There is just over a month to go until the Milwaukee Film Festival, which runs from April 20 to May 4. And to make the wait easier and harder at the same time, the festival has whetted our cinematic appetites by giving us some early tastes of its 2023 menu, including its biggest appetizer ever. however, today he reveals his Cream City Cinema category selections.
The program annually brings together some of the best feature films, short films and more created by local filmmakers; this year includes an existential black-and-white romantic comedy set in Milwaukee, a Wisconsin true-crime saga, a bevy of Brew City music videos and student projects, and a 19th-century fur trapper fighting off an onslaught of ferocious beavers. As you would expect.
“Milwaukee Film was founded on a commitment to Milwaukee’s filmmaking talent, and each year our Cream City Cinema lineup repays that commitment with a lineup of films that rivals any local city lineup,” said the Milwaukee Artistic Director. Film, Cara Ogburn, in a “This year’s lineup includes films that premiered at festivals like Sundance, Fantastic Fest and SXSW, filmmakers and projects that have been supported by our array of artist services and youth education programs, and new filmmakers for us. bursting onto the scene.”
Here are Cream City Cinema’s eight feature film selections coming to the Milwaukee Film Festival this spring, with synopses courtesy of Milwaukee Film.
“Mike Gibisser and Mary Helena Clark’s ‘A Common Sequence’ brings together the disparate visual and narrative threads of a critically endangered salamander, the apple industry, Dominican nuns running a conservation lab, fishermen trying to live off a depleted lake , engineers developing AI-powered Harvesting Machines, and an indigenous biomedical researcher resisting the commodification of human DNA, to ponder the dynamics of power, the shifting border between the natural and the unnatural, and questions of value, extraction, and adaptation”.
“This Green Bay true crime story is handled with deft care by local director Michael Neelsen. When a man is murdered by drowning in a vat of pulp, a small town cries out for justice and his brother comes face to face with the slippery nature of the target. truth. ‘Beyond Human Nature’ tells the grisly investigation of the 1992 murder of Tom Monfils through the eyes of the people who lived through it.”
“A familiar face at Cream City Cinema, Martin Kaszubowski returns with his first solo feature, ‘Earlybird,’ which tells the story of a struggling theater owner as he tries to resuscitate his business with increasingly outrageous stage productions. A meditation on creative careers and the potential for passion to quench, this fictional film will touch close and serve as a beacon of hope for patrons and arts workers alike.”
“From the team that brought you ‘Lake Michigan Monster’ (MFF2018) comes this black-and-white, dialogue-free, 19th-century supernatural winter epic that we think both Tex Avery and Charlie Chaplin would be proud of. Drunken Apple must go from zero to hero and become the greatest fur trapper in North America by defeating, yes, hundreds of beavers.”
“The search for an authentic life leads an existential bicycle mechanic to discover the universal truths and transformative powers of love. With stunning black-and-white cinematography and cameos from all his favorite Milwaukee businesses, ‘Love & Irony’ is a romantic comedy that is as much a love letter to Cream Town itself.”
“It’s 1967 and 12-year-old Clive is playing in the desert behind his family’s remote motel when an unusual ranch worker mysteriously appears before her. His name is Mann, he’s from another planet who is dying and looking for a “A new place. for his kind to live. Mann hands Clive a glowing orb, asks him to hide it, and promises to return. Twenty-five years later, Mann finally returns to fulfill his mission and needs Clive’s help.”
“Convinced that Guantanamo Bay detainees were ‘the worst of the worst’ in the war on terror in 2005, US Air Force JAG attorney Yvonne Bradley volunteered to defending Binyam Mohamed, who was facing the death penalty.To unravel an unimaginable case, this assumption was reversed and she spent the next four years fighting to uncover the truth.Bradley finally speaks truth to power in the face of corruption, proving to be an unlikely and unassuming force of inspiration.”
“Documenting the response of five local Wisconsin food pantries to the unprecedented needs created by the coronavirus pandemic, this film tells the story of these organizations’ hard work, ingenuity and compassion while exploring the complex and protracted Challenges of Fighting Hunger in Rural America.”
Of course, feature films are only one part of the film festival experience, so here are Cream City Cinema’s short films chosen for this year’s festival, shown in the two “Milwaukee Show” collections, the two programs “Milwaukee Youth Show”, among other installments of short films or as pre-show selections.
- “100 seconds to midnight”, directed by Libbey Kirchner
- “Are you somewhere else?” by Dinner Set Gang, directed by Kurt Ravenwood
- “Body Legato” directed by Sam Drake
- “Clark’s Renaissance” directed by Carl Sturgess
- “Coming to Small Town America” directed by Hasti Ghasemivaghar
- “Controlling Change”, directed by Catcher Stodola
- “DAKHLA,” directed by Nick Leffel
- “Fadó”, directed by Quinn Jennings
- “The False Prince Book Trailer” directed by Greenfield MS students
- “Friday Night Blind” directed by Scott Krahn and Robb Fischer
- “Grapes” directed by Sophie Hatton
- “The Happening”, directed by Evelyn Winter
- “Hawaiian Pizza” directed by Absatou (Touie) Jenneh Sow
- “The Indicators” directed by Kurt Sensenbrenner
- “Unknown Language,” directed by Janelle VanderKelen
- “Mother Nature” directed by Sabrina Katie Woo
- “Wooden”, directed by Owen Klatte
- “Parallels”, directed by Paula Scalona
- “Parental Orbit”, directed by Dara Carneol and Bernard Carneol
- “Patient,” directed by Lori Felker
- “Pet World,” directed by Sofia Theodore-Pierce and Grace Mitchell
- Polka Time!, directed by Dick Blau
- “Pretty Boys” directed by Sanaa Thomas
- “Provenance: A Letter to My Daughter” directed by Li Chiao-Ping
- “Radium Girls Book Trailer” run by Greenfield MS students
- “RIP,” directed by Carol Brandt and Erika Sorenson
- “Seen//Invisible”, directed by TJ Blanco
- “Seventeen”, directed by Mira Santo Tomas
- Fuzzysurf’s Sheep Shed, directed by Tommy Simms and Joe Ludwig
- “Sit where the light corrupts your face” by Gillian Waldo
- “Divided Memories”, directed by Katya Ravie
- “Stuck Somewhere” directed by Alyssa Sue Borkowski
- Tim Meets Mat, directed by Lucas Lovo
- Trash Man 2: Trash Man Goes on Vacation, directed by Isabella Switalski
- “Unconventional: Living Life to the Max” directed by Hannah Johnson
- “Zayde,” directed by Rachel Faye Lubar
These Cream City Cinema selections join other Milwaukee Film Festival selections already announced, including silent classic “Metropolis,” restored underground gems “The Doom Generation” and “Losing Ground,” new films from the international teachers Jafar Panahi and Cristian Mungiu. , and feature documentary profiles on Mary Tyler Moore, Ennio Morricone and Karen Carpenter.
While it’ll be another month until we see all of these movies, you can score festival passes and ticket packages as we speak, and for a deal, as Milwaukee Film is currently hosting a one-day event. flash sale with the lowest prices of the year so far. To cash in on these deals, head over to the Milwaukee Film website — and head fast, because the price flash sale ends Friday, March 17 at 9 a.m.
For more Milwaukee Film Festival updates, keep an eye on OnMilwaukee.
