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.