Showing posts with label Milwaukee Film. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Milwaukee Film. Show all posts
The 2014 edition of the Milwaukee Film Festival is coming to a close - but it is NOT OVER YET...you still have chances to get out and enjoy a couple days of the fest. and there are some big events for the last 3 nights of the fest!
Tonight - features Point and Shoot a documentary by Marshall Curry (he'll be in attendance too!)
Point and Shoot is a poignant, heartbreaking, yet inspirational tale of Matthew VanDyke. VanDyke was on a journey across Africa on a motorcycle to "find" himself and ... purpose in general, all under the guise of filming a travel video.
On that journey he met a man in Libya and fell in love with the country and the Libyan people. So when revolution swept the area, he knew there was only one thing to do. Head to Libya with his friend and fight.
This amazing documentary will give you VanDyke's actual war footage. Footage like nothing you have seen before.
You'll hear the bullets. You'll feel the pain. You'll experience a war, close up and unfiltered. You will realize the emotions involved with Matthew, his girlfriend Loren and his many friends on the ground in Libya.
Director Marshall Curry weaves VanDyke's amazing footage together to not only tell the story of the war and the fighting, but to also capture the unique growth of an individual. An individual that struggles with many things in his personal life. An individual that is not perfect, but wants nothing less than to become his own person.
It doesn't matter if you are pro-war or anti-war. It doesn't matter if you believe in the Libyan revolution or can't find Libya on a map. Point and Shoot captures so much more than the war that it is filming. It will make you experience life/growth/death/war/happiness and may just allow you to grow a bit too. A truly special film.
(And if you miss it tonight - catch it on Thursday afternoon before the fest ends ... also at the Oriental.)
After this special film....stick around to check out A Year in Burgundy -- you fans of Somm from last year's fest...a nice relaxing movie featuring wine...tastes great!
Tomorrow features the annual "Secret Screening" for MKE Film members ... I have a sneaking suspsicion I have a hunch what it is...and if I'm right it would be a saintly night at the Oriental on Wednesday.
Finally - Closing night.... Thursday. Director Gil Cates Jr. and Star Sean Astin are in town for the film shot on Lake Michigan (among other locations)....Surface
More on that later...for now...enjoy the festival while you can, you get a chance to still check out films at the Oriental, Downer, Fox Bay and Times Cinema.
READ MORE
Tonight - features Point and Shoot a documentary by Marshall Curry (he'll be in attendance too!)
Point and Shoot is a poignant, heartbreaking, yet inspirational tale of Matthew VanDyke. VanDyke was on a journey across Africa on a motorcycle to "find" himself and ... purpose in general, all under the guise of filming a travel video.
On that journey he met a man in Libya and fell in love with the country and the Libyan people. So when revolution swept the area, he knew there was only one thing to do. Head to Libya with his friend and fight.
This amazing documentary will give you VanDyke's actual war footage. Footage like nothing you have seen before.
You'll hear the bullets. You'll feel the pain. You'll experience a war, close up and unfiltered. You will realize the emotions involved with Matthew, his girlfriend Loren and his many friends on the ground in Libya.
Director Marshall Curry weaves VanDyke's amazing footage together to not only tell the story of the war and the fighting, but to also capture the unique growth of an individual. An individual that struggles with many things in his personal life. An individual that is not perfect, but wants nothing less than to become his own person.
It doesn't matter if you are pro-war or anti-war. It doesn't matter if you believe in the Libyan revolution or can't find Libya on a map. Point and Shoot captures so much more than the war that it is filming. It will make you experience life/growth/death/war/happiness and may just allow you to grow a bit too. A truly special film.
(And if you miss it tonight - catch it on Thursday afternoon before the fest ends ... also at the Oriental.)
After this special film....stick around to check out A Year in Burgundy -- you fans of Somm from last year's fest...a nice relaxing movie featuring wine...tastes great!
