
OPENING NIGHT: SEPT. 16, 2026 - INDEPENDENT FILM FEST: 19-20, 2026
2024 AWARDS
We’ve finished the festival with the first Oak Park, IL Film Festival awards!
See complete Awards List
(Winners are in bold)
HONORABLE MENTION
ANIMATION
Get Away Driver’s Ed - Ali Weber
Lunchbox Armageddon - Adam Tock, Kevin O’Rourke, Joe Gustav
YOUNG FILMMAKER
Hive - Marco Esteban Delgado
AWARDS
BEST VISUAL ELEMENTS
Family for Christmas - Nick Pospisil
Get Away Driver's Ed - Ali Weber
Middle of Nowhere - Travis Shields
That thing we all share - Michèle Jedlicka
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Hillbilly - Ashley York, Sally Rubin
Stairs - Jeph Porter
When the Clock Strikes - Andrew Littlefield
Wonderlost - Michael William Chopra
BEST ACTOR
Jeremy Pfaff - ADA
Josh Bywater - Inferno
Ben Montague - Favor
BEST ACTRESS
Donna Anderson - When the Clock Strikes
Joyce Porter - Stairs
Samantha Isler - Breakup Season
Meghan Maureen McDonough - Gray Area
BEST MUSIC VIDEO
Middle of Nowhere - Travis Shields
Windy & Warm - Eric Henry
BEST NARRATIVE SHORT
ADA - Jeremy Pfaff
Favor - Ben Montague
Inferno - Wendy Roderweiss
Stairs - Jeph Porter
That thing we all share - Michèle Jedlicka
BEST DOCUMENTARY
Fire Department Inc. - Colin C. Hughes
Forgiveness Project - Sadiyah Hill, Kalyn Jacobs
Guaranteed in Gary - Darryl Parham
Hillbilly - Ashley York, Sally Rubin
BEST DIRECTOR
Ashley York, Sally Rubin - Hillbilly
Colin C. Hughes - Fire Department Inc.
Michèle Jedlicka - That thing we all share
BEST FEATURE
Breakup Season - H. Nelson Tracey
Driftless - Harper Philbin
Student Athlete - Jennie Weaver
SPECIAL AWARD
FOUNDER'S AWARD
Festival founder and president, Joyce Porter
THANK YOU
to everyone who joined us,
to our sponsors and supporters,
and to the filmmakers who submitted work.
That’s a wrap … see you next year!
