Rubin Sandoval and Rufina Sandoval Guerrero in "A Bridge too Far from Hero Street".
The First Annual Northwest Illinois Film Festival showcased two new documentaries from Fourth Wall Films, Riding the Rails to Hero Street and A Bridge too Far from Hero Street, on Wednesday evening, August 26th at the Midway Drive-In Theatre in Sterling, Illinois.
Fourth Wall Films producers Kelly and Tammy Rundle joined a number of other filmmakers for the evening celebration of independent filmmaking in Illinois. Approximately 80 cars drove in for the festival with attendees practicing safe distancing and following pandemic rules.
"It was a magical evening seeing the two new Hero Street documentaries light up the screen," said producer Tammy Rundle. "It was our first drive-in film exhibition and rather thrilling!"
"The Northwest Illinois Film Office is dedicated to assisting film projects find the right locations, navigate local regulations and State film incentives, and identify local cast, crew and supply chain. The film office also promotes Illinois filmmakers and their projects through events like our annual Northwest Illinois Film Festival," said Gary Camarano, Executive Director.
Gary Camarano envisioned a two-day festival featuring feature-length films and short films in multiple venues in several NW Illinois cities, but COVID derailed that plan.
"Gary was determined to have a safe film festival for attendees to enjoy, and adapted the 'plan' to showcase short films produced by independent Illinois filmmakers at the Midway Drive-In Theater. It was a great success," said director Kelly Rundle. "We are very gratified that our two new Hero Street documentaries were selected by invitation for the festival."
Only a block and a half long, Hero Street in Silvis, Illinois lost six young men in World War II and two in the Korean War, more than any other street in America of any size. Hero Street has provided over 100 American military service members since World War II. The Rundles’ Hero Street proposed ten-part documentary series, will explore the personal and family sagas behind each of the eight heroes and tell an unforgettable true story of American courage, character, and perseverance. Letters Home to Hero Street (co-produced with WQPT) was the first film created for the series, and it received a Mid-America Emmy-nomination. Letters Home is available with lesson plans to teachers nation-wide via the PBS Learning Media website.
The trailer of the Rundles' new award-winning docudrama Sons & Daughters of Thunder opened the evening festivities. Thunder won seven awards at the 29th Iowa Motion Picture Association's award ceremony on August 8th, including the Top Awards for Best Feature Film, Direction, Actor, Supporting Actress, Original Score and two Awards of Achievement for Best Actress and Editing. Based on the play by Earlene Hawley and Curtis Heeter, Sons & Daughters of Thunder tells the unforgettable true story of the first-in-the-nation 1834 emancipation debates led by firebrand abolitionist Theodore Weld in Cincinnati, Ohio, and their effect on a young Harriet Beecher Stowe’s views of slavery.
Through its fiscal sponsor the Moline Foundation, the Hero Street documentary film series received partial funding from the Regional Development Authority (RDA), Illinois Arts Council, the Illinois Humanities, Humanities Iowa, National Endowment for the Humanities, Quad City Arts Dollars—provided by Illinois Arts Council Agency, Hubbell-Waterman Foundation and John Deere, the Quad Cities Community Foundation, LULAC Iowa, Mexican American Veterans Association, the City of Silvis, and individual contributors. The project also received a production grant from the Moline Foundation. The views and opinions expressed by these films do not necessarily reflect the views of these organizations.
To order the DVD for Riding the Rails to Hero Street or A Bridge too Far from Hero Street or Fourth Wall Films' Emmy-nominated and award-winning film Letters Home to Hero Street (co-produced with WQPT), CLICK HERE!
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