Tomorrow features the annual "Secret Screening" for MKE Film members ... I have a sneaking suspsicion I have a hunch what it is...and if I'm right it would be a saintly night at the Oriental on Wednesday.
Finally - Closing night.... Thursday. Director Gil Cates Jr. and Star Sean Astin are in town for the film shot on Lake Michigan (among other locations)....Surface
More on that later...for now...enjoy the festival while you can, you get a chance to still check out films at the Oriental, Downer, Fox Bay and Times Cinema.
This is the part I'm most disappointed in being behind on...
The festival has begun it's second week of screenings and boy has it been exciting.
They have had the intriguing documentary 1971 kick off the festival and followed that up with a slew of interesting titles and appearances.
The Opening Saturday featured Stray Dog from the Academy Award-nominated director and
co-writer of the Jennifer Lawrence breakout film, Winter's Bone (also screened earlier the same day) Debra Granik. It didn't hurt that Ron "Stray Dog" Hall (no relation) was a Harley rider in a Harley town. Excellent programming choice if I do say so.
Saturday featured the enormous Sing-A-Long showing of Mary Poppins. Yep ... that was something special to be at, but I ... well I got sick... ARGH and bed/couch had its grip on me.
The weekend featured many appearances by Directors, Writers, Actors and more...this despite the fact that the craziness in Chicago at the air traffic control tower caused many travelers to not make it in for their appearances. The sellouts kept coming though and there are so many films already on rush through the end of the festival, that if you were thinking of going get your tickets now. (Check out what they have on rush AND what's selling quickly and buy your tickets in advance).
But the fun didn't stop for this year's turn with the Milwaukee Film Festival once the new week started.
Monday saw the Patels - the stars of Meet the Patels in town for their film and The Milwaukee Show I (always a crowd favorite with local flavor).
We saw big screenings of Man With a Movie Camera and This Is Spinal Tap on Tuesday.
Wednesday made me jealous of my colleague Gino Salomone as he sat down with Jim Abrahms and Jerry Zucker before that nights' special presentation of Top Secret! Sorry Gino - I stole this photo from your Facebook page...I love it! Catch Gino daily on Studio A on FOX 6 and well...with every celebrity under the sun!
Thursday was a slow night - let's face it...everyone was watching the Packer game - except of course myself who got called to Mayfair for a last minute look at Gone Girl before it's release on Friday.
And then....We get ready for another weekend.
What am I looking forward to as time goes on the next couple days here...
Well tonight ... legend Robert Townsend is in town for a screening of his hit Hollywood Shuffle at the Oriental, John Axford (formerly of the Milwaukee Brewers and now Pittsburgh Pirate) had an opening he'd rather not have with the Pirates elimination from the playoffs but will be doing his second favorite thing...seeing Dr. Strangelove at the Oriental and saying hi to his friends from Milwaukee Film. The Ax man is still a contributing sponsor to the festival and loves movies period! I still think it would be fun to do a review show titled, "Common Guy and The Stache" with him...but I digress.
Saturday features something I would love to see... Jimi: All Is By My Side from Mequon native John
Ridley. Ridley will be in town courtesy of Chris Abele to present the film in front of a hometown crowd that has long been on rush to see this. If you want a chance to get in...get you to that rush line as soon as you can before the 7PM show at the Oriental. And if that's not enough...that night will also feature a screening of the classic music film Stop Making Sense with Jerry Harrison schedule for the house.
Sunday features the film on rush that is truly garnering Oscar Buzz coming out of Toronto - It will take getting in line early on this Packer Free Sunday to get a chance at a seat to The Imitation Game starring Benedict Cumberbatch. Toronto film fest going critics LOVED IT and many of the the experts at Goldderby.com have it in their list of possible Top 10 Best Picture candidates - as well as Benedict being at the top of many lists in the Best Actor race.
Click each of the links for the full list - a great chance to see a true favorite EARLY!!!
So that will take you through the weekend, yes there is more...but I have to stop at some point here...
