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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - August 1, 2024

Aladerri International Film Festival unveiled  its incredible Jury, who will be selecting the winners for the 2024 edition.

This year’s amazing jury includes writers, actors, directors, Academy Award® Nominees, singers and artistic celebrities from across the entertainment industry. Together will select the winner of the Aladerri Award along with the winners of each Category of the 50 films in competition.

The Jury 2024

Best Narrative Short Film

  • ​Andreas Kessler​

At the age of 14 Andreas started making his own short films. CAMOUFLAGE, a film about homophobia in the German army, was part of the official selection of Palm Springs Int. Short Fest, Frameline 39, IFF Reykjavik and many others. BLIND AUDITION, about two violinists being a couple and competing for the solopart of an orchestra was in competition at the TRIBECA Film Festival, shortlisted for the student BAFTA and nominated for the German Short Film Award. SINKENDE SCHIFFE, a short about domestic violence, premiered at the 41st Max Ophüls Prize, won the Baden-Württemberg Shortfilm Award and was sold to arte-television. NAKAM is Andreas' diploma film at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. It premiered at the 46th Cleveland International Film Festival and won the Oscar Qualifying Award for Best Live Action Short. NAKAM was then selected to be on the 95th OSCARS Shortlist as one of 15 short films worldwide.

  • Sunny Vachher 

Sunny Vachher is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of SUNNY, an OSCAR contending young motion picture superuniverse and social enterprise creating global stories that spark wonder. SUNNY is best known for creating critically acclaimed, academy award shortlisted, and globally awarded The Great Artist (OSCAR Best Live Action Short Film), One Under The Sun (Hulu), Beyond Driven (Amazon), Milvio (Verizon/Amazon), and TED Talks. Sunny is a global creative good visionary, social futurist, thought leader and impact investor at the intersection of entertainment, technology, education and wellbeing. As an an international award-winning South Asian (Indian American) Producer and Executive in Film, TV, and Digital Media, Sunny's endeavors in entertainment are centered around creating and producing stories and experiences that genuinely have the power to INSPIRE and do GOOD for others, investing in the common good for humanity, educating aspiring filmmakers and advocating for a stronger, more inclusive international creative economy. His films have been celebrated, honored, and awarded at more than 200+ film festivals around the world.       

 

He is a Youth Voice and Mental Health Advocate, Creative Educator for youth in entertainment with Young Storytellers Foundation, and a Producer at TED and TED-Ed (empowering the youth as young positive change leaders). His global creative impact and social justice endeavors have led him to being inducted as a United Nations Ambassador championing SDG goals with the UN Foundation for social justice, healthcare, education, and wellbeing, a Global Goodwill Ambassador, and also honored as a Health Equity Ambassador with Alliance of a Healthier Generation and Clinton Foundation. Sunny has been honored with numerous awards globally for excellence in film, TV, business and digital media, and also recognized as a 2021 & 2022 Top 100 US Business Leaders in Entertainment, a recipient of the 2022 Changemaker of the Year Award by Act To Change, The Asian American Foundation, and The Obama Foundation for being instrumental in their national Anti-bullying movement for AAPI Youth, a 2022 & 2023 Positive Leadership Awards Nominee, and most recently also honored as the 2024 Kohl’s AANHPI Health Ambassador for public and family health & wellness by Kohl’s, Alliance of a Healthier Generation, and The Clinton Foundation. He serves on the Board of Advisors for Homeboy Industries (2024 Presidential Medal of Freedom Honoree), and is a Founding member, Producer, Executive, and Director at Homeboy Media.

  • Tomer Shushan 

Writer and a film director from Israel. Graduated Minshar,  Tel Aviv. Directed and wrote tv series and a few shorts , among them "White Eye '' was nominated for the 2021 Academy Awards. White eye screened at hundreds of international film festivals and won 60 awards. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences member since 2021. Wrote two episodes for the 4th season of Fauda. Currently working on his first feature film "SONAR" and the TV series "THE LAMPSHADE".  

 

Best Animated Short Film

  • Bruno Caetano

​Bruno Isaac Grade Caetano was born in Portimão, Portugal, in 1979. Self-taught animator and builder, he later graduated from Lisbon’s Faculty of Fine Arts Multimedia Investigation and Studies Centre (CIEAM) with a specialization in Stop Motion. Despite having a strong preference for this technique, his professional career led him to participate in several projects off various animation techniques as well as in other areas of artistic interest. Has worked as an animator, producer and director in productions from various production companies, and is a founding member of COLA Animation, an ever growing international cooperative of united artists, focused in producing, teaching and divulging animation. 

  • João Gonzalez

​João Gonzalez (Porto, 1996) is a Portuguese director, animator, illustrator and musician with classical training in piano. He took a degree in Multimedia at ESMAD in Porto, where he graduated in 2017, specialising in the field of Animation and continuing to study piano independently. It was there that, as his final project, he made his first short film, "The Voyager", which features a live piano performance whenever possible, at the same time as the screening of the film, by the director/ composer himself. With a scholarship from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, in 2018 he entered the Masters in Animation at the Royal College of Art in London, where he made "Nestor" as his first year film, and “Ice Merchants” as his graduation film, that he completed afterwards with funding from ICA (Portuguese Cinema Institute). In 2022 he premiered his first funded film “Ice Merchants” in Cannes Film Festival, winning Best Short Film in Competition from the Semaine de La Critique Jury, which would later become the first Portuguese film to be nominated for an Oscar®, and the second to win the Annie Award. "Ice Merchants" is currently the most awarded Portuguese film in history, with more than 130 international awards (10 of which were Oscar Qualifying), and more than 350 official selections at festivals around the world. João has a great interest in combining his musical background with his artistic practice in animated cinema, always playing the role of composer and occasional instrumentalist in all the films he makes.

  • John Stevenson

John Stevenson has over five decades of experience in film development and production. Starting off in Jim Henson’s puppet studios in London at age 19, Stevenson’s passion for storytelling has been at the core of every project he has worked on since. 

Most recently Stevenson has been working as an episodic director for two season's of Nickelodeon's "Max And The Midknights" show. During the pandemic he wrote and directed the animated short film "Middle Watch" working with students across Europe, which was accepted into over 50 international film festivals and was nominated for a BAFTA in 2023. In 2018 he directed “Sherlock Gnomes” for Paramount and MGM, a sequel to the 2011 hit “Gnomeo and Juliet”, and an animated twist on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous detective. 

 

 Stevenson directed “Kung Fu Panda” with Mark Osborne, which starred Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman and Angelina Jolie. Released in the summer of 2008, “Kung Fu Panda” has grossed over $600 million worldwide and spawned three sequels and multiple television spin-offs.  In 2009 Stevenson was nominated for an Oscar® with Mark Osborne, and both won the Annie for best direction of an animated feature.

 

Stevenson has lectured on the creative process of story development in China, Malaysia, Korea, Australia, and New Zealand and at schools such as USC, UCLA, Oklahoma Arts Institute, Ulster University of the Arts, Ireland, the University of Andong, Korea, and for companies such as Sony PlayStation, Lego, and Valve.

 

Prior to the release of “Kung Fu Panda”, Stevenson directed four episodes of the DreamWorks prime time television series “Father of the Pride” and held the post of Head of Story at PDI/DreamWorks serving as story artist for the DreamWorks worldwide blockbusters “Shrek”, “Shrek 2” and “Madagascar.”  While there, he also created storyboards for the animated features “Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron,” and “Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas.” A core member of PDI/DreamWorks’ creative review committee, Stevenson had input on a variety of projects and also taught classes on the story process to artists at PDI and the San Francisco-based Wild Brain Productions.

 

The mid-to-late ’90s saw Stevenson working on multiple feature and television animation projects. He provided the lead voice for the pilot of the series “Mr. Baby”; designed characters for DreamWorks Television’s “Toonsylvania”; and worked as a storyboard artist and character designer for DreamWorks/PDI’s “Antz,” Pixar’s “Toy Story 2,” and Nickelodeon’s pilot “Fathead.” During this period, he also acted as an independent creative consultant to CBS, NBC, Walt Disney Productions, Colossal Pictures and Protozoa Pictures.  He worked with Henry Selick as head of story/creative development for Twitching Image, Inc., as puppeteer for the animatronic rhinoceros in Disney’s “James and the Giant Peach” (also drawing storyboards) and directed an episode of Film Roman/CBS’s “The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat.”

 

As a staff Designer/Director for Colossal Pictures from ‘91 to ‘95, Stevenson worked in multiple capacities on the animated series “Back to the Future” and “Moxy—Pirate TV Show”; created advertising spots for Cheerios, Little Caesars and Parker Bros. and developed show formats and concepts for Nickelodeon/CBS.  He served as art director, character designer and storyboard artist on the Central Television series “The Dreamstone.”

 

His previous freelance career as an artist, illustrator, character designer and art director exposed him to projects in nearly every medium, working on theme parks, museums, album covers, commercials, and various feature films and television shows. Films included “Little Shop of Horrors”, Labyrinth”, “The Dark Crystal” and “The Great Muppet Caper”. His career began in 1977 working with Jim Henson on “The Muppet Show”.

 

Best Documentary Short Film

  • Rebecca Pruzan 

Oscar nominated filmproducer - Last year's proud winner of Best Screenplay, Best Director and Best Narrative Short Film at Aladerri International Film Festival with her film IVALU.

  • Doug Roland

Doug Roland is an Oscar-nominated director for his film Feeling Through, which is the first film to star a DeafBlind actor. Featured on The Nightly News with Lester Holt, The Daily Show, in The New York Times, and LA Times and winner of over 160 film festival awards, Feeling Through is executive produced by Oscar winner Marlee Matlin and was made in partnership with Helen Keller National Center. Doug has used the film to create accessible screening events and speak at conferences, institutions, and schools around the world about collaborative, inclusive storytelling.

 

Doug produced the short documentary, Barefoot Empress, which is executive produced by Dr. Deepak Chopra and directed by Michelin star chef and humanitarian, Vikas Khanna. They have used the film to raise funds in service of providing high quality education for girls in underserved communities across India. To date, Barefoot Empress has helped rehabilitate 18 classrooms in India.

 

Doug’s short film Jada became a viral sensation with over 25 million views on YouTube. He produced the feature film Life Hack which won 16 festival awards, including Best Independent Feature at the Cleveland International Film Festival. He studied film at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and FAMU in Prague.

