by Stephen Milek
The Milwaukee Women's Festival is getting high tech.
There are lots of great movies coming to the first ever Milwaukee Women's Festival but one of the most exciting things coming has to be the Virtual Reality film Across the Line. The film puts viewers in the footsteps of a women going to planned parenthood for an abortion.
For many women going to a Planned Parenthood can be a traumatic experience. Not only do they have to make a difficult decision but they have to walk through a wall of protesters that harass them the whole way there. The film wants you to experience the mocking and name calling that these women have to go through. The VR uses actual audio from protesters so nothing is exaggerated for the film. So those are actual people yelling "whore" and "you're going to burn in hell". The movie was funded by Planned Parenthood with the goal of to help viewers understand what some women go through to access abortion services" (read more of their statement here).
The film has Milwaukee roots too. Brad Lichtenstein of 371 Productions teamed up with Jeff Fitzsimmons of Custom Reality Services to make this one of the kind film. No stranger to controversial films Brad's previous work includes As Goes Janesville which was screened at the Milwaukee Film Festival a few years ago.
Festival Creator and Director Andrea Thompson first experienced the Across the Line at the Chicago Feminist Film Festival. When she started putting together her festival she knew this was something she wanted to have. While the films at the festival represent a wide range of topics she knew this would be something different and maybe a bit controversial. But the hope is that it will open up conversations and help people see things from a different perspective.
You will be able to experience it yourself at the opening night event on August 19th. Tickets for the event are $15 and include live band and catered food. Tickets available here
For more information check out their website
also check out the 10 questions interview we did with Andrea.
There are lots of great movies coming to the first ever Milwaukee Women's Festival but one of the most exciting things coming has to be the Virtual Reality film Across the Line. The film puts viewers in the footsteps of a women going to planned parenthood for an abortion.
For many women going to a Planned Parenthood can be a traumatic experience. Not only do they have to make a difficult decision but they have to walk through a wall of protesters that harass them the whole way there. The film wants you to experience the mocking and name calling that these women have to go through. The VR uses actual audio from protesters so nothing is exaggerated for the film. So those are actual people yelling "whore" and "you're going to burn in hell". The movie was funded by Planned Parenthood with the goal of to help viewers understand what some women go through to access abortion services" (read more of their statement here).
The film has Milwaukee roots too. Brad Lichtenstein of 371 Productions teamed up with Jeff Fitzsimmons of Custom Reality Services to make this one of the kind film. No stranger to controversial films Brad's previous work includes As Goes Janesville which was screened at the Milwaukee Film Festival a few years ago.
Festival Creator and Director Andrea Thompson first experienced the Across the Line at the Chicago Feminist Film Festival. When she started putting together her festival she knew this was something she wanted to have. While the films at the festival represent a wide range of topics she knew this would be something different and maybe a bit controversial. But the hope is that it will open up conversations and help people see things from a different perspective.
You will be able to experience it yourself at the opening night event on August 19th. Tickets for the event are $15 and include live band and catered food. Tickets available here
For more information check out their website
also check out the 10 questions interview we did with Andrea.
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