Thanks Milwaukee Film for another Great Run - Folks ... you have one week left (including today) to get out and enjoy some great films! Do it now!!!
My apologies for the less indepth coverage...but now that I'm kicking this illness - we will get in as much as we can before I have to get back to the rest of my life...
Save me a Seat!
READ MORE
The festival has begun it's second week of screenings and boy has it been exciting.
They have had the intriguing documentary 1971 kick off the festival and followed that up with a slew of interesting titles and appearances.The Opening Saturday featured Stray Dog from the Academy Award-nominated director and
co-writer of the Jennifer Lawrence breakout film, Winter's Bone (also screened earlier the same day) Debra Granik. It didn't hurt that Ron "Stray Dog" Hall (no relation) was a Harley rider in a Harley town. Excellent programming choice if I do say so.
Saturday featured the enormous Sing-A-Long showing of Mary Poppins. Yep ... that was something special to be at, but I ... well I got sick... ARGH and bed/couch had its grip on me.
The weekend featured many appearances by Directors, Writers, Actors and more...this despite the fact that the craziness in Chicago at the air traffic control tower caused many travelers to not make it in for their appearances. The sellouts kept coming though and there are so many films already on rush through the end of the festival, that if you were thinking of going get your tickets now. (Check out what they have on rush AND what's selling quickly and buy your tickets in advance).
But the fun didn't stop for this year's turn with the Milwaukee Film Festival once the new week started.
Monday saw the Patels - the stars of Meet the Patels in town for their film and The Milwaukee Show I (always a crowd favorite with local flavor).
We saw big screenings of Man With a Movie Camera and This Is Spinal Tap on Tuesday.
Wednesday made me jealous of my colleague Gino Salomone as he sat down with Jim Abrahms and Jerry Zucker before that nights' special presentation of Top Secret! Sorry Gino - I stole this photo from your Facebook page...I love it! Catch Gino daily on Studio A on FOX 6 and well...with every celebrity under the sun!
Thursday was a slow night - let's face it...everyone was watching the Packer game - except of course myself who got called to Mayfair for a last minute look at Gone Girl before it's release on Friday.
And then....We get ready for another weekend.
What am I looking forward to as time goes on the next couple days here...
Well tonight ... legend Robert Townsend is in town for a screening of his hit Hollywood Shuffle at the Oriental, John Axford (formerly of the Milwaukee Brewers and now Pittsburgh Pirate) had an opening he'd rather not have with the Pirates elimination from the playoffs but will be doing his second favorite thing...seeing Dr. Strangelove at the Oriental and saying hi to his friends from Milwaukee Film. The Ax man is still a contributing sponsor to the festival and loves movies period! I still think it would be fun to do a review show titled, "Common Guy and The Stache" with him...but I digress.
Saturday features something I would love to see... Jimi: All Is By My Side from Mequon native John
Ridley. Ridley will be in town courtesy of Chris Abele to present the film in front of a hometown crowd that has long been on rush to see this. If you want a chance to get in...get you to that rush line as soon as you can before the 7PM show at the Oriental. And if that's not enough...that night will also feature a screening of the classic music film Stop Making Sense with Jerry Harrison schedule for the house.
Sunday features the film on rush that is truly garnering Oscar Buzz coming out of Toronto - It will take getting in line early on this Packer Free Sunday to get a chance at a seat to The Imitation Game starring Benedict Cumberbatch. Toronto film fest going critics LOVED IT and many of the the experts at Goldderby.com have it in their list of possible Top 10 Best Picture candidates - as well as Benedict being at the top of many lists in the Best Actor race.
Click each of the links for the full list - a great chance to see a true favorite EARLY!!!
So that will take you through the weekend, yes there is more...but I have to stop at some point here...
Thanks Milwaukee Film for another Great Run - Folks ... you have one week left (including today) to get out and enjoy some great films! Do it now!!!
My apologies for the less indepth coverage...but now that I'm kicking this illness - we will get in as much as we can before I have to get back to the rest of my life...