  • Roxana Alejo

Operational Director of Ambulante Documentary and financial adviser of Festival Internacional de Cine de Morelia.

She has extensive training and experience as a cultural manager and impact producer. She studied Financial Administration at ITESM Campus Monterrey and is currently pursuing an MBA at the same institution. She has experience as a teacher and began her professional life in the operational area of an International supermarket chain. 

For 4 years she managed the Mexican animation production company Lo Coloco Films.

Currently, she is the Operational Director of Ambulante Documentary and financial adviser of the Morelia International Film Festival, as well as other cultural and cinematographic initiatives.

Undoubtedly, managing film and projects related to the seventh art have been her great passion.

 

Best Illinois Short Film

  • Luis Carlos

Mexican citizen. Passionate about Fine Arts, Vice President of the “Arlequín” Award (Association of Critics, Public Relations and Journalists of Shows of Mexico).

Host of great Artistic and Cultural events in Mexico and abroad, member of the Association of Theater Journalists (APT), an active member of the National Association of Broadcasters of Mexico (ANLM).

  • Tatiana Del Real 

Tatiana Del Real is a Mexican actress and television personality. She has been nominated for the Ariel awards for her role as Mary Boquitas in Gloria the movie. Her most notable acting jobs are in the Netflix series Luis Miguel and TV Azteca series Guardia Garcia. She also acted in the films Una Familia con Madre, Swipe Up, Carretera 15 and coming soon Teques (Mexican slasher film).
Tatiana acted in the theatre production Mas de 45,000 in the festival of D’feria in San Sebastián, Spain.

  • Manuel Alcaraz 

Graduate in performing arts with a specialty in the "impro" technique and dubbing.
It has more than 25 performances, acting, directing, writing and producing in various short films.
In his last project he was the villain of the telenovela "Vencer La Culpa" produced by Rosy Ocampo.
Also on Netflix he has antagonized the screens, being, in "Donde Hubo Fuego, the series where he gave life to Hugo González "El Carnicero de Reynosa".  
Currently returning to Netflix and other platforms in the 4th season of Rosario Tijeras.

 

Best Comedy Short Film

  • Stu Gamble 

Stu is the CEO and creative lead behind Tiny Giants. A preeminent award-winning designer, director, writer and storyteller, Stu has created numerous original stories for film, TV, and gaming, many of which the Company has put into development. He has worked with the world's leading entertainment companies including Disney, Marvel, Cartoon Network, ITV, Nickelodeon, MTV, FOX, FX, and The LEGO Group. Stu was also the founder of the digital animation studio Freakish Kid which, in the early ’00s, pioneered a digital 2D technique that excelled the studio’s reputation worldwide for high-quality animation. Stu jumped to live action in 2020 with the company's IP Stationheads. A short film/pilot presentation that has won multiple awards worldwide for best film, directing, writing and editing. He is currently finishing his first feature. The action/comedy D*CKS.

  • Kristen McCabe

Kristen’s professional acting career began in Australia, with performances in theatre, film, national commercials, and television. Pole Climb, the first film she wrote, acted in, and co-produced, won Best Comedy at the Aladerri Film Festival. From there, it won Best Short Comedy in the Best of Fest at Crown Point International Film Festival and is screening at the Midwest Film Festival. With a passion for telling female-driven stories, Kristen’s films have earned over 40 laurels, including eight best acting awards for her performances. Kristen’s greatest joy is bringing audiences the gift of laughter.  

  • T.C. De Witt

T.C. De Witt is a multi-awarded writer/director originally from Wisconsin and now based in Los Angeles. His life has been devoted to the arts since he was a child. He’s been a stage performer, playwright, stand-up comic, film and television actor, radio DJ, podcaster, published author, recorded musician, and comic writer/illustrator. He is now a professional screenwriter and has been thriving for the past decade, regularly offering his talents to production studios in LA, Chicago, Milwaukee, and internationally in Sydney. Poland, and Tokyo. He’s provided content for Amazon Prime, Netflix, and several YouTube partners. His films have screened internationally , and his stageplays have been performed across the country.

 

Best LGBTQ+ Short Film

  • Jose Aguilar

Jose Aguilar is a Mexican American filmmaker/content creator based in Chicago, IL. I've had the honor to collaborate with distinguished Chicago independent filmmakers whose projects have screened in various film festivals. While I consider myself a director first, I have had a multi-faceted career as an Editor, Assistant Director, and Casting Director.  Never to shy away from a challenge, Jose has been able to find a balance between a successful television media career while, at the same time, continuing a filmmaking career. Jose has recently joined NBC5/Telemundo Chicago as a freelance director/editor. Jose has been the recipient of the coveted Studs Terkel Award- an award meant for journalists who go the extra mile in reporting news and take risks in covering social issues by offering new or unusual perspectives- from housing to race to violence to health to education and beyond. He is also a Peter Lisagor Award recipient- established in 1977 to inspire Chicago-area journalists to follow Peter Lisagor’s  outstanding example of work ethic and to recognize truly superior contributions to journalism. Lastly, Jose has been nominated multiple times for the National Academy of Television Art and Science: Emmy in the NATAS Chicago/Midwest chapter. Through his line of work, Jose aims to create timeless pieces that spark awareness and self reflection on societies’ status quo. Bringing his career full circle and combining both aspects of his career, Jose is currently working on his first documentary shedding light on the impact Queer Latinx have had in the cultivation of Chicago’s Queer Community.

  • Nina Bouchaud-Cheval

After several years as a Creative Director, where she envisioned award-winning films and advertising campaigns for international brands, Nina Bouchaud-Cheval ventured into the field of assistant directing and then into writing various fictions, in self-taught. Her first project as a writer and director, "Les éveillées"/"Enlightened" is currently being broadcast and has garnered several awards as well as about 40 selections worldwide. She is currently writing two feature films (a social drama and a horror movie), and her next short film is in development.

  • Kyle Patrick

Kyle Patrick embodies a rare blend of creativity and skill as a filmmaker, actor, and circus aerialist, weaving together captivating narratives across numerous artistic disciplines. A graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Kyle's journey began with a passion for
storytelling that led him to establish SoliFilm Productions (www.solifilm.com) in Chicago, IL. 


His career is punctuated by awards in film, theater, and circus arts, reflecting his diverse talents and dedication to pushing creative boundaries. Notably, Kyle recently challenged himself as a producer on the feature film Walter, Grace & The Submarine, a testament to his ability to bring
intricate narratives to life on screen.


Represented by Gray Talent Group, Kyle Patrick continues to use his talents to bring to life nuanced performances and visionary storytelling on the screen, page, and stage. His unique perspectives as a filmmaker, actor, and aerialist all add distinctive dimensions to his work,
resonating deeply with those who view his work.


Acting Website: www.kylepatrickacting.com
Instagram: @_kyle_patrick
Facebook: @KylePatrickActor

 

Best Student Short Film

  • Jerry Nunn

Jerry Nunn began writing for the publication and covering LGBTQ+ events, celebrating 20 years in November of 2024. He has worked for over 10 years as the entertainment editor for GoPride.com and photographer for Edge Media Network. He is a proud member of the Critics Choice Association and has contributed to several books over the years. His personal website is www.NunnontheRun.com

  • Ericka Porter MBA

Ericka Porter, MBA, also known as “Media Maven Worldwide,” is an accomplished American television producer, author, and entrepreneur. She is the owner of Chicks That Pitch, Media Maven Worldwide LLC, and co-owner of MMS Networks LLC. Ericka’s life mission is to serve
and inspire the world through media and motivation.


Ericka holds a BFA in Electronic Media from the University of Cincinnati and an MBA, earned through studies at both Xavier University and Purdue University. 

 

With nearly 30 years of service, Ericka has collaborated with numerous major networks and affiliates, including the Food Network, Big Fish Entertainment, Fox, Sinclair Broadcast Group, Nickelodeon, Oxygen, Bravo, and NBC. She produces big-budget live events and serves as a
television mega ministry leader and producer. She is also an advocate for the independent tv and film communities by providing access to resources and opportunities to excel.


Ericka’s vast industry collaborations and business acumen enable her to create opportunities for others. As a producer, mentor, entrepreneur, media professional, motivational speaker, talent, and author, Ericka’s mission is simple: to inspire, uplift, and bridge the gap between the need
and opportunities for others; while contributing to an industry she is deeply passionate about. “I do this because I’m passionate about people, creativity, innovation, and the media.”

  • Sining Xiang

Sining Xiang is a writer/director based in Los Angeles. His latest short film, "Foreign Uncle," based on his experience of coming out to his family in China and featuring his real-life family members, garnered numerous accolades, including a Jury Prize from the Directors Guild of America, Best U.S. Student Film at Palm Springs International Shortfest, and was acquired and distributed by The New Yorker in 2023.

Sining was the winner of the 2023 CineStory Asian & South Asian Writers Scholarship and the 2024 WeScreenplay Diverse Voice Screenwriting Lab. He was the finalist of the 2024 Sundance Screenwriting lab and his feature script "The Ghost Wedding" is a featured project on The Black List.

Sining was born in Inner Mongolia and raised near Beijing. Before embarking on a career in the entertainment industry, he worked as an electrical engineer in Silicon Valley. He holds an MS degree in electrical engineering from UCSD and an MFA degree in film production and directing from UCLA.

 

Best Music Video

  • Angelina Victoria

Angelina Victoria Angulo (born February 14, 2002), known professionally as Angelina Victoria, is a twenty-one (21) year old American singer, songwriter, actress, and model from Chicago, Illinois. 


​Known for her versatility in entertainment, Angelina booked her very first print job at the age of 4 years old for Leo's Dancewear. At that time it was clear she had a love for modeling and the camera. She went on to audition for the top talent agents in Chicago and was signed by Lily's Talent, BMG Models, DeSanti Talent, and Paige Models and Talent. She booked her very first National Commercial for WalMart at 10 years old. She has credits in several films, commercials, industrial videos, voiceovers, musical theater shows and an Opera. She has done countless photo shoots for Kohl's, American Girl, Carson's, Sears, and many more companies. She has walked the runway in numerous fashion shows and has won 3 beauty pageants.


