by Stephen Milek 

September in Milwaukee. Kids going back to school, weather starts to cool off, and for movie fans it's a month filled with Film Festivals.  
Kicking things off on September 9th and 10th is the Milwaukee Short Film Festival.  It's run and programmed by Ross Bigley the festival is in it's 18th year and keeps getting bigger.  Most of the screenings last year played to a packed house.  

While the festival has been popular with overseas filmmakers the past couple of years have seen some great local films getting submitted.   The majority of films that are going to be shown at this years festival is from local talent with diverse backgrounds.  There is no better place to see the diversity then in the Voices Heard Program. In it's second year the program aims to highlight local films from multi-cultural directors.  The screening last year was packed and you could feel the energy in the room having so much great talent in the room.  In addition to Voices Heard there will be plenty of other local films screening throughout the festival.  One of them Screen: Righter which won the Milwaukee 48 Hour Film Festival and has connection to Milwaukee Movie Talk since Chris helped out on the production.  

What makes this a special year for the film festival is the number of films that have women directors, writers or producers.  As women struggle to have their films shown it's great to see them having such great success at festivals like this and festivals like The Milwaukee Women's Festival.  

A total of 48 films will be screened with 35 of them local films. There are 5 sessions over the two days.  
Get your tickets here http://mkeshortfest.blogspot.com/2016/08/advanced-tickets-for-18th-annual.html
and be sure to get them soon since last year a lot of the screening sold out.  

by Stephen Milek

Today the Milwaukee Film Festival announced the Cream City Cinema program. This is one of our favorite programs and includes 58 local films. Including 1 feature film, 3 feature documentaries, two double-feature mid length films programs, and four short film programs.

Milwaukee has a lot of local talent and this program is a great showcase for that talent. At Milwaukee Movie Talk we love to shine a spotlight on local films and last year we sat down and talked to the creators of the local production Needlepoint (http://www.milwaukeemovietalk.com/news/an-interview-with-film-maker-jon-phillips-and-crew-about-his-upcoming-short-film-needlepoint). Now their movie is finished and will be premiering at the festival. When we talked to them they kept the plot of the film secretive so we are excited to finally find out what it's all about.

Another short included is Shangri-LA a film staring Mark Borchardt and directed by Drew Rosas and Nick Sommer. Their film Billy Club played at the festival a few years ago and was Milwaukee Movie Talks first partner film with the Milwaukee Film Festival.

Billy Club was the first time we were community partners but it wasn't the last. We have done it every year since. And now it's time to announce that this year we are Community Partners with The Milwaukee Show. The Milwaukee Show has always been on my must see list since I first started going to the festival so it feels good to be a community partner. Some of the best short films of the festival are shown there with a lot of the local talent on hand to talk about their films. We will be giving away tickets and can't wait to see all the great films that will be there.

Full List of Films Below

by Stephen Milek

​Milwaukee Film keeps making announcements and adding new programs. 
Every time I get an announcement from Milwaukee Film I get excited.  Today came the news that they are adding another new program.  This one is the Cine Sin Fronteras Program.  The program which basically translates to Cinema without borders will highlight Latinx films.  The program consists of both documentaries and feature films. To program the films Milwaukee Film turned to Claudia Guzmán, the Sociocultural Program Manager for Student Involvement at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, and Jeanette Martín, the Assistant Director of the LGBT Resource Center at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.  They had the difficult task to narrowing down all the great films to just 6 that will play in the festival. 
Highlights of the program include Ovarian Psycos about a group of women who ride their bicycles through LA to help bring peace to the area.  The founder of the group will be riding in Milwaukee to the screening of the film.  So for those of you that love movies and bike riding this might be a great experience. 

The program will also be the first to be marketing in two langues.  
 
Read below for the list of all the movies.  

Burden of Peace (Paz y Paz)
(Netherlands, Guatemala, Spain / 2015 / Director: Joey Boink)
Trailer: vimeo.com/120807015
Charting the entire tenure of Guatemala's first female Attorney General, Burden of Peace is a remarkable portrait of one woman's steadfast battle for justice and human rights in the face of insurmountable odds. Operating in one of the world's most violent countries, Claudia Paz y Paz's fierce yet humble demeanor yields immediate results. The prosecution rate leaps from 5% to 30% in year one and she shockingly manages to convict Guatemala’s former dictator on charges of genocide, but political corruption forces this Nobel Peace Prize nominee to flee her own country. Extraordinary access helps tell a story that defies belief.
 