Save me a Seat!
 |
| Loved this photo by the MKE Film crew! Credit: MKE FILM |
With the dawning of the day, it is time to get things started for the 2014 edition of the Milwaukee
Film Festival.
Film Festival.
Opening Night brings with it a documentary this year, one of my favorite things to check out during the festival. This film is 1971 and it is your only pick on opening night (well there is the big shindig after the film, but I’m only talking about the movies here.)
Here’s your breakdown for tonight.
FEATURED TITLE
1971
7PM Oriental Theatre (SOLD OUT - RUSH TIX MAY BE AVAILABLE)
The story of the 1971 break-in at the FBI office in Media, PA and the subsequent release of the confidential documents to the media came before Snowden, before Wikileaks and before Watergate. It is the first time that some of the individuals that carried out the brazen break-in had their story come out.
The story from director Johanna Hamiltion (Scheduled to appear for questions) turns into a skillfully crafted thriller.
There is a combination of interview footage (and some good stuff here), archival footage and reenactments to tell the story.
The journey comes from the protest backgrounds of the individuals through the break-in and on to the investigation.
In light of all that is going on in society today, it is interesting to see this look inside the entire process of what must have gone on with many a case through the year.
A fascinating and riveting film that shows one of the reasons I LOVE documentaries!
Get out and see it.
Welcome Johanna to our incredible city and welcome back Milwaukee Film Festival 2014 – We’ve missed you!
OTHER SHOWINGS
Saturday 9/27 – 1:45PM Oriental Theatre
Saturday 9/27 – 1:45PM Oriental Theatre
Check out the 1971 Trailer, below!
The release below comes from the folks at Milwaukee Film. The Shorts programs have been announced and are a lot of fun. If you've never been to a shorts program, I urge you to pick a topic that you tend to enjoy and check it out. No, you probably won't like everything over the 80 minutes or so you are there, but if you don't like one short film...the next one is only a couple minutes from starting. Short films are amazing to get a peek at on the big screen and many are truly special! Here's the release from Milwaukee Film on this year's shorts, enjoy.
Milwaukee Film Festival Announces 2013 Shorter Is Better Line-up
More than 60 of the best festival-circuit shorts featured through eight themed programs.
More than 60 of the best festival-circuit shorts featured through eight themed programs.
MILWAUKEE – Thursday, August 29, 2013 – The Milwaukee Film Festival, presented by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, is excited to announce the line-up for its short film program, Shorter Is Better. Featuring more than 60 of the best shorts from all over the world divided into eight themed mini-programs, Shorter is Better not only provides the festival audience with a rare chance to view work from masters of the short format, but also a first glimpse at many future feature directors.“The short film format has always been the place to find truly remarkable and inventive storytelling,” says Shorts Programmer & Development Coordinator Anna Sampers. “And the film festival is not just your best chance to see them how they were meant to be seen — in a theater — but oftentimes the only way you can see them at all!”
The 2013 Shorter Is Better line-up includes several annual favorites: Date Night, Let’s Get Animated, and Out of This World and The Best Damn F*#@ing Midnight Program Ever. Sh*t. New programs for this year include: …Make Lemonade, Modern Families, Obsession, and the short documentary collection Stranger Than Fiction.
For more information on Shorter Is Better and the rest of the 2013 Milwaukee Film Festival, visit mkefilm.org.
Shorter Is Better Media Sponsor: Tap Milwaukee
SHORTER IS BETTER LINE-UP:
Shorts: The Best Damn F*#@ing Midnight Program Ever. Sh*t.
Total running time: 83 min
YOU ARE NOT PREPARED. Films too demented for the light of day will get their chance to leave you howling with fear or laughter as a torrent of sex and violence unspool before your very eyes. NOTE: Polite, functional members of society will not be admitted to this screening. BYOD (Bring your own diapers).