 In addition to modeling, Angelina actively works on her acting, dancing, and performance skills. She won a full scholarship to attend the Summer 2018 “Broadway Collective Gathered Musical Theatre Program” in New York City and was also selected to attend the “Joffrey Ballet's Musical Theatre Intensive”. She’s attended “Grammy Camp”, “Roosevelt University's Pre-College Broadway Break Thru Program”, and she has worked as a student filmmaker and actress for Dreaming Tree Films on the film: “Alternate Universe: A Rescue Mission”. Angelina also attended the “Columbia College Summer Arts Program” which focused on Performing Arts, Media Arts, Visual Arts and she was able to work with a small group of students to write, direct, edit and produce a short film. She has also studied Acting/Improvisation/On-Camera at: Piven Theatre, The Second City Training Center, Acting Studio Chicago, The Green Room, Columbia College, Broadway Break Thru and Marnie Cooper School of Acting.​ In 2019, she was also a finalist on the popular show Tengo Talento Mucho Talento on Estrella TV. 

Although Angelina loves modeling and acting, her main passion is music and singing. She has taken professional vocal lessons since the age of 6. She is a Mezzo-Soprano and is a versatile artist that can sing everything from Regional Mexican, Musical Theatre, Opera, Classical, Pop, Ballads, Country, Salsa, Boleros, and many more genres. She has studied and can sing music in Spanish, English, French, Italian and Japanese. (She is fluent in both English and Spanish, but is diligently studying French, Japanese, and Italian.) Angelina was a 2020 graduate of the Chicago High School for the Arts where she was 1 of 18 students accepted into the class of 2020 Musical Theatre Program. In 2024, Angelina graduated from Columbia College where she received a full 4 year scholarship to study and achieve her degrees in Music with a concentration in Vocal Performance as well as another in Music Business. Angelina Victoria’s deep devotion and appreciation for everything in the realm of music has influenced her to perfect her craft, and she is extremely dedicated to becoming an international artist. In October of 2024, at 21 years old, Angelina officially signed a record deal with Warner Music and will be working on her first album.

Angelina Victoria actively performs concerts and has opened for various artists and bands including Grupo Firme, Los Tucanes De Tijuana, El Yaki, Gerardo Ortiz, El Fantasma, Carin Leon, Alicia Villareal, La Septima Banda, Banda el Recodo, La Fiera de Ojinaga, Banda Los Recoditos, Banda La Adictiva, Banda Los Sebastianes, La Original Banda Limon, Banda Renovacion, Conjunto Primavera, Los Rieleros del Norte, Grupo Duelo, Los Dorados, Los Tesoros, Lenin Ramirez, Los del Limit, Virlan Garcia, Ulices Chaidez, Los Cuates De Sinaloa, K-Paz de la Sierra, Luis Coronel, and many more. As of today, she has launched several cover singles in her own style such as “Todo Cambió”, “Te Quiero Tanto, Tanto”, “Mi Meta Contigo”, “Mi Forma de Sentir”, “Supongo Que Lo Sabes”, “Te Amo Papa”, “I Hope” and many more. Angelina has also launched a number of originals songs such as “Es Amor”,  “¿Y Mis Sentimientos Qué?”, "Quiero Hacerte Falta”, ”Necesito”, “Tu y Yo”, and “Te Amo Mama.” She has also released various duets with other popular artists and groups such as, “Colgando En Tus Manos” and “Será Porque Te Amo” with Los Dorados, “Dos Locos” with Uriel Barrera, and “La Boca Les Callamos” with La Fiera de Ojinaga.

Beyond the stage and recording studio, Angelina Victoria also has ridden horses since she was little and loves all animals. Angelina has professionally trained for years in dressage, western, and charro style horseback riding.

  • Aramayis Hayrapetyan

I was born in 1985 in Abovyan city. During 2003-2005, I served in Armenian army. After that I worked in television as film editor,
simultaneously in 2007 released my first music video clip as a director. That work is a beginning of my carrier. During these years I have
collaborated almost with all Armenian artists, a lot of event organizers, creative agencies, tv channels and brands:


ARM Public TV, Armenia TV, Shant TV, Zuck creative agency, Doping creative agency, Aurora Baréalisse Marketing & Branding, Sharm Holding, Millennium Production, Modd-Events, Factory Production, Mezzo Production, Domino Production, Publicis Advertising Agancy, Rostelecom, Beeline, Ucom, VivaCell, Dargett, Grand Candy, Ani product, Vine&Wine Foundation of Armenia, Acba Bank, Toto Gaming, ReLoads, Cupid, Electro Jet, Ararat water, EUBS etcetera ...


I’m a founder and director of the Gravity Production since 2020. Some of my works has been awarded:

- ARMENIAN TOP 10 AWARDS 2009-2011 - 15 DIFFERENT MUSIC

- ARMENIAN EUROPE MUSIC AWARDS 2017 BEST MUSIC VIDEO and Best Director of the Year
- HAYKO – THE ETERNAL CITY OF LOVE
ARMENIAN NATIONAL MUSIC AWARDS 2018 BEST MUSIC VIDEO
- KAREN SEVAK – SOLITUDE
LAKE VIEW INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2017 - BEST MUSIC VIDEO
FIVE CONTINENTS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2017 - BEST MUSIC VIDEO
EURASIA INTERNATIONAL MONTHEY FILM FESTIVAL 2017 - FINALIST
LOS ANGELES CINEFEST 2018 – SEMI FINALIST
LOS ANGELES Film Awards - WINNER 2018
GOLD MOVIE AWARDS GODDESS NIKE 2018 – WINNER MONTHLY
- JONI KARAPETYAN – MY LIVE AND SUN
Oniros Film Awards 2018 FINALIST
Festigious Los Angeles - Monthly Film Competition 2018 BEST MUSIC VIDEO
South Film and Arts Academy Festival 2018 BEST MUSIC VIDEO 
2

Hollywood International Moving Pictures Film Festival 2018 BEST MUSIC VIDEO
European Cinematography AWARDS (ECA) 2018 BEST MUSIC VIDEO
Global Film Festival Awards 2018 BEST MUSIC VIDEO
- Aram Mp3 - IF YOU WANT
Top Shorts Film Festival 2020 Best Music video
Oniros Film Awards® - New York 2020 Best Music Video
New York Cinematography AWARDS (NYCA) 2020 Best Music Video

  • Mayana Neiva

Born in Brazil Mayana Neiva is an award winning actress, producer and writer. Her first contact with acting happened during her exchange program to California at the age of sixteen. Back to Brazil she starred in the play "Hello Boy". For her leading role in the play she won several nominations for best actress. In her home state Paraiba, she founded her first theater ensemble that was finalist for the contest "Theatrical Creation Volkswagen". Then she moved to Sao Paulo where she joined two avant-garde theater groups: Teatro Oficina directed by Jose Celso Martinez Correa and Centro de Pesquisa Teatral CPT of theater master Antunes Filho. She then founded her own theater company Transfugas within the theater of historic occupation of the city of Sao Paulo Grupo XIX de Teatro. She made her debut on Tv film " The Stones of the kingdom" directed by critically acclaimed director Luiz Fernando Carvalho, playing two leading female roles, having to shave her head for one of them. After that she begin a solid international fan base for her television work productions like "Queridos Amigos", "Som e Furia", "Dalva e Hervivelto" "Derci de Verdade", " TiTiTi", " Amor Eterno amor" , "Cordel Encantado" and "Sangue Bom". She also worked with directors Fernando Meireles, Benjamin Avila, Dennis Carvalho, Rogerio Gomes, Aly Muritiba and screenwiters Maria Adelaide Amaral, Braulio Tavares and Marcelo Mulller. This past year 2016-2017 she played the recurring role of Mariela Fuentes in the HBO series EL Hipnotizador and played the lead a chief of police Carolina Ramalho in the NBC Universal Channel series Rotas do Odio , Trails of Hate. She also played the lead in the movie Beiço de estrada. For her role in Tv series "TiTiTi", Mayana Neiva won best new actress in " Melhores do ano" and " Arte Qualidade Brasil", she also received "Mulher Forte" award from the Brazilian Government for her achievements in the field. She also has built a successful career in feature films from all over Latin America like " O Vendedor de passados" , " Os Normais" , "O tempo que leva", " The man who killed my beloved dead" part of the San Sebastian Film Festival Selection of 2014, and Argentina's submission for the 2013 Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language film and Cannes's Directors Fortnight " Clandestine Childhood". She also won Best Actress award for the role of Raquel in the movie "To my beloved". Mayana wrote a kids book named Sofia, about the jorney of a little girl that swallowed the sun.

Key Dates 2024

For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL - July 1, 2024

Aladerri International Film Festival

key dates for the 2024 edition:
 

  • August 1, 2024 – The Jury​

  • August 29, 2024 - Official Selections

  • September 5, 2024 – Nominations

  • September 27-29, 2024 Aladerri Film Fest

  • September 29, 2024 - Aladerri Awards



Alejandro Gonzalez
Festival Director

Media Contact:
Alejandro Gonzalez
alejandro@aladerri.com

AIFF Official Poster.png

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - June 21, 2024

The Aladerri International Film Festival reveals the image of its 2024 edition designed by Arturo Ramírez / Creativoros Branding.

Aladerri International Film Festival will be held from September 27 to 27, 2024 at FACETS



Alejandro Gonzalez
Festival Director

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - September 25, 2023

Aladerri International Film Festival 2023

WINNERS

• Aladerri Award - Ice Merchants
• Audience Award - GHOSTS
• Best Director - Anders Walter & Pipaluk K. Jørgensen "IVALU"
• Best Screenplay - Anders Walter "IVALU"
• Best Actor - Ron Perlman "The Caddy"
• Best Actress - Guadalupe Fiñana "Maruja"
• Best Narrative Short Film - IVALU
• Best Documentary Short Film - Barefoot Empress
• Best Animated Short Film - Ice Merchants
• Best Comedy Short Film - Stationheads
• Best LGBTQ+ Short Film - Les Eveillées
• Best Student Short Film - Foreign Uncle
• Best Illinois Short Film - Subsurface
• Best Music Video - Snap

Congratulations to all the winners!
Congratulations to all the Official Selections!
Congratulations to all the filmmakers who submited this season and THANK YOU for trusting the festival, we exist because of YOU!

Thank you to the Jurors, the Screeners, the Presenters, the Performer, the Staff, the Theatre, the Media and the beautiful Audience who came out to the Festival this weekend.

