Founded in March of 2024, The Chambana Film Society, which hosts the Savoy Lumière, is the fastest-growing film organization in Central Illinois, and is already the largest film event in Illinois outside of Chicagoland. The festival, and film society has quickly gained a reputation for its well curated screenings at the Savoy 16 + IMAX, its passionate audiences, and strong support from the local film community, press, and government entities.

In just over two year, the Chambana Film Society has hosted 90 screenings to thousands of attendees, paid out thousands in screening fees and revenue splits, and established itself as a major cultural hub in the region.

In 2027 edition of the Savoy Lumière will move to a full 10-day schedule, with plans for encore screenings of selected titles at an additional screening space in Urbana.

Filmmakers can expect:

Engaged, enthusiastic audiences in a community that loves cinema.
Professional theatrical presentation at a first-class multiplex.
Media coverage and community support that help films find wider recognition.
A commitment to independence.

Throughout 2026, we have been working on additional, themed "mini-festivals", of 6-10 screenings over a long weekend. We currently are looking at holding:

CineSonic Music Film Festival
Doctober Fest
A 24-hour horror marathon
An LGBTQ+ Film Festival

and this is on top of our weekly screening series, The Savoy Arthouse.

We’re looking for bold, personal, and original films that deserve the big screen. Submit today and join us as we celebrate the next wave of independent cinema in Champaign-Urbana.

Awards & Prizes

So far, The Savoy Lumière has only given out Audience Awards, but we anticipate putting together a professional jury to declare additional winners as well.

We have given awards for Best Narrative & Documentary Features. We also announce our top 10 Audience Rated films, from which we pull the Best Narrative, Documentary, Animated, and Local Shorts.

Rules & Terms

• 40 minutes is our cut off point between shorts and features.

• We do not have screening premiere requirements at this time. We do greatly prefer to show films not available for free streaming, but occasionally makes exceptions, usually for short films. Please let us know via cover letter, or when accepted, if your film will be available at the time of the festival.

• When you submit a film, you should be authorized to submit this film for screening at the 2027 Chambana Film Festival You grant the Chambana Film Festival the nonexclusive right to use submitted materials in connection with any and all publicity and promotional materials regarding the festival. They warrant that the submitted film does not infringe upon the intellectual property rights of any person or entity and agree to hold harmless and fully indemnify and defend the Chambana Film Festival and its representatives against any and all claims made for such infringement or any other violations of law. They also acknowledge that the film submission fee does not guarantee acceptance and no refund will be provided if your film is not selected.
10 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Melle Windig

    Thank you for screening our short stop motion animation Cell Buddies and giving us the opportunity to share it with your audience. Unfortunately we could not attend but the communication was excellent .

    May 2026
    Helpful
  • Festival Formula

    A new festival that has a lot of thought gone into the programming. Nat is always thinking outside the box and pulling together films to compliment each other. For their 2025 edition we were lucky to have 8 of our clients screen across the festival:

    🎬 Autophagy
    🎬 Calico
    🎬 Family Portrait of the Black Earth
    🎬 Figment
    🎬 Hair
    🎬 Ruby
    🎬 The Choice
    🎬 Wolf

    June 2025
    Helpful
  • Andrew Laudone

    Nat loves movies. And it's clear that Nat loves this film festival. This is well worth the price of submission, especially for Illinois filmmakers. Attend if you get selected!

    June 2025
    Helpful
  • Andrew Pritzker

    This is a well curated festival dedicated specifically to indie films and independent voices. The theater venue was state of the art. The festival’s PR brought in an abundant, enthusiastic audience. I was happy to be part of it.

    June 2025
    Helpful
  • Keenan Dailey

    A wonderfully fun and comfortable film festival filled with opportunity for deep connection and networking!

    I had an excellent time this past weekend at the Chambana Film Festival. Nat Dykeman is a one of a kind gem of a person and incredibly knowledgeable regarding the festival circuit and he has made it incredibly clear that he's going to do it right!

    I'm pumped for year 2!

    June 2025
    Helpful
    Response from festival:

    Get cracking on another movie right away!