Death by a Thousand Cuts
(USA, Dominican Republic / 2016 / Directors: Juan Mejia Botero, Jake Kheel)
Trailer: youtube.com/watch?v=WYidimYQ6iE
Tension between Haiti and the Dominican Republic is near its boiling point, and the vicious murder of a Dominican park ranger just might be what sends it spilling over in this gripping documentary packed with breathtaking cinematography. On the two-country island of Hispaniola, a man is found dead in the Sierra de Bahoruco National Park at the hands of a machete similar to those used by Haitians who cross the border to illegally gather and produce charcoal, a practice that has led to Haiti’s mass deforestation. The discovery feeds into the rampant xenophobia and anti-immigration sentiment that pervades this environmental battle for scarce natural resources.
 
Kings of Nowhere (Los reyes del pueblo que no existe)
(Mexico / 2015 / Director: Betzabé García)
Trailer: vimeo.com/111865423
The small Northern Mexican hamlet of San Marcos has become a ghost town following the construction of a dam that turned the once thriving town into a drowned village. But a few families remain to stand sentry over the eerily quiet terrain, be it the elderly couple who speak in hushed tones regarding gangs that take to their water-logged streets at night or the tortilleria owner whose shop remains open only to feed a cow whose pasture has become an island unto itself. A quiet, visually entrancing elegy (winner of the 2015 SXSW Audience Award), Kings of Nowhere is a mesmerizing documentary about a town all but forgotten.
 
Ovarian Psycos
(USA / 2016 / Directors: Joanna Sokolowski, Kate Trumbull-LaValle)
Trailer: youtube.com/watch?v=aZp9qiE1NrE
Meet the Ovarian Psycos, a grassroots group of Chicanas who join together to ride their bicycles through the streets of Eastside Los Angeles, riding to reclaim their neighborhoods and heal themselves, while making the streets safer for women. Founded by single mother/poet MC Xela de la X, the Psycos impart their own brand of feminism through this act of DIY activism. Be sure to join the founder of Ovarian Psycos on a South Side bike ride to the screening of the documentary film. For more details, visit mkefilm.org/events.
¡Acompaña a la fundadora de Ovarian Psycos en un recorrido por el surside en bicicleta hacia el cine para ver la película documental!

Rara
(Chile, Argentina / 2016 / Director: Pepa San Martín)
Trailer: youtu.be/uAEpDZkZu9I
Life is becoming hard for Sara in the aftermath of her parents' divorce. She and her little sister live with their mother and her new female partner while occasionally visiting their father and his new girlfriend plus her approaching 13th birthday has created a maelstrom of hormonal difficulties. Developing her first crush alongside her developing body while dealing with her father's pointed questions about her mother's new relationship proves too much to bear. Rara provides an empathetic portrait of growing up amidst the turmoil of a fast-changing conservative society.
 
The Violin Teacher (Tudo que aprendemos juntos)
(Brazil / 2015 / Director: Sérgio Machado)
Trailer: youtube.com/watch?v=ThRoSGZxdHg
Talented concert violinist Laerte has the opportunity of a lifetime: an audition for Sao Paolo's symphony orchestra. But he locks up, blowing his chance in a spectacular fashion. Reeling from this rejection, he pivots into teaching music to children – specifically, the children of Heliopolis, Brazil's largest favela. Despite their hardscrabble existence, the kids prove enthusiastic pupils, desperate for the music therapy and arts education that provide a respite from the violence and poverty dominating their lives. Based on a remarkable true story, The Violin Teacher provides powerful uplift through its tale of the transformative power of music.

by Stephen Milek

​Another week and another announcement from the Milwaukee Film Festival. 
This week brings us two new categories Sportsball! and The United States of Film.  The two categories are extremely different from each other but both a very intriguing. 
 
Sportsball! brings former Milwaukee Brewer’s pitcher John Axford back to the Milwaukee Film Festival this time as an official programmer.  A lover of movies and sports Axford is the perfect person to program the new Sportsball! section.  The program will include feature length documentaries about sports (there is usually a shorts program that features sport shorts so stay tuned for that announcement).  Films cover topics from the fastball (one of Axfords expertise), long distance running, a girls lacrosse team and female street racers in the West Bank.  Also showing will be a special 20th anniversary screening of When We Were Kings about the legendary fight between Muhammad Ali and George Forman. 
 
If sports documentaries aren’t your thing then maybe The United States of Film will pique your interest. Here you will find feature length independent movies from across the United States each telling a unique story.  These independent films might not be on anyone’s radar yet but these are the filmmakers of the future and you never know who will be the next Tarantino. 
 
Full list of films below.  

by Stephen Milek

It's August and summer is winding down. State Fair starts soon school will start soon after. But for Milwaukee movie fans it’s one of the most exciting times because it means that the Milwaukee Film Festival will start announcing films they are going to be screening.  During the next couple of weeks we will learn what movies are in their various categories and first up is the Black Lens Program.
 
