More than 170 fans of independent film converged on the Midway Drive-In Theatre in Sterling, Ill., for the first-annual Northwest Illinois Film Festival on Aug. 26. Most came from the Northwest Illinois region, some from Chicagoland, and one flew in from Los Angeles, according to the festival organizer, the Northwest Illinois Film Office (NIFO). The event was a celebration of Illinois indie filmmakers, featuring 11 short films — the night’s theme was “Shorts-A-Palooza.” “The feedback from both the audience and the filmmakers was very positive,” NIFO executive director Gary Camarano... Read More

Several Quad-Cities artists were honored this past weekend with awards at the 29th-annual Iowa Motion Picture Association (IMPA) award ceremony. Due to Covid-19, the Aug. 8 event was held online this year. The IMPA recognized outstanding creative and technical achievement in Iowa’s moving image production industry, in all its forms. “Sons & Daughters of Thunder,” a docudrama produced by Moline-based Kelly and Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films, received seven awards, out of eight IMPA nominations. It won five top Awards of Excellence: Best Live Action Entertainment — Long Form... Read More

We are starting our own Virtual Cinema where local filmmakers can showcase their work to the Quad Cities! Are you a filmmaker that wants in on this?! Email QuadCities.com’s Creative Content Producer Tristan Tapscott at tristan@tristantapscott.com!  Read More

It was a THUNDEROUS night at the Iowa Motion Picture Awards, as Kelly and Tammy Rundle’s film, “Sons And Daughters of Thunder” took seven big wins out of eight nominations! “Congratulations, to those who shined in front of the camera; to our tireless crew and volunteers behind the camera; to our historic sites; to our 50+ extras; to our contributors and our supporters who made it all possible; to Kent Hawley who always believed; and to Earlene Hawley who created a beautiful play about this little known true story and laid the foundation for the film. Thank you, EVERYONE, who... Read More

We are starting our own Virtual Cinema where local filmmakers can showcase their work to the Quad Cities! Are you a filmmaker that wants in on this?! Email QuadCities.com’s Creative Content Producer Tristan Tapscott at tristan@tristantapscott.com!  Read More

Saturday in the Arts is a comprehensive, in-depth feature on a topic, trend or personality impacting the Quad-Cities, posted every Saturday morning on QuadCities.com.   The day before the state of Illinois entered Phase 4 of reopening, affecting his longtime acting home of Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse, Moline’s Tom Walljasper was filming scenes as a farmer in small-town Iowa. A full-time actor, Walljasper had not acted since “Kinky Boots” closed at Circa in March, and both he and his wife Shelley were cast in small parts for a TV pilot, “Complete Bull,” filmed in June and July (with... Read More