The 14th season of the Lake County Film Festival in Grayslake, Illinois returns this fall with a loaded lineup of 87 shorts and 26 feature films. The event is hosted at the College of Lake County over the course of two weekends.
The Imbibe Cinema podcast will be in attendance at the festival to interview filmmakers and highlighting some of their favorite films. Heading into the festival, there are six films that the Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival highly recommends adding to your schedule while you’re at Lake County – especially if you missed our fest back in April.
Cottage Grove (Short Narrative, 14 mins)
A young man struggles to communicate with his stroke-afflicted father, and at the same time, stay true to himself. George Ellzey Jr.‘s short was awarded Best Editing and named Best of Illinois at the 2024 Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival earlier this year.
“Editing usually goes unnoticed, but in this film the challenge of a small, cramped space, the pacing and intercutting of wishful memories made us feel more connected to the story and its characters,” said judge Maya Rivera.
Fire Department, Inc. (Feature Documentary, 78 mins)
A suburban firefighter’s labor union finds itself under a different kind of fire when the Village Mayor announces he’s privatizing their department to save money. What results is a five year long battle with the potential to change labor law for the entire country.
“My grandfather was a Chicago firefighter with a long career that provided for his family of seven children,” said director Colin Hughes. “To see politicians using taxpayer money to try to crush a union in North Riverside was deeply alarming to me. I have long believed that pointing a camera at something is the best way to achieve accountability in government and I believe this film does just that.”
Hughes’s documentary was featured in the 2024 Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival’s Beyond competition earlier this year. A second screening of the film was quickly added after tickets sold out for the first in less than 36 hours. Then the second screening sold out. This important and locally produced documentary is one not to be missed.
Love & Irony (Feature Narrative, 113 mins)
The search for an authentic life leads an existential bike mechanic to discover the universal truths and transformative powers of love.
Writer, director and producer John Biesack’s romantic comedy was also selected for the Beyond competition where it screened at the Music Box Theatre in Chicago earlier this month. Love & Irony is Biesack’s feature directorial debut and a very strong one at that. If you miss modern romantic comedies, you’re sure to enjoy this narrative feature.
The Problem of the Hero (Feature Narrative, 85 mins)
On the eve of opening night in March 1941 at the St. James Theatre in New York, a difference of opinion over a single page of a script threatens an impasse between two literary giants of the 20th Century. Rehearsal continues around Richard Wright and Paul Green as their ensuing argument that delves into race, class, politics, and personal backgrounds seems destined to dissolve the writers’ friendship.
This compelling narrative from director Shaun Dozier may take you by surprise with the depth of character that is explored with captivating performances by J. Mardrice Henderson as Richard Wright and David sum Brunnen as Paul Green. It is a “conversation film” told with brave theatrical imagination and embodies the sought out character-driven nature of the Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival’s mission.
Tilt (Music Video, 5 mins)
The playfulness and joy of dancing alone lifts a woman out of a dark place. Ben Nissen’s music video for “Tilt” by Palm Ghosts is driven entirely by a fully improvised dance on set.
“I’ve always wanted to do a dance-centric music video,” said Nissen during a talkback at BWiFF in April. There were some cues, primarily at the start and the end of the dance, but otherwise Nissen explained that he encouraged Puja (the dancer) to use the space to do what she wanted.
Unibrow (Short Narrative, 15 mins)
In an attempt to get rid of her unibrow, an Irani-Canadian girl named Leyla accidentally makes things worse. Fortunately, a new girl at school, Sahar, offers to help “fix” her brows and invites Leyla to her home where Leyla becomes fascinated by Sahar’s connection to Iran and her community, and feels her own world begin to grow bigger.
“I made Unibrow for the little girl that used to fake stomach aches so that she wouldn’t have to go to school and be ridiculed for looking different,” said writer/director Nedda Sarshar. “The initial versions of the script reflected my own limited understanding of the nuance and importance of eyebrows in Iranian culture, but in conversations with other Iranian women, I began to understand … and felt like a puzzle piece had suddenly fallen into place.”
Sarshar’s narrative short was showcased in the shorts competition at the 2024 Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival in April.
For the complete schedule of films playing from Thursday, October 31 through Monday, November 11, visit lakecountyfilmfestival.org. Look for Imbibe Cinema’s coverage of the festival on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, and YouTube — and in the Imbibe Cinema Film Reviews section of our website.