The Black Lens Program is in its third year and has already become a fan favorite at the festival. The program aims to highlight African-American filmmakers and tell stories based on their experience. New this year is a jury that will select the best movie from the program and the director will receive a $5,000 award. Milwaukee Film received a grant from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and a grant from Johnson Controls to continue this important program.
 
The movies this year vary in topic and genre. The includes a documentary about Maya Angelou and also a movie that has one of the best titles of the festival How to Tell You're a Douchebag. There is also a block of shorts featuring 6 different films.
 
Check out the full list below from the Press Release.

2016 MILWAUKEE FILM FESTIVAL
BLACK LENS
African-American filmmakers explore stories and topics rooted in the black community and relevant to all. This program features fiction and documentary films from both emerging and established voices.

FILMS
9 Rides
(USA / 2016 / Director: Matthew A. Cherry)
Trailer: youtube.com/watch?v=mhqcYoYEimA
It's New Year's Eve and an unnamed Uber driver (a remarkable performance from Dorian Missick) is checking in for the busiest day of the year. Over the course of the evening and his numerous fares, he'll witness couples falling in and out of love, belligerent police officers, and solo passengers; all of these brief interactions underlying his own growing anxiety in the face of recent life-changing news. Shot entirely on an iPhone 6s (the first movie ever to do so!), Matthew Cherry's intimate and gripping drama combines naturalistic performance with unobtrusive camerawork to tell a very modern story of life and love.

Black Lens Shorts Program
An eclectic array of shorts that represent African-American cinema in all of its glory: stories range from a documentary about the intersection of hip-hop and social justice to boy-meets-girl romantic comedies to striking suspense thrillers. An abundance of talented voices tell stories of love, self-discovery, inclusion, and justice, giving voice to an experience often neglected by our movie screens.

#Bars4Justice (USA / 2015 / Directors: Queen Muhammad Ali, Hakeem Khaaliq)
The Big Chop (USA / 2016 / Director: Derek Dow II)
Black Movie Night (USA / 2016 / Director: Sterling Milan)
Didn’t I Ask for Tea? (USA / 2015 / Directors: Rahwa Asmerom, Essence Ward)
Flowers (USA / 2016 / Directors: Nikyatu Jusu, Yvonne Shirley)
Tap Shoes & Violins (USA / 2015 / Director: Dax Brooks)

Can You Dig This
(USA / 2015 / Director: Delila Vallot)
Trailer: vimeo.com/130457181
In South Los Angeles, one of the biggest food deserts in the country, the last thing you would expect to find is a beautiful garden sprouting up through the concrete urban landscape. This inspiring documentary follows the journey of four gardeners who are part of an urban gardening revolution taking root. Each of the film's subjects put their hands in the soil to transform their neighborhoods and change their own lives in the process.

How to Tell You’re a Douchebag
(USA / 2016 / Director: Tahir Jetter)
Trailer: N/A
A fresh, sexy romantic comedy that cuts to the heart of dating in the age of social media, How to Tell You're a Douchebag manages to be humorous and contemporary without breaking a sweat. Ray is a 20-something struggling writer in Brooklyn, venting frustrations about his stagnant career and love life via his blog "Occasionally Dating Black Women." A public tirade puts him in the crosshairs of the fiercely intelligent Rochelle, an up-and-coming writer with zero tolerance for Ray's casual misogyny. Ray attempts to apologize, beginning a journey towards humility and unexpected romance in a comedy that upends all expectations.

The Land
(USA / 2016 / Director: Steven Caple Jr.)
Trailer: youtube.com/watch?v=6pNpHOCRhkA
Executive Producer Nas presents this vivid inner-city saga set amidst Cleveland's skateboarding culture. During the day, Cisco and his group of friends videotape their daring skate stunts in the hopes of one day going pro. At night, they use them to pull off kinetic carjackings. But when they get mixed up in a drug deal and cross a ruthless queen-pin, they put their friendship–and lives–on the line. The film features an impressive cast that includes Michael K. Williams (Omar from The Wire), Erykah Badu, and Machine Gun Kelly. Set to a solid hip-hop soundtrack, The Land's engaging narrative and powerful performances match the music that sustains its energy and poetry.

Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise
(USA / 2016 / Directors: Bob Hercules, Rita Coburn Whack)
Trailer: N/A
A genuine American icon receives the moving and personal portrait she so richly deserves in Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise. The film focuses on Angelou’s prolific accomplishments and allows her to tell her life story in her own words. Co-directed by MFF2011 alum Bob Hercules (A Good Man), this documentary spotlights her career, relationships, causes, and the obstacles she overcame in her ascension towards luminary status.

