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2026 FILMS

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ABEL

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Synopsis: A photographer who abruptly lost his sight reflects on the paradox of his disability: how his loss of vision has enabled him to truly see.

 

  • Director: Brian Zahm

  • Category: Documentary (Short-form)

  • Runtime: 19:43​

  • Oak Park Connection: Subject

  • Nominated for: Best Documentary (Short-form), Best Cinematography

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Schedule: SUNDAY, BLOCK 6: TRANSITIONS

The Antidote

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Synopsis: A married couple discovers reconciliation.

 

  • Director: Sarah Falkiner

  • Category: Narrative Short

  • Runtime: 7:57

  • Oak Park Connection: Dedicated to Bernie Metzger (1950-2026), composer of Oak Park

  • Nominated for: Best Actor

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Schedule: SATURDAY, BLOCK 4: AFTER DARK

Be the People

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Synopsis: Six profiles of people from the Oak Park, IL community striving to make a positive difference in their own ways.

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  • Director: Risé A Sanders-Weir

  • Category: Documentary (Short-form)

  • Runtime: 8:42​

  • Oak Park Connection: Director, Subjects, Locations​

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Schedule: SUNDAY, BLOCK 5: LEGACY & IMPACT

Belly Button - Chapter 2 Mezcal

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​Synopsis: The sacred journey of mezcal production, where ancient techniques passed down through families reveal how culinary traditions preserve indigenous identity in modern Mexico.

 

  • Director: Dan Goldberg

  • Category: Documentary (Short-form)

  • Runtime: 6:06

  • ​Oak Park Connection: Director

  • Nominated for: Best Documentary (Short-form), Best Cinematography, Best Design Elements

 

Schedule: SUNDAY, BLOCK 5: LEGACY & IMPACT

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Bored​

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​Synopsis: A man bound by his own meticulous routine is forced to take initiative when the unimaginable occurs: his bus is late.

 

  • Director: Jack Smith

  • Category: Narrative Short

  • Runtime: 15:38

  • ​Oak Park Connection: Crew

  • Nominated for: Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor

 

Schedule: SATURDAY, BLOCK 1: BREAKING FREE

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Call Me Speed! 

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​Synopsis: A story about overcoming obstacles.

 

  • Director: NickyJoe Perez

  • Category: Narrative Short

  • Runtime: 10:00

  • ​Oak Park Connection: Director, Cast, Locations

 

Schedule: SATURDAY, BLOCK 1: BREAKING FREE

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CLOUT

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​Synopsis: What begins as a reckless bid for clout spirals into a toxic obsession that crushes a friendship under the weight of the algorithm.

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  • Director: Kasper Kavalaris

  • Category: Narrative Short

  • Runtime: 16:43

  • ​Oak Park Connection: Crew, Location

 

Schedule: SATURDAY, BLOCK 4: AFTER DARK

Corners of Girlhood

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​Synopsis: Self-expression through bedroom design.

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  • Director: Jane Carmen Zylstra

  • Category: Teen Filmmaker

  • Runtime: 6:47

  • ​Oak Park Connection: Director, Subjects, Locations

  • Nominated for: Best Teen Filmmaker

 

Schedule: SATURDAY, BLOCK 2: DIVINE FEMININE

Eighteen

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​Synopsis: Five young men cross the threshold of adulthood in their own way, on the same day.

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  • Director: Gabe Brucato

  • Category: Teen Filmmaker

  • Runtime: 63:00

  • ​Oak Park Connection: Director, Locations

  • Nominated for: Best Teen Filmmaker

 

Schedule: SATURDAY, BLOCK 1: BREAKING FREE

Enter the Void: A Paper Story​

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​Synopsis: In a never-before-seen episode of hit 90's sitcom, "Doing Well On Paper", Nathan discovers that something isn't quite right.

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  • Director: Jacob Mitzenmacher

  • Category: Narrative Short

  • Runtime: 5:00

  • ​Oak Park Connection: Location

 

Schedule: SATURDAY, BLOCK 4: AFTER DARK

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Generating Our Future

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​Synopsis: The growing demand for computing power has spurred the building of data centers all around the Great Lakes region as well as the need for community management of resources.

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  • Directors: Amelia Richards, Holly Murphy, Indra Malik, Jasmine Dola, Otto Bruner,    William Peterson, Gloria Mitchell

  • Category: Teen Filmmaker

  • Runtime: 7:42

  • ​Oak Park Connection: Directors

 

Schedule: SUNDAY, BLOCK 5: LEGACY & IMPACT

Here To Help

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​Synopsis: To combat her loneliness, an isolated dweller of the Northern Territory is assigned a Humanoid – but how far will it go to help?

