CICFF40 Juries

Meet the jury

CICFF hosts the Children's Jury, Youth Jury, and Professional Jury, who issue awards to CICFF40 films, including the Academy Award-Qualifying Best Animated and Best Live-Action Short Film categories.

Professional Jury

Festival Professional Jury members are a committed and diverse community of filmmakers, critics, teachers and professors, community leaders, and parents that presents over a dozen awards including the Oscar®-qualifying Best Animated and Best Live-Action Short Film categories.

Aleksei Borovikov

Filmmaker & Editor

 

Amy Moore

Evanston Township High School

Film Teacher

 

Angela Allyn

City of Evanston

Parks Recreation and Community Service, Noyes Arts

 

Audrey Gladson

Production Freelancer

 

Barbara Binns

Author (Retired)

 

Barry Young

Columbia College Chicago

Animation Program Director (retired)

 

Brian Ferguson

DePaul University/CDM

Animator In Residence / Senior Professional Lecturer

 

Charlotta Koppanyi

Evanston Friends Meeting

Head of First Day School

 

Christopher Oliva

462 Pictures

Filmmaker

 

Corey Winchester

Northwestern University

PhD Student in Learning Sciences/Adjunct Instructor in MSEd

 

Cyn Koukos

Lycee Francais de Chicago

Middle School English Language Arts Instructor

 

David Tarleton

Syracuse University

Chair of Film and Media Arts

 

David Bradburn

Fork the Man Productions, LLC

Owner/Director

 

David Tennenbaum

NBC Universal

Set Designer (Chicago PD)

 

Debra Lewis

Debra Lewis

Screenwriter

 

Deni Drinkwater

Chicago Public Schools

Teacher

 

Diane Whiteley

Whiteley Productions

Executive Producer

 

Doris M. Rolland

Chicago Public Schools

Stem and Remediation Teacher

 

George Soto-Enriquez

Soto Films

Production Designer

 

Glenn Weinstein

Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone

Principal

 

Gustavo Martin

Director

Jacob Smith

Northwestern University

Professor, Department of Radio-Television-Film 

 

Jacob Mitchell

Chicago Public Schools

Teacher 

 

Jacqueline Brennan

DePaul University

Lecturer, Jarvis College of Computing and Digital Media

 

Jan Johnson Goldberger

Dead of Wynter Productions LLC

Producer Owner

 

Janine Mileaf

Arts Club of Chicago

Executive Director

 

Jeff Sweeton

CodeCreate Engagement

Director

 

Jeff Stanley

Hollister Incorporated

Graphic Designer 

 

John Goheen

Loyola University Chicago

Senior Professional in Residence

 

John Alfonso

Civic Entertainment Group

Senior Production Coordinator

 

John Klein

Elmhurst University

Assistant Professor, Filmmaker 

 

John Biggers

Elgin Community College

Screenwriting Instructor

 

Jude Mandell

Judemandell.com

Children’s Book Author 

 

Karah Janssen

Marie Murphy School

Theatre Teacher

 

Karen Higgins

Freelance

Creative Content Producer/Field Producer/Supervising Producer 

 

Kasey Taylor

Latin School of Chicago

Spanish Teacher

 

Kathryn Hundley

The University of Chicago Laboratory Schools

 

Kelly Kessler

DePaul University

Professor of Media and Cinema Studies

 

K-J Mathieson

University of Central Florida (UCF)

Character Animation, Assoc. Professor of Animation

 

Kjell Redpath

Delta Dental

Corporate Development Analyst 

 

Locke Peterseim

Chicago Film Critics Association

Board member

 

Maggie Mikuzis

The Montessori Network

Chief Operations Officer

Marie Donovan

DePaul University

Associate Professor of Teacher Education

 

Marlene Brill

Author

 

Mehrnaz Saeed-vafa

Columbia College Chicago

Professor, Cinema and Television Arts Department

 

Michael Dawson

Cunedustrial

Producer 

 

Michele Gardner

Stingy Benji Books

Author and Illustrator

 

Mikey Peterson

School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Assistant Professor, Adj.

 

Mirko Popadic

Mir Productions, Inc.

Director/Videogrpaher/Editor

 

Molly Miner

Near North Montessori School

9-12 Academic Director

 

Nikki Richmond

FACETS Volunteer

Parent

 

Noah Smith

Starcom

Senior Media Strategy Associate 

 

Nora Blakely

Brooks Permissions

President; Literary Administrator, Author

 

Pat Daniels

Chicago Public Schools

English and Humanities Educator (retired) 

 

Rachel Rozycki

Columbia College Chicago

Adjunct

 

Raul Benitez

Chicago International Film Festival

Programmer

 

Richard Laurent

Columbia College-Chicago

Instructor: Design/Illustration

 

Robert Steel

DePaul University

Professor, Composer 

 

Scott Sheridan

IES Abroad – Chicago, IL

Assistant Vice President for Academic Programs

 

Stephen Socki

DePaul University

Animation Professor, Associate Professor

 

Steve Watts

Production Freelancer

 

Susan Ohmer

University of Notre Dame

Professor Emerita, Film and Television

 

Susan Kerns

Columbia College Chicago

Associate Provost/Associate Professor, Cinema and Television Arts

Children’s & Youth Juries

Made up of graduates from FACETS’ Film 101 summer camp, the Children’s Jury (ages 8-14) and Youth Jury (ages 14-19) are integral to CICFF’s commitment to use the knowledge gained in our programs to actively engage children with the film festival and film industry.

Led by FACETS media educators, the Children’s and Youth Juries allow young people to view some of the best international films while developing their skills as active viewers of media, organizing their thoughts and opinions in ratings and written evaluation, and sharing their perspectives in group discussions.