DANVILLE — The locally-made film, “Revolting,” has received positive feedback from Danville and Champaign audiences. But now, it’s time to take it into the world — and see what strangers think.

The movie has been accepted into the Illinois International Film Festival, which will be next weekend in Chicago. It will be screened at 8 p.m. Friday at the Viaduct Theatre; awards will be presented Sunday afternoon.

The tragedy/comedy is the brainchild of Mike Boedicker, audiovisual director at the Danville Public Library and an independent film maker.

He and other cast members are excited about the chance to compete in a legitimate festival, and many people from the area will be in attendance to cheer it on.

“We’re hoping for a good turnout,” he said.

The Chicago festival attracted a record number of entries, he said, and the competition is tough. The festival will feature 50-60 films; there are fewer than 12 feature-length movies (including the 81-minute “Revolting”) and the rest are short films.

Julia Megan Sullivan, one of the main characters, said “Revolting” is one of three comedies in the festival, and cast members are hoping for a “best comedy” honor.

The movie has received great feedback from regional audiences, Sullivan said; however, many of those fans know the cast members or are friends of friends of the cast.

“We’re excited to see how it plays to an audience that has little or no connection to the film,” she said.

Also, appearing in a legitimate festival makes a movie attractive to other festival organizers.

“We look forward to seeing if we’ll be accepted to other festivals,” Sullivan said.

Boedicker has entered the movie into seven festivals and has heard from two — the Chicago fest and the Cincinnati Film Festival, which didn’t accept it.

He hasn’t heard from the others, but expects to later this year or early next year. One festival he entered is on the East Coat and a couple competitions are on the West Coast, but the others are regional so people can drive to them. He plans to enter more next year.

Most of the core cast will be at the Chicago fest, Boedicker said, including co-writer Brian Wilson of Chicago. Boedicker’s wife, Leslie, also has a key role in the film.

He may take DVDs of the movie to sell, and there’s also going to be a question-and-answer session after the movie is shown.

“I think it’s going to be fun,” he said. “We’re keeping our fingers crossed.”

Boedicker worked on the movie for three years, and it made its public premiere in August. It was shown eight times at four venues in the area.

Although he’s watched the movie “literally hundreds of times,” Boedicker enjoys watching the audience reaction. Some audiences are more in tune with the comedy, while others tune in to the drama.

The movie covers 24 days from spring to fall, and focuses on a playwright who’s tried for years to duplicate his initial success in theater. When he tries to write a sequel to his first hit play, the characters/actors revolt.

Boedicker began writing the script in fall 2007, and filming began a year later. It took six months to do a rough cut. He had to cut 30 hours of filming down to 80-90 minutes.

The cast and crew are from Vermilion and Champaign counties, and many scenes were shot in the Danville area — mostly at Boedicker’s home and the Kathryn Randolph Theater. Other scenes were shot at Kickapoo State Park, the Jewell House on Hazel Street, Crave Coffee Bar and a couple of places in Champaign-Urbana.

The core group of actors includes: Bill Kephart as the playwright Jeff; Sullivan as Penelope/Tanya; Sharon Tipsword as Susan; Eric Sizemore as Frederick/Blaine; and Leslie Boedicker as Janice/Gwen. Leslie also is co-producer, along with her husband.

The movie is dedicated to Barbara Greenberg, Sullivan’s mother, who died in February.

On the Web

Learn more about “Revolting” at http://www.revoltingmovie.com

The festival’s Web site is http://www.illinoisinternationalfilmfestival.com/

Get directions to the theater at http://www.viaducttheatre.com/