The awards jury is composed of internationally recognized filmmakers, artists and critics who are dedicated to independent and experimental film as an art form. The jurors' function is to view all entries programmed in the public screenings of films-in-competition and to distribute the awards money. Decisions regarding awards and the distribution of prize monies are the prerogative of the Awards Jury and its decisions are final.

In the spirit of tradition and a shared desire to stretch our minds, we thank our jurors David Gatten, Deborah Stratman, and Brooke Keesling for their time, creativity, and contributions.

David Gatten

Gatten explores the link between the printed word and moving images. He is at work on a series of nine films about letters, lovers, books, ghosts and the Byrd family of Virginia during the early 18th century. His work is included in the permanent collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York and the Art Institute of Chicago, as well as in private collections in the U.S., Canada and Japan. His newest work "Film for Invisible Ink case no. 71: Base-plus-Fog" premiered on October 2006 at Lincoln Center in the 44th New York Film Festival.

Deborah Stratman

Stratman is a Chicago-based experimental and documentary filmmaker. She is presently working on three new films about, respectively, disappearance, utopian failures and the culture of elevated threat. A Guggenheim and Fulbright fellow, she has screened at the Whitney Biennial, Sundance, Viennale and Rotterdam film festivals. She teaches at the University of Illinois in Chicago.

Brooke Keesling

Keesling, an animator, filmmaker and educator, is currently Professor of Animation at Detroit's College of Creative Studies. She is the creator of "Boobie Girl," one of the films named by the Mackinac Center in a report that accused AAFF of showing obscene material in violation of state funding rules. Keesling won both an Academy Award ® and an Emmy Award ® for the best animated film by a student in 2001 for "Boobie Girl." Her work has been featured in more than 80 film festivals world wide, including the AAFF.