The 10th Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival (BWiFF) was originally scheduled to be held at Chicago Filmmakers, located in the Edgewater neighborhood of Chicago’s North Side, in late July. Due to the current global health crisis, the festival will be postponed nearly eight weeks.
“We’ve been fortunate to obtain a lot of feedback from other film festivals from around the world,” according to Executive Director Michael Noens. “Many festivals originally scheduled for earlier this Spring had little time to make these decisions and I am grateful for their willingness to provide other festivals, such as BWiFF, guidance based on their experiences.”
The 2020 Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival is now scheduled for September 10-16 at Chicago Filmmakers. “However, if as we approach September it is not deemed safe for an event such as BWiFF to take place, we are prepared to postpone our 2020 season until next year,” Noens stated during the official selections announcement today. “The health and safety of our attendees, filmmakers, judges, and volunteer staff are paramount.”
The 2020 festival will exhibit seven feature films and twenty-eight short films. Of the thirty-five official selections, the festival will exhibit twenty-three short narratives, four feature documentaries, three feature narratives, three short documentaries, and two music videos.
2020 Feature Film Official Selections
- Brindisi (United States), dir. Nika Burnett, Alessandro Marino
- Five Years North (United States), dir. Zach Ingrasci, Chris Temple
- The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain (United States), dir. David Midell
- Resisterhood (United States), dir. Cheryl Jacobs Crim
- Triple Take (United States), dir. Nick Nanton
- When All That’s Left is Love (United States), dir. Eric Gordon
- Woman of the Photographs (Japan), dir. Takeshi Kushida
2020 Short Film Official Selections
- Brought to You by Satan (United States), dir. Holly Laurent
- The Butterfly Cage (France), dir. Hélèna Serra, Maxime Sabisik
- A Cut Above (United States), dir. Kate Houle
- Dear Aunt Noa (United States), dir. Dana Aliya Levinson
- Extra Innings (United States), dir. John Gray
- Family (United States), dir. David L. Bradburn
- Gabrielle (United States), dir. Nicola Rose
- Hide and Seek (United States), dir. Thomas Nicol, Andrew Gleason
- The Hollow Hours (Australia), dir. Shane Anderson
- Hypoxia (United States), dir. Christian P. Gridelli, Hunter Norris
- Kill: Norwood (United Kingdom), dir. Lexy Anderson
- Little Nations (United States), dir. Maria Allred
- Muedra (Spain), dir. Cesar Díaz Meléndez
- Mug (Ireland), dir. Eoghan Moloney
- Northern Light (France), dir. Fanny Lecendre
- Office Song (United Kingdom), dir. Marcus Markou
- Remember When (United States), dir. Paola Ossa
- The Shot (United States), dir. Adan Canto
- Sock (United States), dir. Robert Postrozny
- Sui Caedere (Italy), dir. Fabrizio Accettulli
- The Sweatshirt (United States), dir. Jonah Saesan
- Swept Away (United States), dir. Thomas Grascoeur
- Teranga: Life in the Waiting Room (United Kingdom), dir. Daisy Squires, Lou Marillier, Sophia Seymour
- Too Close to the Sun (United States), dir. Jonas Morganstein
- VR Workplace (Japan), dir. Yuki Takashima
- Waiting by the Phone (United States), dir. Olivia Jensen
- Watermark (United States), dir. Rebecca Maddalo
- Wonderland (United States), dir. Bradley Thomas
“Congratulations to all of the 2020 Official Selections,” said Festival Operations Director Jonathan C. Legat following today’s announcement. “We look forward to exhibiting your work at our 10th annual festival.”
The festival’s digital program guide will be published through the BWiFF mobile app in the coming months. To download the app, search “BWiFF” using Google Play on android devices and the App Store on iOS. The guide will contain the complete schedule, trailers of official selections, director biographies, and interactive elements for attendees.
“We are committed to presenting an in-person festival,” says Noens. “Our judges have always watched each film for the first time with the audience and moderated each filmmaker Q&A. We have determined it not possible to replicate this type of screening environment in a virtual format.”
Festival passes and tickets are expected to go on sale in mid-July.
