Imago Film Festival

The Imago Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in the state of Illinois, United States. It is usually in April on the Judson University campus. The mission statement indicates: "The Imago Film Festival showcases independent film that deals with faith issues, emphasizing image and story. The festival films capture the full spectrum of human emotion, experience, and spirituality."

History

The Imago Film Festival was developed in 2005 to showcase films made by students at Judson University. Impressed by the reception of the one-night event, professors Dr. Terrence Wandtke and Darren Wilson expanded the festival to a five-day event in 2006 and invited submissions from outside the school.

The festival explores the connections between faith and film. In addition to screening independent short films from around the world, the festival features critics and filmmakers discussing the intersections of art, culture, and religion. The festival is supported by individual donors, corporate sponsors, and the Judson Student Organization.

Speakers have included: Jim Wall, senior corresponding editor of The Christian Century (2006); Phil Vischer, creator of Veggie Tales and Robert K. Johnston, author of Reel Spirituality (2007); Stephen Vidano, director of Star of Bethlehem and David Dark, author of The Sacredness of Questioning Everything (2008); David McFadzean, creator of Home Improvement and William Romanowski, author of Eyes Wide Open (2009); Darren Wilson, director of Furious Love and Gaye Williams Ortiz, author of Theology and Film (2010); David Nixon, producer/director of To Write Love on Her Arms and Jeffrey Overstreet, author of Through a Screen Darkly (2011); Brooks Douglass, writer of Heaven's Rain and Steve Taylor, producer/director of Blue Like Jazz (2012); Ralph Winter, producer of Star Trek and X-Men films and Dean Batali, writer for That '70s Show (2013); Ron Dean, actor in The Fugitive and The Dark Knight and Marshall Allman, actor in True Blood and Blue Like Jazz (2014); Doug Jones, actor in Pan's Labyrinth, Hellboy, and Falling Skies and Will Bakke, director of Believe Me (2015); Joshua Weigel, director of "The Butterfly Circus" and Matthew Luhn, story artist for Toy Story, Finding Nemo, and Monsters, Inc. (2016); Rich Peluso, senior vice president of Affirm Films and Eric Groth, producer of Full of Grace (2017).

The Imago Lifetime Achievement Award was inaugurated in the festival's tenth year to recognize filmmakers whose work contributes to the discussion of issues of faith and ethics. The award recipients have included: Martin Sheen (2014), Denzel Washington (2015), Ralph Winter (2016), and David McFadzean (2017).

Awards

2005

Best in Show: “The Money Tree”—Ryan Lawrence

2006

Best of Show: “Anniversary”—Greg Hargis
1-10 Minutes: “Lift”—Terri Sarris
11-20 Minutes: “The Kinkade Code”—Matt Bilen
Audience Choice: “Pillowfight”—Scott Rice

2007

Best of Show: “Jaded”—Anders Lindwall
1-10 Minutes: “Redemption”—Sharise Holt
11-20 Minutes: “Crown of the Forest”—Brain Walton
Audience Choice: “Mind’s Eye”—Matt Bilen

2008

Best in Show: “Holding”—Thomas Bradson
1-15 Minutes: “Dependence”—Tamara Shaya
16-30 Minutes: “The Noble Lie”—Mitch Lusas
Audience Choice: “Abigail”—Lauran Holton

2009

Best in Show: “Gaining Ground”—Marc Brummund
1-15 Minutes: “Arc of a Bird”—Hugh Sculze
16-30 Minutes: “The Prodigal Trilogy”—Tad Munnings
Audience Choice: “Somebody’s Baby”—Garrett Marks

2010

Best in Show: “Jitensha”—Paul Nethercott
1-15 Minutes: “Prayers for Peace”—Justin Grella
16-30 Minutes: “A Mysterious Way”—Phil Warner
Audience Choice: “More than Walking”—Jonathan Sigworth

2011

Best in Show: "Kavi"—Gregg Halvey
1-15 Minutes: "Afghan"—Pardis Parker
16-30 Minutes: "Rita"—Antonio Piazza
Audience Choice: "LastRain"—Tony Lopez

2012

Best in Show: "When Cotton Blossoms"—Scott Magie
1-15 Minutes: "The Cortege"—Marina Sereseky
16-30 Minutes: "Mato Oput"—Tim Guthrie
Audience Choice: "The Dance"—Pardis Parker

2013

Best in Show: "Wednesday's Child"—Rocco Cataldo
1-15 Minutes: "The Discarded"—David Delicado Adsuar
16-30 Minutes: "Stalled"—Shannon Kohli
Audience Choice: "Smile"—Matteo Pianezzi and "The Apple of My Eye"—Josecho de Linares

2014

Best in Show: "Not Anymore: A Story of Revolution"-Matthew VanDyke
Shorter time frame: "Ngutu"-Felipe del Olmo, Daniel Valledor
Longer time frame: "The Uneducated"-Craig Rutherford
Audience Choice: "The Advocate"-Sean Taylor, Kyla Martin

2015

Best in Show: "Lila"-Carlos Lascano
1st Runner Up: "Somewhere Between Freedom and Protection, Kansas"-Patrick Clement
2nd Runner Up: "The Unclean"-Bahram Ark
Audience Choice: "Love at First Sight"-Mark Playne

2016

Best in Show: "We Can't Live Without Cosmos"-Konstantin Bronzit
1st Runner Up: "Persimmon"-Dean Yamada
2nd Runner Up: "Speed Dating"-Meghann Artes
Audience Choice: "Not the End"-Cesar Esteban Alenda & Jose Esteban Alenda

2017

Best in Show: "My Life I Don't Want"-Nyan Kyal Say
1st Runner Up: "Red Light"-Toma Waszarow
2nd Runner Up: "Tiny's New Home"-Justin Hayward
Audience Choice tie: "The Chop"-Lewis Rose
Audience Choice tie: "Darrel"-Marc Briones Piulachs

Imago Film Festival

History

Awards

See also