Oak Park, IL Film Festival

06/23/2026

We are absolutely thrilled to announce that Tavi Gevinson will be joining the Oak Park IL Film Festival for a special video interview ahead of the Hollywood feature she stars in, screening at Lake Theatre on September 16, 2026.

Raised right here in Oak Park, Tavi has been a creative force since she was a kid. She launched the cult favorite fashion blog Style Rookie at just 11 years old, founded the iconic Rookie Magazine at 15, and quickly became one of the most distinctive voices of her generation.

From there, she expanded her reach into acting, taking on celebrated roles on Broadway (Kenneth Lonergan's This Is Our Youth, The Crucible opposite Saoirse Ronan and Ben Whishaw), in television (Scream Queens, Gossip Girl), and in film, where she's continued to bring her singular sensitivity and intelligence to every role.

She's a writer, an editor, an actress, and proof that Oak Park raises some seriously remarkable artists.

🤔 Now for the fun part: Can you guess which Hollywood film she's in that's coming to Lake Theatre? Drop your best guess in the comments. 🎥🍿

The official film announcement is coming very soon, so stay tuned. You won't want to miss this one.

06/21/2026

Timothy S. was walking down a sidewalk of downtown Oak Park in September 2024 when he saw a sign that spun him 360 degrees in place.

A film festival – the 1st Oak Park Illinois Film Festival – right in his neighborhood! He had to know more, and because of that chance encounter he attended every screening of that inaugural event.

Following the 1st OPILFF, Timothy joined the OPILFF board and currently serves as the secretary.

He’s so excited to share the coming event with the local film-loving community and gives a hearty recommendation to following the signs we see on the street.

A lifelong lover of cinema, theater, and history (and 9-year resident and lover of Oak Park). Timothy is always looking for chances to bring those passions together.

By day, he studies dental biomaterials at the University of Illinois Chicago.

06/20/2026

Don't miss the early bird deadline! Head over to https://filmfreeway.com/OakParkILFilmFestival to submit before June 30!

06/17/2026

Congrats to our raffle winners and thank you to everybody who entered. We are humbled by the excitement and support of the Oak Park IL community!

06/11/2026

We love a good step and repeat backdrop here at OPILFF,

almost as much as we love looking back at past year's festival photos!

Even more archive photos from the past years can be found on our website!

We can't wait to make more festival memories this September!

06/10/2026

06/08/2026

We had a blast at Day in our Village! Thank you volunteers, board members, and the Oak Park IL community!

06/07/2026

Eric is a founding member of the Oak Park Illinois Film Festival. 🎬

Eric values the opportunity to help establish a namesake Film Festival for Oak Park. One that has a good chance of longevity, serve as one of the many hallmark events for the community, and to further platform Oak Park IL and all the talented people connected to it.

With a bachelor’s in comedy and a master’s in journalism focusing on multimedia, he learned videography, photography, and editing skills that he now uses in his business to create affordable multimedia for small businesses.

When it comes to movies, he enjoys those from the Golden Age of Hollywood.
As a fan of the music of that era, he became interested in the production capabilities of that time period- finding it fascinating how a older films were able to create compelling stories despite having less to work with at the time.

06/07/2026

Who's ready for day in our Village? See you tomorrow. :)

06/03/2026

🎬 Filmmakers, this is your sign!!

Submissions for the Oak Park IL Film Festival are OPEN on FilmFreeway!

https://filmfreeway.com/OakParkILFilmFestival ⬅️⬅️

Whatever you've been working on, whatever genre, whatever budget, we want to see it!

Our 2026 festival is accepting submissions across all of the following categories:

🎥 Narrative Feature (over 40 minutes)
🎥 Narrative Short (under 40 minutes)
🎥 Documentary
🎥 Music Video
🎥 Animation
🎥 Teen Filmmakers (ages 13 to 18)
🎥 Young Filmmakers (ages 6 to 12)

From bold features to scrappy shorts, deeply personal docs to fever dream music videos, to hand drawn animation stories that are told by the next generation of OP filmmakers.
Every Oak Park IL voice belongs on our screen!

The only condition is that your film must have an Oak Park IL connection.

An Oak Park Connection can be:

- Producer or Director lives in Oak Park
- An actor that works in Oak Park
- Crew member grew up in Oak Park
- A location in Oak Park
- Film content related to Oak Park

Wondering if you have an Oak Park connection? Shoot us a DM and ask!

Head to FilmFreeway to submit your film today. Don't sit on that hard drive any longer. The world needs your work.

🎟️ Indie Film Festival weekend: September 19 & 20, 2026

📅 Submissions open through July 31