The Apocalypse (USA / 2012 / Director: Andrew Zuchero)
The Cub (USA / 2012 / Director: Riley Stearns)
Flytopia (United Kingdom / 2012 / Director: Karni Arieli, Saul Freed)
Hell No (USA / 2013 / Director: Joe Nicolosi)
It’s Not You, It’s Me (USA / 2012 / Director: Matt Spicer)
Oh Sheep! (Germany / 2012 / Director: Gottfried Mentor)
Perfect Drug (Belgium / 2012 / Director: Toon Aerts)
Sea Pig (USA / 2013 / Directors: Andrew Gilchrist, Jesse Allen)
Swarming (Kuhina) (Finland / 2011 / Director: Joni Männistö)
Shorts: Date Night
Total running time: 95 min
L'amour. Eros. A lie perpetuated by Meg Ryan and Hallmark. Call it what you will, these portraits of love in all its awkward glory (from meet cute to leave ugly) make for the perfect night out for lovebirds young and old as well as optimistic singles looking to mingle (responsibly, in the theater lobby).
The Bird Spider (La Migala) (Spain / 2011 / Director: Jaime Dezcallar)
CRUSH 472 (United Kingdom / 2013 / Director: Jess Scott-Hunter)
The Date (Treffit) (Finland / 2012 / Director: Jenni Toivoniemi)
Ellen Is Leaving (New Zealand / 2012 / Director: Michelle Savill)
Routine (Rutina) (Spain / 2012 / Director: Ana Ortiz)
Taboulé (Spain / 2011 / Director: Richard García)
Ten Thousand Days (New Zealand / 2012 / Director: Michael Duignan)
Tram (France, Czech Republic / 2012 / Director: Michaela Pavlátová)
Undress Me (Ta Av Mig) (Sweden / 2013 / Director: Victor Lindgren)
Shorts: Let’s Get Animated
Total running time: 82 min
 |
| Boles |
Bird Food (Ireland / 2012 / Director: Richard Keane)
Boles (Germany / 2013 / Director: Spela Cadez)
I Am Tom Moody (United Kingdom / 2012 / Director: Ainslie Henderson)
Irish Folk Furniture (Ireland / 2012 / Director: Tony Donoghue)
Jonah (Tanzania, United Kingdom / 2012 / Director: Kibwe Tavares)
Marcel, King of Tervuren (USA / 2012 / Director: Tom Schroeder)
Oh Willy… (Belgium, France, Netherlands / 2012 / Directors: Marc James Roels, Emma De Swaef)
Palmipedarium (France / 2012 / Director: Jérémy Clapin)
Shorts: …Make Lemonade
Total running time: 88 min
 |
| Walking The Dogs |
All Souls’ Day (Swieto Zmarlych) (Poland / 2012 / Director: Aleksandra Terpińska)
Fear of Flying (Ireland / 2012 / Director: Conor Finnegan)
Keys. Wallet. Phone. (Germany / 2012 / Director: Juliet Lashinsky-Revene)
Summer Vacation (Hofesh Gadol) (Israel / 2012 / Directors: Sharon Maymon, Tal Granit)
Walking the Dogs (United Kingdom / 2012 / Director: Jeremy Brock)
Shorts: Modern Families
Total running time: 84 min
Family. Can't live with 'em — well, that about sums it up, I think. These explorations take the nuclear family of the '50s and detonate it: Funny and sweet, heartbreaking and mature, these shorts are for anyone whose family keeps them going and drives them crazy in equal amounts. *Some shorts contain adult themes. This program is not intended for children.
