Columbia Alums and Faculty to Screen Films at Chicago International Film Festival
Missy Hernandez, who recently won Best Horror Feature Script Award at the Nashville Film Festival, will have the short “Madrina” featured at the Chicago Film Festival. Hernandez directed the film, which she co-wrote with producer Miguel Silveira ’05. 
Alum Shiloh Tumo Washington ‘22 wrote and directed “Bailey’s Blues,” which will be screened at the Chicago International Film Festival. Columbia College Chicago will be well represented at this year’s 61st Chicago International Film Festival, with new work from faculty member Missy Hernandez and alum Miguel Silveira ’05 as well as graduate Shiloh Tumo Washington ’22. Their films will screen in the City and State Shorts category, which highlights outstanding Illinois filmmakers.
The Chicago International Film Festival, the longest running film festival in North America, runs from October 15 to 26.
Hernandez, an associate professor in the School of Film and Television, will debut her short film “Madrina,” which she directed and co-wrote with producer Silveira. The film tells the story of a difficult Christmas dinner that leaves a young woman missing her one loving family member.
It features additional Columbia talent, with voice work by Professor Emeritus Ron Falzone and several graduates and students contributing to the project, including:
Kaela McVicker ’23 – Location Sound
Katie Cahan – First Assistant Camera
Katie Waters ’11 – Foley Artist and Supervising Post Sound Editor
Tiffany Zhao and Ahsha Davis – Associate Producers
“Madrina” will screen alongside “Bailey’s Blues,” a short film by director and writer Shiloh Tumo Washington ’22. In this short, set in the 1960s, a Chicago musician turns up the heat in a confrontational interview with a French film crew. The crew of the film included alums Christian Martinez '22 (first assistant director), Jacob Sutton '24 (associate producer), and Luke Hans '23 (key grip/photography).
“These films underscore Columbia’s continued presence at one of the nation’s most prestigious and longest-running competitive film festivals,” says Wenhwa Tsao, interim co-director of the School of Film and Television.
In addition to members of the Columbia community screening their films at the festival, student volunteers also contribute their talents to the festival.
“We’re extremely proud of Columbia’s long-time collaboration with the Chicago International Film Festival,” says Eric Scholl interim co-director of the School of Film and Television. “It’s an important celebration of film and it’s right here in Chicago.”
See the schedule and get tickets for the Chicago International Film Festival.
A Year of Recognition
The debut of “Madrina” is part of a remarkable festival season for Associate Professor Missy Hernandez, who recently won Best Horror Feature Screenplay at the 56th Nashville Film Festival for her script “I Don’t Dream in Spanish Anymore.”
The screenplay, which explores an intergenerational curse and one woman’s desperate attempt to end it before it takes her life, also earned the 2024 Nantucket Film Festival’s Tony Cox Screenplay Competition and was selected for the Athena Film Festival’s Athena List honoring unproduced screenplays about female leadership.
Another film “American Thief,” the first feature Hernandez co-wrote and co-produced and the feature directing debut of alum Miguel Silveira ‘05, was selected for the 2025 Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival.
“All of our recognition is an incredible affirmation of the stories we’re telling,” Hernandez says.
Just in ... Shilo Tumo Washington '22 Wins 'The Pitch'
In addition to having their short screened at the Chicago International Film Festival, Shiloh Tumo Washington ’22 won The Pitch, an Industry Days event presented by the festival. The Pitch spotlights and supports high-quality work from Chicago and the Midwest, inviting filmmakers with narrative features in late stage development to present their projects in front of a live audience and a panel of industry judges.
Washington's winning project is entitled "A Terrible Sound!"
The prestigious award includes a package of in-kind production and post-production services designed to help bring the film to completion — continuing The Pitch’s legacy of launching standout projects that go on to major festivals such as SXSW, Berlinale, and Tribeca.
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