Elgin Short Film Festival at The Hemmens Cultural Center, the City of Elgin, Illinois

Announcing Elgin Short Film Festival 2010!

After the huge success of the inaugural Elgin Short Film Festival in 2009, the Hemmens Cultural Center is proud to announce that plans are underway for the event to return in 2010. The festival is sponsored in part by the Hemmens Cultural Center, The City of Elgin and The Cultural Arts Commission.

Pete Garlock, co-chair of the event, expressed his pleasure with last year’s event and hopes to see the event gain momentum in 2010. "We couldn't be happier with the way things turned out last year for our First Annual Elgin Short Film Festival. We had five exceptional and entertaining films, a great crowd that exceeded our expectations and who really seemed to enjoy themselves. Dean Richards was outstanding as our host, and several of the filmmakers said this was the best film festival they've ever attended. Everyone associated with the festival felt it was an overwhelming success. The only negative comments I heard is that it wasn't long enough!"

Last year, the five winning films ran the gamut from comedy to drama. WGN film critic Dean Richards led a distinguished panel of judges in viewing the top five finalists’ films, which had been selected from over 50 films submitted to the festival from around the country. Their votes, along with the audience ballots, were tallied to determine the placement of 1st- 5th place winners. The five films were rated in the following order:

First Place: “House of Cards” directed by David Priego of Chicago, Illinois
Second Place: “Crossing the Line” directed by Tim Miller of Louisville, Kentucky
Third Place: “The Visionary” directed by Gwydhar Bratton of Chicago, Illinois
Fourth Place: “Booby Trap” directed by Simon Pennekamp of Chicago, Illinois
Fifth Place: “Erogenous Zone” directed by Nick Abdo, of North Hollywood, California

The first and third place winners will be in attendance at the March 17 press conference.

The cash prizes consist of $1,000 for First Place; $500 for Second Place and $300 for Third Place. Honorable mention awards of $100 each went to the fourth and fifth place winners.

Short Film Fest 2009