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  • Director: Dan Aho

  • Category: Narrative Short

  • Runtime: 21:42

  • ​Oak Park Connection: Director

  • Nominated for: Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress

 

Schedule: SATURDAY, BLOCK 4: AFTER DARK

The Hitchhiker

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​Synopsis: Stranded after his car breaks down, a man hitches a ride with a seemingly harmless driver, only to discover too late that his savior is not who he thinks he is.

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  • Director: Marco Delgado

  • Category: Teen Filmmaker

  • Runtime: 8:52

  • ​Oak Park Connection: Director

  • Nominated for: Best Teen Filmmaker, Best Supporting Actor

 

Schedule: SATURDAY, BLOCK 4: AFTER DARK

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Hot Water

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​Synopsis: A corrupt kidnapped judge has until a pot of water boils to admit to wrongdoing or his head goes into the scalding water.

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  • Directors: Miles Gunter, Cassie Kramer

  • Category: Narrative Short

  • Runtime: 9:56

  • ​Oak Park Connection: Director, Writer

  • Nominated for: Best Narrative Short, Best Director, Best Actress

 

Schedule: SATURDAY, BLOCK 1: BREAKING FREE

In the Realm of the Heart

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​Synopsis: A loving wife wants to throw a surprise birthday party for her husband.

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  • Director: Doug Burch

  • Category: Narrative Short

  • Runtime: 24:50

  • ​Oak Park Connection: Director

  • Nominated for: Best Supporting Actress

 

Schedule: SUNDAY, BLOCK 6: TRANSITIONS

Judgement Day​

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​Synopsis: Caught in a liminal space between life and death, a young woman named Zoe finds herself confronted with the events of her past as an otherworldly being questions her about humanity and morality.

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  • Director: Haley Pellow

  • Category: Narrative Short

  • Runtime: 10:04

  • ​Oak Park Connection: Director, Location

  • Nominated for: Best Narrative Short, Best Director, Best Actress

 

Schedule: SUNDAY, BLOCK 6: TRANSITIONS

The Knot Job

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​Synopsis: Two smart-mouthed secret agents try to bicker their way out of captivity.

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  • Director: Afrim Zenuni

  • Category: Narrative Short

  • Runtime: 4:25

  • ​Oak Park Connection: Producer, Writer, Cast

 

Schedule: SATURDAY, BLOCK 1: BREAKING FREE

Last Night

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​Synopsis: Rose uncovers a sinister video depicting what happened last night with her friends.

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  • Director: Tyler Lubinus

  • Category: Narrative Short

  • Runtime: 9:56

  • ​Oak Park Connection: Director, Writer, Cast, Location

 

Schedule: SATURDAY, BLOCK 4: AFTER DARK

Lou Holtz:​ 60 Minutes to Play and a Lifetime to Remember

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​Synopsis: Hall of Fame coach Lou Holtz comes out of retirement to coach his final football game: a team of alumni players as old as 52 to challenge the best players in Japan inside the Tokyo Dome.

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  • Director: Ted Mandell

  • Category: Documentary (Long-form)

  • Runtime: 26:57

  • ​Oak Park Connection: Subjects

 

Schedule: SUNDAY, BLOCK 5: LEGACY & IMPACT

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Marimar's Story

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​Synopsis: In October 2025 during “Operation Midway Blitz,” Marimar Martinez was shot five times by a Customs and Border Protection agent.

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  • Director: Andrew Freer

  • Category: Documentary (Short-form)

  • Runtime: 5:41

  • ​Oak Park Connection: Director

  • Nominated for: Best Documentary (Short-form)

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Schedule: SATURDAY, BLOCK 2: DIVINE FEMININE

Nasty

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​Synopsis: Nasty tells the story of Lt. Col. Daniel Nash, an F-15 pilot who was scrambled from Otis Air National Guard Base at supersonic speed on the morning of September 11, 2001, to intercept what was believed to be a hijacked commercial airliner.

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  • Director: John Gerald Scaletta

  • Category: Documentary (Long-form)

  • Runtime: 40:02

  • ​Oak Park Connection: Producer

  • Nominated for: Best Documentary (Long-form)

 

Schedule: SUNDAY, BLOCK 5: LEGACY & IMPACT

No Clean Hammer

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​Synopsis: A solitary man from Bosnia drives from Tuzla to Sweden to recover his mother’s body.