Anna and Jerome (France / 2012 / Director: Melanie Delloye)
Do I Have to Take Care of Everything? (Pitaako mun Kaikki Hoitaa?) (Finland / 2011 / Director: Selma Vihunen)
Dotty (New Zealand / 2012 / Directors: Mick Andrews, Brett O’Gorman)
F**k the Parents (USA / 2012 / Director: Ethan Kuperberg)
Grandpa and Me and a Helicopter to Heaven (Morfar och jag och helikoptern till himlen) (Sweden / 2013 / Directors: Asa Blanck, Johan Palmgren)
Mobile Homes (USA, France / 2013 / Director: Vladimir de Fontenay)
Mud Crab (Australia / 2012 / Directors: Igor Coric, Sheldon Lieberman)
My Favorite Picture of You (USA / 2013 / Directors: Dan Lindsay, T.J. Martin)
Shorts: Obsession
Total running time: 89 min
ob·ses·sion: Noun/əb'seSHən/ An idea or thought that continually preoccupies or intrudes on a person's mind. Whether it's a desire to protect one's family, see the big city, follow their dreams or inappropriately lust after their hot aunt, the subjects of these shorts are obsessed. And before this program is through, you'll be too.
Dumpy Goes to the Big Smoke (Australia / 2012 / Director: Mirrah Foulkes)
Eating Lunch (Äta Lunch) (Sweden / 2012 / Director: Sanna Lenken)
Georgena Terry (USA / 2012 / Director: Amanda Zackem)
GUN (USA / 2012 / Director: Spencer Gillis)
Peach Juice (Canada / 2012 / Directors: Callum Paterson, Nathan Gilliss, Brian Lye)
The Roper (USA / 2012 / Directors: Ewan McNicol, Anna Sandilands)
The Tuner (O Afinador) (Brazil / 2012 / Directors: Fernando Camargo, Matheus Parizi)
Woody (Australia / 2013 / Director: Stuart Bowen)
Shorts: Out of This World
Total running time: 91 min
You're about to enter another dimension: Supernatural, impossible and just plain bonkers, these shorts embrace the unknown and present us with a vision that is out of this world. Fans of the unknown take heed: These shorts will transport you to places you've never been — you're about to enter the MFF Shorts Zone.
The Captain (Australia, USA / 2013 / Directors: Nash Edgerton, Spencer Susser)
Catnip: Egress to Oblivion? (USA / 2012 / Director: Jason Willis)
Delicacy (USA / 2012 / Director: Jason Mann)
Dust (United Kingdom / 2013 / Directors: Ben Ockrent, Jake Russell)
Edmond Was a Donkey (Edmond Était un Âne) (Canada, France / 2012 / Director: Franck Dion)
Hotel (Spain / 2012 / Director: Jose Luis Aleman)
Record/Play (United Kingdom, Bosnia / 2012 / Director: Jesse Atlas)
Shelved (New Zealand / 2011 / Director: James Cunningham)
Ufologist (USA / 2012 / Directors: Ewan McNicol, Anna Sandilands)
Shorts: Stranger Than Fiction
Total running time: 102 min
These documentaries, no matter how outlandish they may initially appear, are 100% real. The true story behind a photo that defined a generation, the sublime art of pigeon catching, the promise of cryogenics? All of it true, all of it amazing. Yes, these people and situations exist. Believe it.
Eddie Adams: Saigon ‘68 (USA / 2012 / Director: Douglas Sloan)
The Flogsta Roar (Flogstavrålet) (Sweden / 2013 / Director: Johan Palmgren)
Mr. Christmas (USA / 2012 / Director: Nick Palmer)
Pouters (United Kingdom / 2012 / Director: Paul Fegan)
Unravel (United Kingdom, India / 2012 / Director: Meghna Gupta)
Vladimir Putin In Deep Concentration (USA / 2013 / Directors: Dana O’Keefe, Sasha Kliment)
We Will Live Again (USA / 2013 / Directors: Joshua Koury, Myles Kane)
The 2013 Milwaukee Film Festival runs September 26 – October 10, 2013 at the Landmark Oriental Theatre, Landmark Downer Theatre, and Fox-Bay Cinema Grill. Passes and ticket 6-packs for the 2013 Milwaukee Film Festival are currently available at discounted rates exclusively online at mkefilm.org/tickets. Festival passes and 6-packs are selling quickly, with early numbers already surpassing the total sold in all of 2012.
