Inc. (United States), dir. Colin C. Hughes
Implosions (United States), dir. Lisa Z. Sherman
The Last Drop (United States), dir. Adam Weston Joel
Love & Irony (United States), dir. John A. Biesack
The Overlook (United States), dir. John Gray
Park Life (United States), dir. Tyler Haney
Spirit of Place (United Kingdom), dir. Jack Cooper Stimpson
Swatted (United States), dir. Ryan Michael Dymkowski
Unbroken (United States), dir. Beth Lane
Unspoken (United States), dir. Jeremy Borison
White With Fear (United States), dir. Andrew Goldberg
Films in the Beyond Competition will be screened following April 23 with dates and locations to be announced soon. The complete festival guide will be available to view here on the festival’s website on March 14. Tickets and passes will also be available soon.