See you next year!

Alejandro Gonzalez
Festival Director

News

Media Contact:
Alejandro Gonzalez
alejandro@aladerri.com

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - August 25, 2023

Aladerri International Film Festival 2023

Official Selections.


Narrative Short Film

  • All in favor

  • Breaking Fast with a Coca Cola 

  • DARK CELL

  • Eger, 1552

  • IVALU

  • Le Ballon Bleu (The Blue Balloon)

  • Noctuidae

  • Pacific Bell

  • Paths

  • Salvador Dali

  • Sevap/Mitzvah

  • The Caddy

  • The Chromakey Man

  • The Taster

  • Wedding Ring


Documentary Short Film

  • Barefoot Empress

  • Emergence

  • Friday Night Blind

  • The Struggle Is the End

  • HAULOUT


Animated Short Film

  • Ice Merchants

  • It's Nice in Here

  • Middle Watch

  • My Year of Dicks

  • The Record


Comedy Short Film

  • A Friendly Turn

  • Great Mistakes

  • Maruja

  • PLASTIC KILLER

  • Stationheads


LGBTQ+ Short Film

  • Cristiano

  • Happy BirthGay

  • Kiss Me

  • Les Eveillées 

  • Welcome Back 


Illinois Short Film

  • In Your Shoes

  • KAD (Korean Adoptee)

  • Personalized Futures

  • Subsurface

  • Summer Fun Time


Student Short Film

  • CAVA

  • Fika

  • Foreign Uncle

  • NAKAM

  • Solo


Music Video 

  • Anund Payl (Marine Manasian)

  • GHOSTS

  • Prison Romance

  • Snap

  • The Rebellion

Tickets available here

Alejandro Gonzalez

Festival Director

Short List 2023

News

Media Contact:
Alejandro Gonzalez
alejandro@aladerri.com

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - August 18, 2023

Aladerri International Film Festival Short List has been narrowed to 130 films from 71 countries and regions, of which 50 will earn Official Selections.


Aladerri International Film Festival will take place Sep 22 - 24, 2023 at FACETS

1517 W Fullerton Ave, Chicago, IL, United States, Illinois.


The films, listed in alphabetical order by country, are:


𝐀𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐚

- Snap

𝐀𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐚

- Breathe

𝐀𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐚

- The shards of our Love

- Women's Business

𝐁𝐞𝐥𝐠𝐢𝐮𝐦

- The Chromakey Man

𝐁𝐨𝐬𝐧𝐢𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐳𝐞𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐚

- Sevap/Mitzvah

𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐥

- La Pursé

- Welcome Back

𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐝𝐚

- Danavan

- Pacific Bell

𝐃𝐞𝐧𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤

- IVALU

- Light of My Eye

- The Deportation of a Model Citizen

𝐄𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐚

- Antipolis

𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞

- 1432

- Breakpoint

- Code Rose

- DARK CELL

- Deliver us from the male

- Fortissimo

- GHOSTS

- Goodbye Persil

- Les Eveillées

- Sèt Lam

- The Fight For Rhinoceros Conservation

- The Struggle Is the End

- War and peace, from a book we didn't read

𝐆𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲

- ISTINA (Truth)

- NAKAM

- Noctuidae

- Rest in piece

- The Taster

- Those Who Follow

𝐇𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐲

- Eger, 1552

- Stationheads

𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚

- Barefoot Empress

- Canvas

- Highway Nights

- THEEVIRA VYAADHI

𝐈𝐫𝐚𝐪

- Paths

𝐈𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝

- Lambing

𝐈𝐬𝐫𝐚𝐞𝐥

- Black Slide

- Happy BirthGay

- Short film - "Echo"

- Solo

𝐈𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐲

- Essere Oro

- Shero

𝐉𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐧

- Our Males and Females

𝐊𝐚𝐳𝐚𝐤𝐡𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧

- On Her Own Initiative

𝐊𝐞𝐧𝐲𝐚

- Last Supper

𝐊𝐲𝐫𝐠𝐲𝐳𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧

- Salvador Dali

𝐌𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐜𝐨

- CAVA

- DESCEND

- Fika

- Kiss Me

- Wedding Ring

- When I Hear You Sing, I Forget

𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬

- A Pink Moon Comes

- It's Nice in Here

- Shut

𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐮

- A Stranger at the Funeral

𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬

- Golden Bells

𝐏𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐠𝐚𝐥

- Ice Merchants

- Kafka's Doll

- The Garbage Man

𝐑𝐮𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐅𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

- Anund Payl (Marine Manasian)

- HAULOUT

- Steps

𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐞

- The Nocturne

𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚

- A Void

- Emergence

𝐒𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧

- All in favor

- Christian

- Kids Games

- Maruja

- PLASTIC KILLER

- Socio

- TAKBIR

- The Bank Loan

- The Summers of your Winter

- Uphill

- Who

𝐒𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐳𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝

- Pipes

- The Record

- Women in Architecture

𝐓𝐚𝐢𝐰𝐚𝐧

- Classic Daddy

𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐲

- The Banishment

- Together, Alone

𝐔𝐤𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞

- Liturgy of anti-tank obstacles

𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦

- Can't Go Home Again

- IN PLANE SIGHT

- Man To Man

- Middle Watch

- Midnight Ride

- original skin

- The Writing Box

- Voices

𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬

- A Better Half

- Celebration of Life

- A Friendly Turn

- a tree once grew here

- Aris Demetrios: Sculpture From The Heart

- Bodies of Water

- Breaking Fast with a Coca Cola

- Foreign Uncle

- Friday Night Blind

- Great Mistakes

- In The Between

- In Your Shoes

- KAD (Korean Adoptee)

- Le Ballon Bleu (The Blue Balloon)

- Learning Not To Drown

- Lift

- My Year of Dicks

- Nocturnal Burger

- Personalized Futures

- Prison Romance

- Receding

- Subsurface

- Summer Fun Time

- The Big Pitch

- The Caddy

- The Cookbook

- The Festival

- The Firefly Jar

- The Flagmakers

- The Rebellion

- The True Summit

- Time is Eternal

- Worst in Show


Alejandro Gonzalez 

Festival Director

AIFF 2023 Jurors

News

Media Contact:
Alejandro Gonzalez
alejandro@aladerri.com

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - August 1, 2023

The Jury of the

Aladerri International Film Festival

2023 edition and its President unveiled


Anand Varadaraj Founder and Artistic Director of the Bengaluru International Short Film Festival, an Academy Award® Qualifying Festival in India will be the President of the Jury of the Aladerri International Film Festival 2023 Edition. Together with twenty one jury members, will select the winner of the Aladerri Award along with the winners of each Category of the 50 films in competition.

  

The Jury


Anand Varadaraj - President
Director, actor, producer
India


Jovanny Evans – Vice President
Film critic

United States

Arti Savchenko
Film Director
Israel

Carlos Camacho
Film Director
Mexico


Claudia Murdoch
Producer

United States 


Brent Kado

Artistic Director at Chicago Comedy Film Festival
United States 


Erik Bradley

Top 40 radio programmer
United States


George Cederquist
Stage director
United States


Jim Farmer
Festival director 

United States


Jitse de Graaf
Film director
Netherlands


John Capo
Professor at Lycoming College
United States
 
Jon Gann
Film Producer and Director
United States

Jonah Koslofsky
Film director

United States


Komeil Soheili

Film director, writer & journalist

Iran

Kristen McCabe

Actor & Producer

United States

Laurence Gagne-Fregeau

Writer, film director & producer

Canada

Lisa Rose

Festival Director

Australia

Martijn Kramer

Film director
Netherlands

Maya Ochoa
Film programmer

Mexico

T.C. De Witt
Writer & film director

United States

Xavier Diskeuve

Film director & producer

Belgium

Stephanie Ripstein

Talent Agent & international Manager

United States


Founder and Artistic Director of the Bengaluru International Short Film Festival, an Academy Award® Qualifying Festival in India.

Actor, producer and ex-President of Suchitra Film Society - 50 year old organization. He is now the Director of Suchitra Cine Academy, where works are underway to start a first of its kind Cinema School.  Anand is also the Trustee of the Centre for Film and Drama.

Additionally, Anand collaborates and mentors many independent filmmakers and producers for their new ventures.

His experience with cinema is global with several International cultural Forums in his repertoire, including curating of Film Festivals and also as Jury for organizations across the globe.

The members of the Jury


Jovanny Evans – Vice President
Film critic

United States

Originally from Guadalajara, Mexico, Jovanny Evans has called Chicago home since 2015. He received a degree in Media Art and Animation from the Art Institute of Portland and had previously studied Design at ITESO in Guadalajara. He is extremely passionate about film, TV and animation, and he’s very interested in the future of media and entertainment.

Currently he works for Univision Chicago as a Producer. His passion for film drove him to introduce movie segments to several of Univision's programming and has since become the film critic for the station and a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association.

His impressive style and unique ideas have landed him opportunities to promote major productions from studios like Disney, Warner Brothers, Sony Pictures, and Universal Pictures. On his segment Jovanny interviews A-list celebrities every week such as Halle Berry, Tom Cruise, and Anthony Hopkins, as well as Latino stars like Eugenio Derbez and Mauricio Ochmann. Jovanny is also invited to cover major local and national film industry events such as Sundance, SXSW, Cinema Con, San Diego Comic-Con, CLFF, and CIFF.

Jovanny produces weekly content that reaches thousands of film fanatics through TV, digital, and social media. With his unique style, charm, and personality, Jovanny is connecting Hollywood with the Hispanic audience. His segment ‘Movies con Jovanny’ air on Despierta Chicago and can also be seen in 18 Spanish-speaking countries on the morning newscast La Voz de la Mañana.


Arti Savchenko
Film Director
Israel

Arti Savchenko is an Israeli filmmaker who was born in Chernihiv, Ukraine. He graduated from Tel-Aviv Minshar School of Art with Honorable Mention in 2020. His graduate film "Vlada Goes to London" won 65 awards and has been screened at 120 international film festivals including Palm Springs, Tallinn Black Nights, and BendFilm. Arti has a background in music, theatre, writing, and worked as a script supervisor in several feature films that included Oscar-nominated actors. Arti is currently finishing his first feature-length script in Tel Aviv.