Tickets for individual screenings will be available through Milwaukee Film Festival Box Office starting September 11 for Milwaukee Film Members and September 12 for the General Public.
Stay tuned to the website for more on what to see -- and future announcements from my friends at Milwaukee Film.
The 4th Annual Milwaukee Film Festival is scheduled for September 27-October 11 at a number of theaters in Milwaukee and this year we'll be staying up late to check out the "amalgamation of all things raunchy, gory, scary, fun, bizarre and possibly offensive."
Programming Manager Angela Catalano wanted to infuse a cohesive program with the passion she has for genre films. "Personally, I think this line-up is kick-a$$." Yep, that's a quote from the release.
Titles on the list for this year's program include:
 |
| Dead Weight part of Cinema Hooligante |
Beyond the Black Rainbow, Citadel (a SXSW audience award winner), Dead Weight (lots of Wisconsin ties here), Eddie the Sleepwalking Cannibal, Klown, V/H/S, a shorts program and Mark Borchardt Presents: The Giant Spider Invasion.
The Mark Borchardt Presents title lets Milwaukee filmmaker Mark Borchardt, who many have seen as the focus of American Movie, present one of his favorite cult films. A Q&A will follow and who know what might happen.
The Midnight Film Program is just the latest announcement from Milwaukee Film, who announced their Children's Festival Line-Up in Mid August and the line-up for Passport China earlier this month.
The festival looks to be screening at the Landmark Oriental and Landmark Downer again this year and has added the Fox-Bay Cinema Grill as a third location. (Gone is the Ridge and Northshore locations from the list of screening theaters -- and that's too bad as the Ridge was like a second home for me last year).
There is much more to be announced here so stay tuned...
From today's release --
“We have been screening music documentaries since day one of the Milwaukee Film Festival, but last year was the first time we pulled them together into their own program, Sound Vision,” explains Artistic & Executive Director Jonathan Jackson. “Milwaukee's music community didn't let us down—the films were incredibly well-attended. I'm really looking forward to screening my all-time personal favorite, Stop Making Sense, alongside the rest of these varied, soon-to-be classic music docs.”
Sound Vision’s Media Sponsors: WMSE 91.7FM & The Pabst Theater
SOUND VISION LINE-UP:
Bayou Maharajah: The Tragic Genius of James Booker
(USA / 2013 / Director: Lily Keber)
He toured with Aretha Franklin, recorded with Little Richard and mentored a young Harry Connick Jr.; yet despite his standing in the New Orleans jazz scene, James Booker, the self-described “Black Liberace,” remains mostly unknown. That won’t long be the case with Bayou Maharajah, an incisive look at the man Dr. John called “the best black, gay, one-eyed junkie piano genius New Orleans has ever produced.” Using never-before-seen concert footage, director Lily Keber has crafted a joyous yet unsparing look at a man whose wild imagination and destructive appetites found their only outlet in his virtuoso piano playing.
Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me
(USA / 2012 / Director: Drew DeNicola)
In the early ’70s, alternative rock forefathers Big Star released three albums that, while critically acclaimed,disappeared due to poor record sales. As decades passed, their legend grew, influencing such rock luminaries as R.E.M., The Flaming Lips and Wilco, while seeing all three albums land on the Rolling Stone top-500-of-all-time list. Even with this renaissance, their amazing story has never been properly told until now. It’s a moving portrait of what is arguably rock music's greatest cult phenomenon, a group nearly forgotten despite having left such a massive imprint on the rock ’n’ roll landscape.Brothers Hypnotic
(USA / 2013 / Director: Reuben Atlas)
For the eight young men who comprise the joyful and bombastic Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, brotherhood is literal: They're all sons of anti-establishment jazz legend Phil Cohran. Raised on a steady diet of jazz and funk crossed with Black Consciousness on Chicago's South Side, this jazz cooperative has moved from busking on the streets to collaborating with Mos Def and opening for Prince. This coming-of-age doc is filled with their unremittingly unique brand of music and showcases their struggle to maintain the values they were raised on when confronted with the promise of record deals and musical stardom. Enzo Avitabile Music Life
(Italy / 2012 / Director: Jonathan Demme)
Academy Award-winning director Jonathan Demme returns to the success of Stop Making Sense with this documentary spotlight on a lesser-known quantity to Americans, Italian multi-instrumentalist Enzo Avitabile. Taking a fly-on-the-wall approach to Enzo’s musical process and life story (doubling as a gorgeous portrait of Naples in the process), the film is host to remarkable jam sessions between the versatile Avitabile and a collection of amazing world music talents all performing sonic wizardry on rare and bizarre instruments native to their home countries. It’s a fascinating look at a remarkable life, filled to the brim with unforgettable musical moments.
