JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The LOL JAX Film Festival will celebrate its 10th anniversary supporting local talent and small businesses with screenings Aug. 1-2 at WJCT Studios.
Doors open at 5 p.m. and the program begins at 6 p.m. The event will include food trucks and vendors and will feature a performance by Jacksonville hip-hop group 95 South.
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Festival Director Monique Madrid launched LOL JAX in 2016 to showcase short films, small business and local talent in comedy, using the motto “Love Our Locals” by “Laughing Out Loud.” Comedian Jenn Weeks has served as the festival’s host since its first year at Sun-Ray Cinema in the Five Points neighborhood.
Madrid said the festival creates opportunities for aspiring filmmakers and students from Douglas Anderson and the Jacksonville Arts & Music School, who volunteer, network with filmmakers and sometimes have their short films screened at the festival. Madrid has also worked as an instructor and mentor for JAMS and with local business and film panels.
The festival and Madrid have received local recognition: She was named to the Jacksonville Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 list in April 2021 and received the journal’s Woman of Influence award in March 2023. LOL JAX has been included in Folio’s Best of Jax list for several years and in May 2026 received the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville’s Arts Awards honor for “Small Business of the Year.”
The City of Jacksonville is set to proclaim “LOL JAX Film Festival Day,” on Monday at 11 a.m.