Carlos Camacho

Film Director

Mexico

Carlos Camacho, film director and creator of social media content. With more than a million followers across all his plataforms, he is responsible for disseminating cinematographic and television content to the Spanish-speaking audience. In turn, he was recognized for being the director of "Sara", a short film that won the audience award at the Aladerri International Film Festival 2022.


Claudia Murdoch
Producer

United States 


As a co-founder of Cup of Joe Film, Claudia has produced Peter Azen's feature film, Cacaya, and she was an Executive Producer on Natasha Kermani's sci-fi feature film, Imitation Girl. She is currently in post-production with the narrative feature film Sora, written and directed by April Xiong, a New York State Council on the Arts and the New York City Women’s Fund grant recipient. Claudia works as a Senior Human Resources Associate for the Jacob Burns Film Center, and she supports the organization’s artist-development programs.


Brent Kado

Artistic Director at Chicago Comedy Film Festival
United States


Brent Kado is content creator whose films, web series and commercials have played at top film festivals worldwide and have garnered him millions of online views.  He is artistic director at Chicago Comedy Film Festival, Actors on Script and LA Comedy Film Festival. Kado is also a professor at Columbia College. Most recently, Kado has founded a new talent management company, FlowFeel Arts. Visit Flowfeelfilms.com for all his information.


Erik Bradley

Top 40 radio programmer
United States

Erik Bradley is Brand Manager / Music Director in Chicago and is the recipient of more than thirty Music Director of the Year awards from every music industry publication as well as the Radio Music Awards.

In addition to music radio programming, Erik formerly was the manager of the electronic dance production crew Jump Smokers (Ultra Records recording artists). Jump Smokers produced remixes for countless major artists and toured all over the world.  Erik booked the talent lineup for over 50 legendary radio station concerts in Chicago, working with a who's who of pop music superstars in the process.


George Cederquist
Stage director
United States


George is the Artistic Director of Chicago Fringe Opera (called “the city’s alt-opera company” by the Chicago Tribune), which premieres operas in English including experiential, immersive, and site-specific works. Directing credits include WOYZECK, THE LONG CHRISTMAS DINNER and THE GREAT GOD PAN, as well as the company’s long-running hit show THE ROSINA PROJECT, a Hip-Hop adaptation of THE BARBER OF SEVILLE. Camera opera filmwork includes L’ASSASSINO for Resonance Works Pittsburgh and the award-winning CORSAIR for the Decameron Opera Coalition.
In addition, George has directed opera scenes at Wolf Trap Opera and Chautauqua Opera, and new productions with the Chicago Sinfonietta, Pittsburgh Opera, the Bay View Music Festival and Chicago Folks Operetta. An inspiring mentor, George is the Producing Artistic Director of Opera and Theatre at North Park University and has taught courses, masterclasses and guest lectures at Northwestern University, Roosevelt University, DePaul University, the University of Illinois and CCM.

A recipient of two American Prizes in Directing, George’s production of SILENT NIGHT was chosen as a winner of Opera America’s 2013 Director-Designer competition. As one of ten Americans to receive the 2011 German Chancellor Fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, George served as a Regieassistent at the Staatstheater Darmstadt. George’s training includes residencies with Pittsburgh Opera, the Merola Opera Program, and Wolf Trap Opera, and an improvisation intensive at the Annoyance Theatre. He holds an MFA in Directing from Northwestern University and a BA in Theatre Studies and English from Yale University. George is a member of Steep Theatre Company and the American Guild of
Musical Artists, and a dual US-UK citizen.

To learn more about George, visit gjcederquist.com.

Jim Farmer
Festival director 

United States


Jim Farmer is the festival director of Out On Film, Atlanta’s LGBTQ film festival. He has overseen Out On Film since 2008 and has helped lead the organization to become an Oscar® qualifying film festival in the Live Action Short category. Earlier this year, Out On Film was named as the top film festival in the nation by the readers of USA Today/10 Best. Farmer has served on film festival juries across North America. Named as the 2019 Business Man of the Year from the Out Georgia Business Alliance, Farmer has been named to Atlanta Magazine’s Atlanta 500 Most Powerful City Leaders list in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023.  As well, Farmer is an award-winning arts reporter for various publications across the U.S. He lives in Avondale Estates, GA with his husband, Craig, and dog Douglas.


Jitse de Graaf
Film director
Netherlands


Jitse de Graaf  (21) is a Dutch documentary filmmaker. His debut documentary Bloody Tradition - Agree to Disagree about the pilot whale slaughter on the Faroe Islands was an instant success at many film festivals around the world. The counter now stands at 16 prizes and his next documentary 'How to Handle the Wolf' will be released soon. He made the two documentaries together with fellow jury member Martijn Kramer. With his journalistic approach he creates an objective picture of the subject. In this way he tries to remove polarization and bring people closer together.


John Capo
Professor at Lycoming College
United States


John Capo is a professor at Lycoming College in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, where he teaches courses in entertainment industry promotion, advertising, public relations, and related topics. He founded FEARnyc, New York City's biggest horror film festival, and co-founded The NYC Drone Film Festival, the world's first film festival dedicated to movies shot by drones, sponsored by NBC News and GE. He is a member of The Academy of Interactive & Visual Arts and a past winner of the New York Television Festival Pitch Contest.

Jon Gann
Film Producer and Director
United States


Jon Gann is a film producer and director, creating award-winning commercial, documentary and narrative films since 2000. His most recent award-winning productions include the feature documentary "Karen Carpenter: Starving for Perfection", exploring the singer's career and struggle with an eating disorder through her friends and never-heard recordings, and the short documentary, "Miss Alma Thomas: A Life in Color," detailing the incredible life of the DC-based Black Woman abstractionist painter.

Jon has been a force in the film festival world, having created, consulted with and fostered dozens of events around the globe. He is the Founder of DC Shorts, a non-profit organization championing short filmmaking, and the creator of the DC Shorts Film Festival, one of the country’s premier short film showcases. Jon is also a founding Board Member and former Executive Director of the Film Festival Alliance, the first organization to professionalize the festival space. 

His books are staples for filmmakers and events organizers alike. “Behind the Screens: Programmers Reveal How Film Festivals Really Work” examines how programmers and organizers curate, collect, watch and select films for their festivals, with frank insights reveal the inner-workings of an industry that is often misunderstood. His follow-up tome, “So You Wanna Start a Film Festival,” explores the trials and tribulations of starting a new event, with lessons from both for- and non-profit festivals.

Jon has received the Television and Internet Video Association’s (TIVA) Community Partner Award, has been recognized by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities as an Artists’ Fellow. He has presented at over 120 universities, film organizations and film festivals worldwide, and has spoken at the International Film Festival Summit, Art House Convergence, and TEDxWDC. Jon has recently finished 10-years as the senior Advisory Board member at George Mason University’s School of Film & Video Studies. 

Jonah Koslofsky
Film director

United States


Jonah Koslofsky is a filmmaker and film writer living in Chicago. He has written extensively about the works of David Lynch and Philip Seymour Hoffman, and he makes narrative short films about relationships. His last project, "In You, I'm Lost," was the 2022 winner of the Aladerri International Film Festival prize for Best Illinois Short Film. 

Komeil Soheili

Film director, writer & journalist

Iran

Komeil Soheili, is an award winning Iranian film director and producer. He graduated with an MA in Cultural Studies from the University of Tehran before embarking on an inspiring journey of backpacking around the world for over five years.

Soheili has collaborated with a number of global networks, such as BBC, National Geographic, CNN, and Business Insider. His films have been screened on over hundred film festivals around the world, earning him prestigious awards such as the NAFF award at the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (Bifan) and the Golden Kapok Award at GZDocs. In addition to his filmmaking prowess, Komeil is an author, having written an instructional book on cinema and a book documenting his global ethnographic travels. Komeil has also served as a jury member at esteemed film festivals including the Busan International Short Film Festival in South Korea and the Meihodo International Film Festival in Japan. Komeil is the founder of Yooran Film, an independent film company based in South Korea.

Kristen McCabe

Actor & Producer

United States

Kristen is a midwestern girl who — to the dismay of her parents — was born with the heart of an actor. Her professional career began in Australia with film, national commercials, television, and theatre. While living in the Land Down Under, Kristen also worked for some of Australia’s biggest production and post-production companies. Upon moving to Chicago, Kristen combined her love of acting, marketing, and a good spreadsheet, and has produced eight short films. To date, they have earned over 45 laurels, including nine Best Comedy wins. Kristen is passionate about furthering women in film and has earned eight Best Acting awards. You can see Kristen’s work or get in touch at www.kristenmccabe.org 

Laurence Gagne-Fregeau

Writer, film director & producer

Canada

Theatre being her main background, Laurence is interested in the particularities of cinema, in all genres spectrum. From this curiosity emerges a first fictional short film "Parvis" which she scripts, produces, directs and edits in 2021. The following year, she directs the documentary short film "Cherry", which she also produces, directs photography, records the sound and edits. This artist is moved by human struggles, exchanges and interactions. She strives to contribute to an emphatic and kind dialogue within society.

Lisa Rose

Festival Director

Australia

Lisa was appointed as Queer Screen’s Festival Director in May 2017, after serving four and half years on the not for profit charities Board of Directors, including stints as Membership Director, Vice-President and President.

She was a founding board director of Queer Screen Film Fest who’s 10th edition will hit Sydney screens in August and curated her 6th Mardi Gras Film Festival in its 30th year in February 2023.

During her time at Queer Screen, the organisation has launched two industry initiatives to help fund Australian LGBTIQ+ films with the Queer Screen Completion Fund and Queer Screen Pitch Off awarding 30 projects $192,000 since their inception.

A passionate believer in giving voice to all forms of queer entertainment, Lisa is focused on showcasing and championing diversity and is also known for her somewhat amusing film introductions and her love of Australian Rules Football.

Martijn Kramer

Film director
Netherlands

Martijn Kramer (21) is a Dutch documentary filmmaker. In recent years Martijn Kramer has developed into an objective and critical journalistic documentary maker. With his documentaries Bloody Tradition - Agree to Disagree and How to Handle the Wolf - which he made with Jitse de Graaf, he made productions about polarized human-animal subjects. Despite this, he has also developed a passion for the game of football in his life. In the future he wants to combine his love of sports with making powerful documentaries.

