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2015 Onion City Experimental Film And Video Festival: Award Winners

By Mike Everleth ⋅ February 26, 2015

Text logo for Onion City Festival logo

The 26th annual Onion City Experimental Film and Video Festival — which was held last month on January 28-31 in Chicago, Illinois — has announced their trio of award winners, plus a host of Honorable Mentions. Judges for this year’s fest were three local curators: Christy Lemaster of The Nightingale, independent filmmaker/curator Jesse Malmed and Erin Nixon of Gallery 400.

Taking home the top prize was media remix artist Jesse McLean for her film I’m in Pittsburgh and It’s Raining, which is an “experimental portrait of a famous Hollywood actress’s stand-in and body double.”

Second Place prize went to Tânia Dinis for They’re Not Fava Beans, They’re Scarlet Runner Beans; and the Third Place prize went to Fern Silva for Wayward Fronds.

Honorable Mentions include Josh Weissbach, Philip Hoffman and Harun Farocki.

The full lineup of winners is below.

Also, in other Onion City news, longtime Festival Director and Programmer Patrick Friel has announced that he is stepping down after 15 amazing years. The Underground Film Journal has been happy to know Patrick these past few years and we think he has put on one world-class, astounding celebration of experimental media. His successor has big, big shoes to fill. We wish you all the best, Patrick!

Here’s the full list of winners:

First Place
I’m in Pittsburgh and It’s Raining, dir. Jesse McLean

Second Place
They’re Not Fava Beans, They’re Scarlet Runner Beans, dir. Tânia Dinis

Third Place
Wayward Fronds, dir. Fern Silva

Honorable Mentions (alphabetical by title)
Aged, dir. Philip Hoffman
The Innocents, dir. Jean-Paul Kelly
Iterations, dir. Gregg Biermann
Model Fifty-One Fifty-Six, dir. Josh Weissbach
Sauerbruch Hutton Architects, dir. Harun Farocki
A Symptom, dir. Ben Balcom

Festival Judges:
Christy LeMaster (Nightingale Cinema)
Jesse Malmed (Videomaker/Artist/Curator)
Erin Nixon (Gallery 400, UIC)