Jury

John Petrakis (chair)

John Petrakis, a native Chicagoan, has been a professional film critic for 25 years, including ten-year stints at the Chicago Tribune and Christian Century Magazine. His views on cinema have been aired on WTTW's Chicago Tonight and WGN Radio's Extension 720. John teaches screenwriting at the School of the Art Institute and the University of Chicago. He lives in the West Ridge neighborhood with his wife, Carolyn, and son, Lucas.

Read John's awards ceremony presentation speech.

Zbigniew Banas

Zbigniew Banas is a film critic, teacher, translator, and a radio and television journalist. He holds a B.A. degree from the University of Chicago and Sc.M degree from Brown University.

Over the years, his reviews have appeared in Chicago Reader, Boston Phoenix, New City and other publications. He is affiliated with WPNA (1490 AM) and WNVR (1030 AM) radio stations in Chicago, as well as Polvision TV (Ch. 24.4).

He is currently a Lecturer in International Film at Loyola University in Chicago. He also teaches film-related classes for the Road Scholar Program and at Oasis Centers, conducts film discussions at Talk Cinema and Sinai Congregation, and in the past has lectured at Columbia College in Chicago.

In 1989, he was the co-founder of the Polish Film Festival of America. In 2010, he was a juror at the Chicago International Film Festival. He has been accredited at over 20 film festivals, including Cannes (for the past 24 years), Berlin, Toronto, and Sundance. He is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association.