Maya Ochoa
Film programmer

Mexico

Maya Ochoa is passionate about cinephilia, media culture, and film audiences. In particular, her interest is in reshaping how the public interacts with cinema from different social and cultural approaches in a much more globalized world. She has worked in a variety of roles at different film festivals including Sundance, Tribeca, Toronto, True/False Film Fest, Camden Film Fest, Los Cabos Film Fest, Ambulante, and many more. In addition to her programming roles, she is a freelance film development consultant and occasionally writes film reviews.

T.C. De Witt
Writer & film director

United States

T.C. De Witt is a multi-awarded writer/director of the feature films Friday the 13th Vengeance, A Christmas Sunset, and The Demon Detective. Originally from Wisconsin and now based in Los Angeles. His life has been devoted to the arts since he was a child. He’s been a stage performer, playwright, stand-up comic, film and television actor, radio DJ, podcaster, published author, recorded musician, and comic writer/illustrator. He is now a professional screenwriter and has been thriving for the past decade, regularly offering his talents to production studios in LA, Chicago, Milwaukee, and internationally. He’s provided content for Amazon Prime, Netflix, and several YouTube partners.

Xavier Diskeuve

Film director & producer

Belgium

Xavier Diskeuve is an Award Winning Director born in Belgium.


Filmography: La chanson-Chanson (2002, 22'), Mon cousin Jacques (2004, 28'), Révolution (2006, 16'), I Cannes get no (2008, 22'), Jacques a vu (2015, 85'), Uncle Maurice (2021, 22'), The Little Prodigy (Le Petit prodige) (2022, 22'), Domicile fixe (Sweet home) (2024, 22’).

Stephanie Ripstein

Talent Agent & international Manager

United States

Stephanie Ripstein founded S.K. Ripstein INC. in 2000. Since then, she has worked tirelessly on international screen projects in the United States (Hollywood), Mexico, Latin America, the United Kingdom, Spain and Italy.


She represents great and well known talent from various backgrounds, which have performed in productions such as Traffic, L.A. Confidential, Fear the Walking Dead, Rambo, Sicario, Soulmates, The Rommanoffs, New Order, Narcos, 007's Licence to Kill, Gomorrah, Monarch, Mission Impossible, Human Animals, Coyote, How to Survive Single, Barb & Star Go to Vista del Mar, No man's Land, La Casa de las Flores, Selva Trágica, The Mosquito Coast, Luis Miguel, Gringa and many more international and Hollywood projects. 


The most recent international achievements for her agency are booking the leading role in “Cry Macho”, directed and starred by Hollywood legend Clint Eastwood; a co-starring role in the apple TV series “Acapulco” starring Eugenio Derbez, two of her new actresses in the female leading roles the “Billy the Kid” series (Epix) and “La Gloria”, an independent feature film starring David Morse and Bill Heck. Another big achievement was booking one of her actors in a co-starring role in the upcoming movie  directed by Angelina Jolie, “Without Blood”, starring Salma Hayek.


S.K. Ripstein Inc. has been crossing geographic barriers and handling international entertainment since the year 2000. Both the diversity of Hispanics in the USA and other global trends have led to diverse Latin American cultures prosperity. The fact that Hispanics represent the fastest-growing group of movie theatre attendees in the USA has helped make S.K.Ripstein Inc. team a vital promotional tool for the entertainment industry.


Today Stephanie Ripstein's name is a benchmark for professionalism, dedication, passion for her work, dedication, and honesty. 

It is no coincidence that she is one of the most respected and sought after managers and now agents in the international art scene.


To learn more please visit www.skrpr.com

Alejandro Gonzalez

Festival Director

Key Dates 2023.png

News

Media Contact:
Alejandro Gonzalez
alejandro@aladerri.com

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - June 30, 2023



Aladerri International Film Festival key dates for the 2023 edition are as follows:


July 28, 2023 - Late entry categories submission deadline


August 1, 2023 – The Jury


August 18, 2023 – Short List


August 25, 2023 - Official Selections


September 1, 2023 – Nominations


September 22 – 24, 2023 – Film Festival


All dates for the Aladerri Film Fest 2023 are subject to change.


News

Media Contact:
Alejandro Gonzalez
alejandro@aladerri.com

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - September 2, 2022

Aladerri International Film Festival 2022

Nominees.


Nominees for Best Director

  • Fabrizio Rosso, "Somewhere on Earth"

  • James Hughes, "When the Rain Sets In"

  • Maria Brendle, "ALA KACHUU - Take and Run"

  • Martin Strange-Hansen, "On my mind"

  • Sheldon Chau, "In Max We Trust"


Nominees for Best Screenplay 

  • Fabrizio Rosso, "Somewhere on Earth"

  • James Hughes, "When the Rain Sets In"

  • Maria Brendle, "ALA KACHUU - Take and Run"

  • Martin Strange-Hansen, "On my mind"

  • Sheldon Chau, "In Max We Trust"


Nominees for Best Actor

  • Ethan Peck, "In Max We Trust"

  • Harold Fisch, "Tejano Night"

  • Nurbek Esengazy Uulu, "ALA KACHUU - Take and Run"

  • Rasmus Hammerich, "On my mind"

  • Toby Sebastian, "When the Rain Sets In"

Nominees for Best Actress

  • Alina Turdumamatova, "ALA KACHUU - Take and Run"

  • Camille Kane, "Somewhere on Earth"

  • Florence Howard, "When the Rain Sets In"

  • Hetty Heyting, "Stolen Kisses (Zoentjesdief)"

  • Jandat Djamanbaeva, "ALA KACHUU - Take and Run"

Tickets available here

Schedule available here

Alejandro Gonzalez

Festival Director

News

Media Contact:
Alejandro Gonzalez
alejandro@aladerri.com

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - August 26, 2022

Aladerri International Film Festival 2022

Official Selections.


Narrative Short Film

  • ALA KACHUU - Take and Run

  • Almost

  • As a reflex

  • Duplicitous Minds

  • In Another Life

  • In Max We Trust

  • May this day be

  • On my mind

  • Somewhere on Earth

  • Spade K

  • Stolen Kisses (Zoentjesdief)

  • Summer Dream

  • The little prodigy (Le Petit prodige)

  • These Final Hours

  • When the Rain Sets In


Documentary Short Film

  • Bloody Tradition - Agree to Disagree

  • Guardians of Paradise

  • Najil Aak

  • Olu

  • Rachel's Law


Animated Short Film

  • Annah la Javanaise

  • Bestia

  • Daisies and Sparrows

  • MORE

  • Red Gaia


Comedy Short Film

  • Forever Young

  • Kitchen Spaces

  • Pole Climb 

  • Remnants

  • What's So Scary?

LGBTQ+ Short Film

  • #NotMeAnymore

  • For I Am Dead

  • Parvis

  • Side Effects

  • To Embrace

Illinois Short Film

  • ENFERMO

  • Everlasting

  • Hidden Wings

  • In You, I'm Lost

  • Last Attic


Student Short Film

  • Baba Jee

  • My Grandpa Says He's An Alien

  • SARA

  • Tejano Night

  • Vlada Goes to London

Music Video 

  • Corsair

  • Glance

  • Heaven In Hell

  • May

  • SYMBIOSIS

Tickets available here

Schedule available here

Alejandro Gonzalez

Festival Director

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Media Contact:
Alejandro Gonzalez
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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - August 19, 2022

Aladerri International Film Festival Short List has been narrowed to 93 films from 45 Countries, of which 50 will earn Official Selections.

The films are listed below in alphabetical order by title:

"#NotMeAnymore", Kaspersilas Crystallando
"ALA KACHUU - Take and Run", Maria Brendle
"Almost", Paul-André Robin
"Amato", Romy
"An Encounter", Elena Bayona
"An Irish Goodbye", Tom Berkeley
"And So I Begin", Margarethe Baillou
"Aniyah", Shubhavi Arya
"Annah la Javanaise", Fatimah Tobing Rony
"Argent Glass (feat. Char)", Katsuyuki Nakanishi
"As a reflex", Alfonso Díaz
"Baba Jee", Basir Ahmed
"Bella", Seth D. Myers, Sarah Stolar
"Bestia", Hugo Covarrubias
"Bloody Tradition - Agree to Disagree", Jitse de Graaf, Martijn Kramer
"Corsair", George Cederquist
"Daisies and Sparrows", Ervin Han
"Dajla: cinema and oblivion", Arturo Dueñas Herrero
"Dog-Gone It!", Hunter James Cox
"Don't Cry", Hisham Zreiq
"Duplicitous Minds", Robert Rippberger
"ENFERMO", Ruben Ramirez
"Everlasting", Juan Alfonso Vela
"Fesito Goes to Market", Sheldon Christopher Noble
"FOLLOW THE ARROW", Marc Saez
"For I Am Dead", Patricia Delso Lucas
"Forever Young", Michel Arribehaute, Nicolas Arribehaute, Sacha Arribehaute, Robinson Arribehaute
"Glance", Lee Peterkin
"God in the Sky", Daniel Fox, Sean Peter Fox
"Guardians of Paradise", Ivan Maria Friedman
"Hawawshi", Waleed Bedour
"Heaven In Hell", Len Rosen
"Hidden Wings", Randy Bernales
"How to get lost in your own room", Jaehyun Park
"How to Meet 42nd Sheep", Yasu Tanaka
"In Another Life", Alkin Emirali
"In Max We Trust", Sheldon Chau
"In You, I'm Lost", Jonah Koslofsky
"Isolation", Soheil Mosharraf
"Kitchen Spaces", Patrick Brambert
"Last Attic", Charlie Bain
"MALLETS", Alberto Nacci
"May", Hart Ginsburg
"May this day be", jaehyun park
"Medea", 菲菲feifei 仲zhong
"MIDAS", Ben Meyer
"Misfit", Steve Segal
"MORE", Vaibhav Madhukar Piwlatkar
"My Grandma Matilde", Miguel Anaya Borja
"My Grandmother Is an Egg", Wu-Ching Chang
"My Grandpa Says He's An Alien", Ruohan (Eve) Ren, Zhenzhen (Rosy) Yue
"My Mom Wants to Kill Me", shuojia chen
"Najil Aak", David Díaz
"Nowhere To Escape", ZiYuan Wang
"Oh, Little Spark!", Charlie Lyon Budden
"Old Hag", Julie Rembauville, Nicolas Bianco-Levrin
"Olu", Grant Osum
"On my mind", Martin Strange-Hansen
"Oyun's Quest: Prologue", Jeasy Sehgal
"Parvis", Laurence Gagné-Frégeau
"Pole Climb", T.C. De Witt
"Rachel's Law", Cameron Ilan
"REALISTIC LOVE SONG - Jeremy Todd", Kylie Daniel
"Red Gaia", Udesh Chetty
"Reena Ki Kahani", Shred Shreedhar
"Remnants", Charleen Phelps, Sidartha Murjani
"SARA", Carlos Andres Camacho Nava
"Side Effects", Riccardo Costa
"Somewhere on Earth", Fabrizio Rosso
"Spade K", Junwei Han
"Spoon", Arthur Chays
"Stolen Kisses (Zoentjesdief)", Lidi Toepoel
"Summer Dream", Luan Dias
"Sweaty Balls", Jack Quint
"SYMBIOSIS", Nacci Alberto
"Tejano Night", Alexander Rosales
"The Creepers", Kasha Fauscett
"The Debater", Maya Miller
"The Dream Doctor", Jovan Antonio Gonzalez
"The Family Jewels", Enzo Destefani Espinosa
"The Flesh of Another", Jack Cosgriff
"The little prodigy (Le Petit prodige)", Xavier Diskeuve
"THE SINGLE FATHERHOOD FEELS OF COREY DEAN - Jeremy Todd", Kylie Daniel
"The West Virginian Starfish", Hyten Davidson, Tommy Martin
"There's an App for That", Ed Toolis
"These Final Hours", Lionel Coleman
"To Embrace", Tridip Kakoty
"Vlada Goes to London", Arti Savchenko
"WAVES", Alberto Nacci
"What's So Scary?", Andrew D Pringle
"When the Rain Sets In", James Hughes
"Whip Lord", David Kepner
"Zareen", Awais Awais A Bashir

