On June 7th, 2011, the first biennial Chocolate City Short Film Festival debuted in Burlington, WI. Burlington is known as "Chocolate City USA" and has strong connections to the Nestle company (Hosting the huge "ChocolateFest" three day festival over labor day weekend). This short film festival was dedicated to showing short films from amateurs (students elementary through high school) as well as adult professionals. The event is held in downtown Burlington at the historic Plaza Theater. It is the intention of The Chocolate Short Film Festival to take place every odd year in the week following ChocolateFest.
On June 2nd, 2013, the second ever Chocolate City Short Film Festival was held again at the Plaza Theater in downtown Burlington, WI. The response was even greater with a full house and many other firsts. Local celebrities (Miss Burlington Ashely Monti) and national celebrities (Ron Kohlman, filmmaker and former producer of the number hit show ER) were in attendance.
One June 7th 2015, four years to the day the first festival began, The Chocolate City Short Film Festival went world wide. Almost two thousand entries from over 80 countries poured in, bringing the festival to a whole new level. It was only fitting that the festival rename itself as the Chocolate City INTERNATIONAL Short Film Festival. A whole new chapter had begun.
On June 4th, 2017, the fourth ever biennial festival was held. OVER 3,000 submissions from all over the world were submitted. Filmmakers from 9 to 79 submitted their works and the proud tradition continued. Local celebrity and filmmaker BJ Rayni was on hand to present awards. In addition trailers of independent filmmakers kicked off the fest.
In the spirit of community service, the Chocolate City Short Film Festival is free to the public. Attendees are encouraged to bring a food item for the local food pantry or a small monetary donation.
The fifth biennial Chocolate City International Short Film Festival was held on Sunday June 2, 2019. Local celebrity and filmmaker BJ Rayni was on hand to present awards. The films included submissions from filmmakers ages 8 to 80 from a variety of different countries. The results of that 2019 festival is as follows:
Young Filmmaker Award
3rd Place- Team Yum Yum- Abby Nie (Wisconsin)
2nd Place Emoji Kids- Allyson Siepl, Peyton Kaminski, &
Athena Grimes (Wisconsin)
1st Place- My Red Ball- Esabella Strickland (British Columbia)
Student PSAs / Commercials
3rd Place- Words Hurt Cyberbullying- Ridho Mapp (California)
2nd Place- Don't Stare, Be Aware- Charles Baumeister (Wisconsin)
1st Place- Disability- David Stang, Jacob Smith (Wisconsin)
Music Videos
3rd Place- Way it Goes- Megan Hurst (Wisconsin)
2nd Place- Immortal- Dom Mann (Illinois)
1st Place- Fire- Nathan Kadota (California)
Animated Films (Adult & Students)
3rd Place- Evil Villain!- Lee Witz (California)
2nd Place- Take Back Calamity Canyon- Taylor Torres (Wisconsin)
1st Place- Knitcromancer- Rebecca Seamans (Pennsylvania)
Student Documentaries
3rd Place- Cultural Foods- Chase Ketterhagen (Wisconsin)
2nd Place- The American Dream- Andrea Gomez (Wisconsin)
1st Place- A Prom Story: Dramatized Documentary- Students of Bill Wald (Wisconsin)
Student Fictional Films
3rd Place- Blue Wave- Emma Gillian (Florida)
2nd Place- Santa Woman- Ari Williams (New York)
1st Place- Not So Scary Story- Nick Sherman (California)
Open Genre (Adult- U.S.)
3rd Place- Average Mom- Cathy Yonek (California)
2nd Place- Origami Bull- Summer Medina (California)
1st Place- Don't Save Me- Tee Forest (Maryland)
International Film (Non-U.S.)
3rd Place- First Day in Paris- Zaur Dzhafarov (France)
2nd Place- He Can- Rupnar Dutta (India)
1st Place- Let Me Breath With My Dream- Novera Hasan Nikkon (Bangladesh)
The sixth biennial Chocolate City International Short Film Festival will be held the first Sunday in June 2021.. We look forward to continuing the tradition.
Over $1000 in Prizes
Proposed Categories:
Young Filmmaker (Elementary/Middle- All Genres), (3rd, 2nd, Grand Prize)
Student PSAs/Commercials (3rd, 2nd, Grand Prize), Suggested RT: 30-60 secs
Student Music Videos (3rd, 2nd, Grand Prize), Suggested RT: 1-3 minutes
Student Animation (3rd, 2nd, Grand Prize), Suggested RT: 1-10 minutes
Student Documentaries (3rd, 2nd, Grand Prize), Suggested RT: 1-10 minutes
Student Dramas and/or Trailers (3rd, 2nd, Grand Prize), Suggested RT: 1-10 min
Adult Community/Open Genre (3rd, 2nd, Grand Prize), Suggested RT: 1-10 min
International Film (3rd, 2nd, Grand Prize), Suggested RT: 1-10 min
(Proposed value of prizes is as follows: 3rd $25, 2nd $50, GP $100)