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  • Director: Brent L. Butler

  • Category: Narrative Short

  • Runtime: 16:16

  • ​Oak Park Connection: Director

  • Nominated for: Best Narrative Short, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor

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Schedule: SATURDAY, BLOCK 4: AFTER DARK

Pseudoxanthoma Elasticum

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​Synopsis: A genetic disease slowly takes the filmmaker’s eyesight away.

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  • Director: Abel Berumen

  • Category: Documentary (Short-form)

  • Runtime: 6:32

  • ​Oak Park Connection: Director, Subject

 

Schedule: SUNDAY, BLOCK 6: TRANSITIONS

Saying Goodbye: A Personal Documentary of Attachment and Loss at the End of Life

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​Synopsis: An intimately filmed documentary of family conversations with Dr. Fox’s father as he reaches the end of his life at age 97.

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  • Director: Geraldine Fox

  • Category: Documentary (Long-form)

  • Runtime: 38:00

  • ​Oak Park Connection: Director

  • Nominated for: Best Documentary (Long-form)

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Schedule: SUNDAY, BLOCK 6: TRANSITIONS

Sewer Pigs Declare War on London!​

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​Synopsis: When the sewer pig army invades London, punk rock teen Ayo must fight alongside an unexpected ally to defend her community from the looming porcine threat.

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  • Directors: Nat Fernandez, Sarah Christine Ungaretti-Levy, Quintin Marx

  • Category: Animation

  • Runtime: 4:07

  • ​Oak Park Connection: Director

 

Schedule: SATURDAY, BLOCK 2: DIVINE FEMININE

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سحر (SAHAR)

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​Synopsis: A documentary portrait of Muslim immigrants in Chicago — first generation, second generation, people who have been reduced to stereotype, to headline, to suspicion; people who arrived carrying one world and built another inside it.

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  • Director: Lali Khalid

  • Category: Documentary (Short-form)

  • Runtime: 11:42

  • ​Oak Park Connection: Subject

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Schedule: SATURDAY, BLOCK 3: COMMUNITY

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Sing a Black Girl Song

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​Synopsis: Three young friends navigate the challenges of adolescence, embracing their unique voices and the power of their sisterhood.

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  • Director: Danielle Dougé

  • Category: Narrative Short

  • Runtime: 10:45

  • ​Oak Park Connection: Writer, Producer

  • Nominated for: Best Director

 

Schedule: SATURDAY, BLOCK 2: DIVINE FEMININE

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Space Hustler​

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​Synopsis: A daydreaming kid imagines his science teacher as a space man and goes on a wild journey while stuck in detention.

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  • Director: Josh Stone

  • Category: Music Video

  • Runtime: 6:07

  • ​Oak Park Connection: Producer, Crew

  • Nominated for: Best Design Elements

 

Schedule: SATURDAY, BLOCK 1: BREAKING FREE

Sur La Kuro

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​Synopsis: Two humanoid LAWs (Lethal Autonomous Weapons) achieve free will and refuse to carry out their killing assignments… and form a rock band.

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  • Director: Brett Miller, Vic Butera, Mike Yndestad

  • Category: Music Video

  • Runtime: 14:42

  • ​Oak Park Connection: Cast, Locations

 

Schedule: SATURDAY, BLOCK 3: COMMUNITY

Surviving Zendik Farm​

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​Synopsis: For decades, Zendik Farm promised utopia while calling mainstream society the Death Culture; former members must rebuild their lives in the very world they had forsaken.

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  • Directors: Dan Greenstone, Travis Chandler

  • Category: Documentary (Long-form)

  • Runtime: 81:38

  • ​Oak Park Connection: Director, Subject

  • Nominated for: Best Documentary (Long-form)

 

Schedule: SATURDAY, BLOCK 3: COMMUNITY

The Tensile Strength of Air

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​Synopsis: After witnessing a suicide in public, Lauren re-evaluates herself in relationship to friends, family and career.

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  • Director: Shayna Connelly

  • Category: Narrative Short

  • Runtime: 16:02

  • ​Oak Park Connection: Director, Writer

  • Nominated for: Best Cinematography, Best Design Elements, Best Supporting Actress, Best Actress

 

Schedule: SATURDAY, BLOCK 2: DIVINE FEMININE

The Wilted Flower

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​Synopsis: A surreal mystery about an attorney hired by an aging woman to draft her will.

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  • Director: Remsy Atassi

  • Category: Narrative Short

  • Runtime: 14:12

  • ​Oak Park Connection: Producer, Crew

  • Nominated for: Best Design Elements

 

Schedule: SATURDAY, BLOCK 2: DIVINE FEMININE

TICKETS

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