Alejandro Gonzalez

Festival Director

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Media Contact:
Alejandro Gonzalez
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Chicago, IL - August 1, 2022

The Jury of the

Aladerri International Film Festival

2022 edition and its President unveiled


Anand Varadaraj Founder and Artistic Director of the Bengaluru International Short Film Festival, the only Academy Award® Qualifying Festival in India will be the President of the Jury of the Aladerri International Film Festival 2022 Edition. Together with twelve jury members, will select the winner of the Aladerri Award along with the winners of each Category of the 50 films in competition.


  

The Jury


Anand Varadaraj - President
Director, actor, producer
India


Jovanny Evans – Vice President
Film critic

United States

Matthew Postlethwaite
Actor, producer, screenwriter, songwriter
United Kingdom

Mouhssine Ennaimi
Emmy nominee director-producer
Turkey


Laura Alemán
Actress
Puerto Rico

Elham Wagdi
Actress 
Egypt


Rubén Garcerá
Film director
Spain


Yohann Gloaguen
Film director
France


Mohamed Kheidr
Film director 
Egypt


Isaias Perez
Actor, producer, screenwriter
United States


Alexis Jeannot
Film director
France
 
Eric Liberacki
Director, cinematographer
United States

Patricia Vazquez
Writer
Mexico




Founder and Artistic Director of the Bengaluru International Short Film Festival, the only Academy Award® Qualifying Festival in India.

Actor, producer and ex-President of Suchitra Film Society - 50 year old organization. He is now the Director of Suchitra Cine Academy, where works are underway to start a first of its kind Cinema School.  Anand is also the Trustee of the Centre for Film and Drama.

Additionally, Anand collaborates and mentors many independent filmmakers and producers for their new ventures.

His experience with cinema is global with several International cultural Forums in his repertoire, including curating of Film Festivals and also as Jury for organizations across the globe.

The members of the Jury


Jovanny Evans – Vice President
Film critic

United States

Originally from Guadalajara, Mexico, Jovanny Evans has called Chicago home since 2015. He received a degree in Media Art and Animation from the Art Institute of Portland and had previously studied Design at ITESO in Guadalajara. He is extremely passionate about film, TV and animation, and he’s very interested in the future of media and entertainment.

Currently he works for Univision Chicago as a Producer. His passion for film drove him to introduce movie segments to several of Univision's programming and has since become the film critic for the station and a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association.

His impressive style and unique ideas have landed him opportunities to promote major productions from studios like Disney, Warner Brothers, Sony Pictures, and Universal Pictures. On his segment Jovanny interviews A-list celebrities every week such as Halle Berry, Tom Cruise, and Anthony Hopkins, as well as Latino stars like Eugenio Derbez and Mauricio Ochmann. Jovanny is also invited to cover major local and national film industry events such as Sundance, SXSW, Cinema Con, San Diego Comic-Con, CLFF, and CIFF.

Jovanny produces weekly content that reaches thousands of film fanatics through TV, digital, and social media. With his unique style, charm, and personality, Jovanny is connecting Hollywood with the Hispanic audience. His segment ‘Movies con Jovanny’ air on Despierta Chicago and can also be seen in 18 Spanish-speaking countries on the morning newscast La Voz de la Mañana.


Matthew Postlethwaite
Actor, producer, screenwriter, songwriter
United Kingdom

Matthew Postlethwaite, Is an award winning Actor originally from England. He has spent the majority of his adult life In America. Matthew began acting from an early age training briefly at LAMDA, Yale, and eventually studying in the Master Class at Beverly Hills Playhouse for five years. He has also won awards for Acting, Producing, Screen Writing and Song Writing. He was named by BAFTA as The Actor to watch in the next coming years.

Recognized by the United Nations for The Great Artist. Matthew was the first person in his category to win a Hollywood Music In Media Award (2021) for Song writing: "Brave" from the Great Artist.

Mouhssine Ennaimi
Emmy nominee director-producer
Turkey


Mouhssine Ennaimi is an Emmy nominee director-producer based in Istanbul, Turkey. He is Executive Producer and the co-founder of the multi award-winning documentary series Off The Grid. Previously he was an investigative journalist, a field producer and a war correspondent. Originally from Paris, France, he lived in the Middle East and in South Asia for almost 15 years. He has spent more than a decade in hostile environments and war zones.

Mouhssine Ennaimi is also the author of “Slumboy”, a portrait of a Slumdog Millionaire type of hero living in Mumbai, and “The Strength to Say No”, a character-driven book about forced child-marriages in India.

Off The Grid is a character-driven documentary series covering global stories through personal journeys.


Laura Alemán
Actress
Puerto Rico


Born in Ponce, Puerto Rico and raised around the island, Laura Alemán began her artistic career at a very early age. Working with her family in theater plays, tv & music recording studios, she fell in love with acting, singing and dancing. She trained in numerous specialized schools and submerged fully in her craft.


Laura received a BFA in dramatic arts at Hunter College in New York, and a BA in Film

Production at the Sacred Heart University of Puerto Rico. She was also awarded a scholarship to further develop her craft at Fundación José Ortega y Gasset in Toledo, Spain.


Laura has been the lead in films that transmitted in 225 cities around the world and has participated in more than 48 film productions. Her most recent projects include: The

System (Post Production), Casa Grande (Post Production), The Perfect Host (Post

Production), Extraterrestres (Amazon), Sol De Medianoche (HBO), Cleaners (Crackle) and Amor en 266 Millas (film premiered June, 2022 at Oscar Qualifying Festival Dances

With Films). She has won multiple awards for her work, including: Best Actress for her leading role in the short film "El Gran Elefante" at Cinefiesta International Film Festival, LUSCA Fantastic Film Fest and the Rincon International Film Festival.


Laura also formed part of the writer's room for the Series Santurce (pre-production) and is currently working on her first music album.


Elham Wagdi
Actress 
Egypt


Graduated from fine art college award winning actress, known for Tuk-tuk (2021) and Miss Universe Pageant (2009). Ex TV presenter at the most well-known Arab channel MBC, Owner and founder of Elham Wagdi Academy.


Rubén Garcerá
Film director
Spain


Born in the eighties, Rubén studied Fine Arts at the University of San Carlos (Valencia).

He has been professionally dedicated to stop motion animation as animator/modelmaker for 6 years.


2021 - Release of Re-Animal (stop motion short film). He made 99 % of this short film by himself. 13 minutes long.

2018 - CURRENT - Workshop manager (modelmaker) at Inspiranimation Studio (Valencia) working for Ubisoft, Hasbro, Heliocare, etc.

2016-2017 – Children’s series for Happy Surprises YouTube channel.

2014-2015 - Advertising pieces for various clients (video game studio, digital platforms).



Yohann Gloaguen
Film director
France


Yohann Gloaguen is a french director. After graduating from university in Canada, he revealed his talent as an author and director in his first multi-awarded short film "It's in the air". He then wrote and directed four other short films, including «Parade» in 2020, which has also been selected and released in many festivals around the world. He also contributed to the writing of the film «Bloody oranges» by Jean-Christophe Meurisse, in the official selection at the Cannes Film Festival in 2021. He is currently preparing his first feature film.


Mohamed kheidr
Film director 
Egypt


At the young age of 14, Kheidr kick started his career as a story board artist and carved his way into graphic design. In 2007, Kheidr decided to shift gears and delved into studying film making at the New York film academy. He dedicated his career to shifting the industry's perspective on limited budget productions by creating top notch quality artwork and designs.

He established his own production house overlooking, executing and creating a vast number of projects which involved film directing, cinematography, script writing, executive production, photography and music composing.


Isaias Perez
Actor, producer, screenwriter
United States


Isaias Perez is an award winning filmmaker born in Texas and raised in Puerto Rico but now living in Chicago. He graduated from Northeastern Illinois University with a Bachelor degree in Theater Communication and Media. Isaias discovered his passion for film when he was six years old. He used to save every penny given to him from his parents to go to the movies. He wrote his first play when he was twenty two years old for his local church which led him to write professional theater, film and radio series. His works include Caos (Trébol Productions) Joan of Arc (The Sigman Brothers Theater Co.), Happiness and Tears (Gorilla Tango Theater Co.), Not For Sale (Urban Theater Co.). !Que Gente mi Gente! (Family Bridges), The Secrets of Santa Monica (Family Bridges) and the award winning short film The Audition (Mobula and Aladerri Enterprises).