Somewhere in the Middle
(USA / 2015 / Director: Lanre Olabisi)
Trailer: vimeo.com/121962986
A fractured marriage splinters off into intertwining affairs in this sexy, sophisticated romantic drama. There are certainly less than six degrees of separation between our four principals: Kofi and Billie find their marriage crumbling around them, and while Kofi finds solace in Sofiya, a fragile young woman who sees him as her potential salvation, Billie pursues a relationship with her female co-worker, Alex. Secrets and lies surface as lovers change hearts, and layer after layer of a love quadrangle slowly peels away. Moments that seemed true are revisited, turning them upside down and revealing that when stories intersect, the truth lies Somewhere in the Middle.
​
Two Trains Runnin'
(USA / 2016 / Director: Sam Pollard)
Trailer: vimeo.com/121266222
In the summer of 1964, hundreds of college students flooded into Mississippi to join the fight for civil rights (as seen in Freedom Summer, a selection from the inaugural year of the Black Lens Program, MFF2014). At the same time, there were two groups of musicians and record collectors that also made their way to the South, seeking to discover the whereabouts of blues musicians Son House and Skip James and convince them to come out of retirement. Containing strong performances of classic blues standards by contemporary musicians such as Gary Clark Jr. and Lucinda Williams, Two Trains Runnin’ tracks the convergence of our political and cultural institutions during one fateful summer that changed the course of both music and American history.

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.

by Stephen Milek

Coming soon to Milwaukee is the Milwaukee Womens Festival and they announced their full lineup today.
With a great mix of features and shorts the festival is loaded with films by women or about women.

The festival opens on Friday August 19th. The opening night included the film The Ultimate No-Show about a women that deals with the aftermath of being conned. Then there will be an opening night party with music by Boom Boom Klap a band that describes themselves as "A 4-piece hip-hop ninja squad" and that sounds pretty crazy.

On Saturday there are even more movies. Particularly interesting are the late ngiht shorts being called "Bitchin Shorts" and comes with a graphic content warning. This has me very intrigued.

Sunday continues with more short blocks and features. The first short block starts at noon and the closing night film will be Women Outward Bound a documentary about the first girls to go to the Outward Bound Wilderness School.

Check out their page for the full schedule.

also check out our interview with founder Andrea Thompson

by Stephen Milek

It's not too often you get to talk about David Lynch's Blue Velvet and Disney's  Beauty and the Beast in the same sentence but thanks to Milwaukee Film Festival we get to do that.  ​To celebrate their 8th year of the festival they announced eight films that will be playing and it's an eclectic bunch at that. 

Celebrating it's 30th anniversary David Lynch's Blue Velvet will screen as part of the Cinema Hooligante program.  The unforgetable film is bizarre and has come to define what makes a Lynchian film.  If your looking for something a little less bizarre try Beauty and the Beast as part of the Rated K: For Kids program.  The 1991 film became the first animated film to be nominated for Best Picture and has earned a spot as a Disney classic.  

If your looking for something even older don't worry they have you covered. The Festival is bringing back the Alloy Orchestra to perform live during the silent classic Metropolis.  The 1927 movie is probably one of the most influential sci-fi films of all time and it's a great opportunity to see it on the big screen with live music.  Think of it as a movie and concert all in one.  

And one of the things we love about the film festival are the great documentaries and this year looks like Yarn is going to be one of the strangest ones.  How do you make a documentary about knitting interesting?  Well check out the trailer and see for yourself.  vimeo.com/150597564.  The movie will be playing in the Art and Artist program.  

One of the most popular programs they have is Sound Vision which always feature interesting stories about the music world.  This year they will be bringing a documentary about Austin City Limits TV show.  The documentary has interviews with many musicians about how the show and their experience with it.  

The other 3 films announced today range from a documentary about drugs (California Sunshine), a drama about being on the Afghan-Pakistani border (Neither Heaven nor Earth), and a coming of age story with a twist (The Fits)

The festival will run from September 22nd - October 6th.  
Full descriptions of each film below with a link to their trailers.    

by Stephen Milek

The Milwaukee Film Festival is fast approaching. And while the full list of movies won't be announced for a few months Festival Passes and 6-Packs went on sale this morning. These are the cheapest tickets will be and if you are a member you get an even bigger discount. 
To purchase tickets head over to http://www.mkefilm.org/tickets

Prices listed below. ​

Now that Sundance has ended it's time for the next big festival and that is in SXSW in March.  Today the festival announced a large portion of their films with more to come.  
A few of the highlights are Richard Linklater's "spiritual sequel to Dazed and Confused " Everybody Wants Some. The Miles Davis biopic Miles Ahead from Don Cheadle.  The World Premiere of Pee-Wee's Big Holiday before it premieres on Netflix. The North American premiere of the highly anticipated new Jeff Nichols movie Midnight Special.  And the new Ti West film In A Valley of Violence.  

Also getting it's world premiere is a movie that will certainly be controversial here in Milwaukee Beware the Slenderman which is about the slenderman murders in Waukesha.  

Let us know what you think looks like will be the breakout movie.