Lake County Film Festival announces 2023 Award-Winners

The 2023 Lake County Film Festival was held on the first two weekends of November, the 3rd – 5th & the 10th – 12th, with a special opening night screening on Halloween. We showed 26 features and 80 short films, and all films were shown in person at The College Of Lake County in Grayslake, IL. Three screenings were also shown at The Gorton Center in Lake Forest, IL. Dozens of filmmakers attended the festival to represent their films.

The following films were awarded by our juries & audience members. 

Jury Awards 

Feature Narrative Jury
John Klein, filmmaker
Morgan Gire, film journalist
Aaron Shanley, film journalist

Best Narrative Feature: 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐁𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐧 by Hiroyuki Miyagawa

Jury Statement: “Trapped Balloon is a beautifully constructed character study exploring grief and its aftermath, and finding purpose in your life when it feels as though it’s been stolen from you, a focus brought largely through understated, truly moving performances from leads Masahiro Higashide (as Kenji, a man wracked with loss and survivors guilt over the death of his wife and child during the 2018 Japan floods) and Tōko Miura (as the compassionate Rinko, herself dealing with the death of her mother and her father’s mounting illness). The film uses a sparse, effective visual design that mirrors the characters’ need for connection and their struggles with discerning their own happiness amidst their loss, and what could have been a cliched, melodramatic story with predictable romantic undertones turns into something much more felt and poignant. Trapped Balloon tugs at your heart strings through its focus on community, compassion, and what it means to press on and find meaning in an often unforgiving world.”

Feature Documentary Jury
Rory Jobst, film educator & playwright/theater director
Leslie McCleave, filmmaker

Best Documentary Feature: 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐏𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐲 by Alex Rappoport

Feature Music Film Jury
Joan Hammel, musician
Phil Ajjarapu, musician

Best Music Documentary Feature: 𝐂𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐄𝐚𝐫𝐬 by Sean Patrick Shaul

Short Narrative Jury
Justin Joseph Hall, filmmaker
Josh Folan, filmmaker
Josh Wolff, Director of Film at Gorton Center

“Such a beautiful array of genres in the mix this year. I was particularly astounded by the consistency in cinematography throughout the choices and complexity in animation. A visually pleasing set of films!” – Justin Joseph Hall.

Best Overall Narrative Short Film: 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐁𝐨𝐱 by Sean Wainsteim

Jury Statement: “I was absolutely floored by this film. The total disregard for the fourth wall on a film dealing in that subject matter, and while being that personal of a story, was an absolutely amazing and ballsy creative choice. If I didn’t know the crushing economics of the short medium so well you’d never be able to convince me that this was made for any reasonable amount of money – the production value was off the charts and the tender loving care put into the art elements shines bright. A perfect short film, by my measure.” – Josh Folan

Best Directing In A Short Film: 𝐌𝐲 𝐄𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐔𝐩 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞 by Nathan Morris
Best Animated Short Film: 𝐀 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐀 𝐖𝐚𝐥𝐤 by Diane Catsburrow Linnet
Best Acting In A Short Film: Beck Bennett & Jessy Hodges in 𝐏𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐨 𝐎𝐟 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐲 by Mac Eldridge & Tom Dean
Best Cinematography In A Short Film: Freddie Whitman for 𝐂𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐭 by Alex Cohen
Best Writing In A Short Film: Kylie Alesso for 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐋𝐢𝐞 𝐓𝐨 𝐌𝐞 by Kelly Walker
Best Sound Editing In A Short Film: Dillan Schmitz for 𝐌𝐢𝐱𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐬 by Thomas van Kampen
Best Music In A Short Film: Evan Roth for 𝐋𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐲 by Logan Jackson
Best Comedy Short Film: 𝐏𝐨𝐨𝐟 by Margaret Miller

Short Documentary Jury
Kyle Anne Grendys, filmmaker
Jon Gann, filmmaker
Raul Benitez, film programmer

Best Documentary Short Film: 𝐀 𝐂𝐡𝐨𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐋𝐞𝐧𝐬 by Gabriel Veras
Honorable Mention: 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐎𝐟 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 by Camila Martins

Short Student Film Jury
Dan Jeremy Brooks, film podcaster & film programmer
Cindy Mich, film programmer

Jury Award For Best Documentary Student Short Film: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 by Thomas Brouns
Jury Award For Best Narrative Student Short Film: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐧𝐝 𝐎𝐟 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 by Aleksandra Podziewska

Audience Awards 

The Daniel Chapp Audience Award For Best Narrative Feature: Trapped Balloon by Hiroyuki Miyagawa
Audience Award For Best Documentary Feature: Join Or Die by Rebecca Davis & Pete Davis

The Edward Amet Audience Award for Best Short Film: The Food That Saves Us by Joe Vella
Best Animated Short Film: Island by Michael Faust
Best Documentary Short Film: Harvey by Janice Nadeau

The complete Top 10:
1. Food That Saves You by Joe Vella *Top Short Film*
2. Island by Michael Faust *Top Animated Short Film*
3. Crack Shot by Alex Cohen
4. Paper Planes by Michael Glover Smith & Alyssa Thordarson
5. Non-Negotiable by Mike Doxford
6. Shadow Brother Sunday by Alden Ehrenreich
7. Harvey by Janice Nadeau *Top Documentary Short Film*
8. Demon Box by Sean Wainsteim
9. The Anne Frank Gift Shop by Mickey Rapkin
10. Brother by Aleksei Borovikov