Alexis Jeannot
Film director
France


Alexis Jeannot was born in France in 1987. After studying environmental chemistry, he has worked for 4 years in the French Guyana on air pollution. He then studied videography at École Agnès Varda in Brussels, while also working as a videographer. On the mean time he realized 3 shorts movies:


Our Ghost Rivers / short documentary / 15 minutes / 2019

Roule Bécane / short fiction film / 20 minutes / 2021

Story of a Narse / short documentary / 30 minutes / 2022


Eric Liberacki
Director, cinematographer
United States


Eric Liberacki found his start in Detroit, Michigan. During the day he would shoot movies on MiniDV tape, and at night he would make experimental 16mm films in the basement of the Detroit Film Center. After studying Cinematography, Eric began working freelance as Camera Operator and Assistant Camera while shooting projects. He shot the feature films Your Holy Eyes, Redemption Way, The Pale Man, A Chance in the World, and Rucker along with numerous short films. The projects he has lensed have played at Chicago International, Cleveland International, New Directors Showcase at the Directors Guild of America, and many others.


In 2015, Eric directed his first short film: “ANTI-BODY.” The film played numerous festivals, starting in Eric’s hometown before moving to Chicago, and across the rest of the country. Eric's feature film debut The Lurker had its world premiere at Cinepocalypse. Shot in Chicago, the film centers on a group of high school students stalked by a maniacal killer. It stars Scout Taylor-Compton (Rob Zombie's Halloween I & II, The Runaways) and Naomi Grossman (American Horror Story). The Lurker was release by Indican Pictures last month and is available on demand and dvd via Walmart, Family Video, Redbox, on other streaming platforms.


Patricia Vazquez
Writer
Mexico


Patricia Vázquez studied a degree in Hispanic Literature at the Universidad

Autónoma de Aguascalientes and Master English as a Second Language in

Interactive College of Technology in Morrow, GA. Her work has been published in state and national anthologies and has participated in festivals and poetry readings in Mexico, Spain and Cuba. She obtained the PECDA in Aguascalientes 2015-2016, has published two poetry books; Diario de una poeta recién casada, (LunaMía Ediciones, 2017) y La novela de las mujeres murciélago, (Espina Dorsal, 2022).

Alejandro Gonzalez

Festival Director

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Media Contact:
Alejandro Gonzalez
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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - August 13, 2021

Aladerri International Film Festival 2021 Nominees. 

Due to the ongoing pandemic and its changing landscape, the 2021 Aladerri International Film Festival will be a hybrid of digital and physical screenings September 17 - 19, 2021.


Narrative Short Film

A Father's Job 
All blood runs red 
Barrier
ECCE MATER 
Feeling Through
Grooming
Morella, My Wife
No Internet
Snorrie (Mustachio)
So that nothing changes
The Great Artist
Through the Wall
TukTuk
Virtuoso
White Eye


Documentary Short Film

Before I Die
Connecting the Dots
La Cobija de Maricela 
Missing Babies 
Tremors: Making Perfection


Animated Short Film

Ivet and Michuco
Mila
NONNO MATTEO
Re-Animal
The Boy and The Mountain


Comedy Short Film

Bandwidth
Honor Among Thieves
HypocriCity
Monkey's Blood
UNCLE MAURICE

LGBTQ+ Short Film

Cosmopolitan
Eve
From A to Q
Jesse James
Parade

Illinois Short Film

Confesion
Debut
Dime Jar
The Audition
The Target


Student Short Film

HORIZONS
Mother's Day 
Roule Bécane
The Valravn
Untouchable

Best Music Video 

Flux
Keralam-The Signature of God
Krunk 
RAISED IN BLOOD - Free Range Youth
Straight Into The Ocean

Best Screenplay  

Isaías Pérez - "The Audition"
Frank Christian Wagner - "A Father's Job"
Doug Roland - "Feeling Through"
Sherif Abdel Hadyb &  Mohamed Kheidr - "TukTuk"
Tomer Shushan - "White Eye"

Best Actor

Matthew Postlethwaite - "The Great Artist"
Vincent Pagé - "Uncle Maurice" 
Robert Tarango - "Feeling Through"
Charles-Émile Leblanc - "Through the Wall "
Daniel Gad - "White Eye"

Best Actress

Dorothee Frauenlob - "A Father's Job"
Eva Casadio Tarabusi - "Ecce Matter" 
Chiara Della Rossa - "Morella, My Wife"
Évelyne Rompré - "Through the Wall"
Elham Wagdi - "TukTuk"

Best Director

Doug Roland - "Feeling Through"
Alessandro C. Masella - "Morella, My Wife"
Indrani Pal-Chaudhuri - "The Great Artist"
Mohamed Kheidr - "TukTuk"
Tomer Shushan - "White Eye"

Tickets and schedule will be announced on August 27, 2021

Alejandro Gonzalez

Festival Director

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Media Contact:
Alejandro Gonzalez
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Chicago, IL - August 4, 2021

Aladerri International Film Festival Short List has been narrowed to 86 films from 69 Countries, of which 45 will earn nominations.


The films are listed below in alphabetical order by title:


"2 Down" Sam Farage

"A Father's Job" Frank Christian Wagner

"A jag in the duplex system" Valerie Knill

"A Piglet's Tale" Fabrizio Gammardella

"A PILGRIMAGE INTO TIBET" Mark Gould

"All blood runs red " Paul Mignot

"Ascension" Andrei Kolokoltsev

"Bandwidth" Pat Battistini, Robert Francke

"Barrier" Niels Bourgonje

"Before I Die" Nakul Dev

"Bitterness" Renée Spatial

"CHECK, PLEASE ! FIRST SHIFT" Elea Clair

"Confesion" Mafer Roussell

"Connecting the Dots" Doug Roland

"Cosmopolitan" Moran Nakar

"Deaf Reach: Hope for Pakistan" John E. Quatroche II

"Debut" Connor Hopkins

"Dime Jar" Randy Bernales

"ECCE MATER " Valentina Tomada

"Eve" Joe Solomon

"Feeling Through" Doug Roland

"Final Deathtination" Marika Tamura

"Flux" DFTCNT

"Fragile" Hakim Mao

"From A to Q" Emmalie El fadli

"Gigantes" Christian Ivan Perez Gomez

"Goodnight Spa." Emilio Gallego, Jesus Gallego

"Greta’s lyrics" Fabio Teriaca

"Grooming" Francisco Yélamos Martín

"Hesitating (Vai não Vai)" Rafael Pessin

"Honey Drop" Brandon Lopez

"Honor Among Thieves" Justin Eugene Evans

"HORIZONS" Sean Treacy

"HypocriCity" Sean Muir

"I AM " Jerry Hoffmann

"It's all in the sauce" Marcus A Olsson

"Ivet and Michuco" Juan Ignacio Meneu Oset

"Jericho" Tiffany Joy Taylor

"Jesse James" Josef Steiff

"Keralam - The Signature of God" Thomas Sebastian

"Kings & Queens" Elmer J. Howard

"Krunk" Francesco Siro Brigiano

"La Cobija de Maricela " Juan Diego Ramirez

"LOLI " Fernanda Tapia

"Losing Grace" Athena Mandis

"Mephis 21 - The Shadows" Alix Makhloufi

"Mila" Cinzia Angelini

"Missing Babies" Mouhssine Ennaimi

"Monkey's Blood" Sam Hartshorn

"Morella, My Wife" Alessandro C. Masella

"Mother's Day " Patryk Kaflowski

"Night Encounter" Lei Jia

"No Internet" Kyle Lawrence

"NONNO MATTEO" Fabio Teriaca, Juan Pablo Etcheverry

"Parade" Yohann Gloaguen

"Pillow" Isabel Mazzolini

"RAISED IN BLOOD" Kylie Daniel

"Re-Animal" Rubén Garcerá

"Retribution" Mel Orpen

"Roule Bécane" Jeannot Alexis

"Shojon - Theorem" Craig Heathcote

"Slow Burn" Caleb Kurowski

"Snorrie (Mustachio)" Victoria Warmerdam

"So that nothing changes" Francescu Artily

"Straight Into The Ocean" Carolyn Laws

"Swipe" Niels Bourgonje

"Swiped Out" Karan Choudhary

"The Audition" Eric Liberacki

"The Boy and The Mountain" Santiago Aguilera, Gabriel Monreal

"THE CAVE" Kylie Daniel

"The Gate" Kino Jin

"The Great Artist" Indrani Pal-Chaudhuri

"The Sacrificed Ones" Jordan Pavlik

"The Target" Jakub Wasowski

"The Valravn" Spencer Hetherington

"Through the Wall" Larissa Corriveau

"Tremors: Making Perfection" Matthew Snead

"Trillo & Suede " Jonathan Geffner

"TukTuk" Mohamed Kheidr

"Unbroken: Saving Belize's Jaguar Corridor" Brandon Thompson

"UNCLE MAURICE" Xavier Diskeuve

"Untouchable" Pi Chengdong

"Veyil Vizhave " Shanoob Karuvath

"Virtuoso" Nico Amedeo

"White Eye" Tomer Shushan

"Zone of Silence - Haunted World" Cindy Lynn Carter


Nominations for for the 2021 edition will be announced on Friday, August 13, 2021.

Alejandro Gonzalez

Festival Director


The Aladerri International Film Festival announced key dates for the 2021 edition. Aladerr

News

Media Contact:
Alejandro Gonzalez
alejandro@aladerri.com

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - July 19, 2021

The Aladerri International Film Festival announced key dates for the 2021 edition.

News

Media Contact:
Alejandro Gonzalez
alejandro@aladerri.com

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - July 28, 2020

Aladerri International Film Festival Announces Move to Virtual Format in 2020

The Aladerri International Film Festival has shifted to a virtual model for this year’s event, which will take place from August 28-30, 2020. This year’s festival will be the most accessible version to audiences yet, and both filmmakers and film lovers will be given unique opportunities to connect and enjoy digital screenings, filmmaker Q&A’s, musical performances and other original content online.


The festival altered its format to ensure it could produce a safe and enjoyable experience for all attendees in light of evolving health & safety protocols related to the coronavirus.


The virtual festival will feature more than 50 Short films and Music Videos from around the World, Q&A’s and other exclusive content.


Full lineup will be announced on our Official Website www.aladerrifilmfest.com, and social media August 1st.


The winners of the Best Short Film in each Category and The Aladerri Award for a week-long theatrical engagement in Los Angeles will be announced August 31st.



Alejandro Gonzalez

Festival Director

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