The Girls in the Band
(USA / 2011 / Director: Judy Chaikin)
An award-winning look at the untold stories of female jazz and big band instrumentalists and the uphill climb they faced just to be heard, The Girls in the Band shines an entertaining light on women cast to the margins of jazz history. Subject to punishing sexism and racism, these women powered through all obstacles with good humor, steadfast determination and musical mastery as their guide. This long-overdue celebration showcases their groundbreaking journeys from the late ’30s all the way to today (influencing contemporaries such as Grammy-winner Esperanza Spalding) in a “real crowd-pleaser” that “may prompt a rewrite of jazz history” (Robert Koehler, Variety).
Muscle Shoals
(USA / 2012 / Director: Greg “Freddy” Camalier)
“Free Bird,” “I’ll Take You There,” “Brown Sugar” — the tiny Alabama town of Muscle Shoals is home to these and many more hit records that shaped the course of popular music. This rousing doc takes a look at the people (Rick Hall and “The Swampers,” his genius rhythm section) behind the town's sound, whose legendary FAME studio became a creative oasis where talent trumped skin color in an age and state where segregation ruled the day. Jagger, Aretha, Simon and Bono all lend their voices to a documentary that showcases the lasting power of the Muscle Shoals sound.Narco Cultura
(USA / 2012 / Director: Shaul Schwarz)
In Ciudad Juarez, thousands of homicide cases overtax the crime scene units as drug cartels slowly tilt the system’s odds in their favor. Meanwhile, across the border, nestled in the safe embrace of El Paso, Texas, musicians work feverishly to meet growing demand for narco-corridos, waltz-like ballads that lionize the blood-soaked escapades of traffickers and kingpins (who play them over police radio channels in the wake of their violent acts) idolized for having escaped poverty and squalor. Cutting between these disparate scenes and showcasing a largely unknown counterculture taking hold across both borders, director Shaul Schwarz examines how a calamitous lifestyle remains so appealing as Narco Cultura continues to grow.
Stop Making Sense
(USA / 1984 / Director: Jonathan Demme)
Only the greatest concert film ever made, Jonathan Demme’s stunning collaboration with Talking Heads is a high-energy spectacle that gathers momentum throughout, allowing us to get swept up in the boundless energy of charismatic frontman David "Don't Touch Me, I'm a Real Live Wire" Byrne. Demme smartly trains his camera on the performers, allowing the band’s kinetic performance to rule the day in an environment where eminently danceable tunes coexist alongside ingenious stagecraft. A must-see for fans of concert films, this 35 mm screening is a “Once in a Lifetime” experience of a towering achievement liable to leave MFF audiences dancing in the aisles.
In addition to the films, Milwaukee Film is also proud to partner with The Hotel Foster to present Soundtrack, their second annual live music series. Featuring live music for 14 straight nights (every night of the festival except Opening Night).
The 2013 Milwaukee Film Festival runs September 26 – October 10, 2013.
For more information on Sound Vision and the rest of the 2013 Milwaukee Film Festival, visit mkefilm.org.
Watch this space for more coverage all the way through the 2013 festival.
Milwaukee Film has you covered for the second year with, as they describe it..."all the raunchy, gory, scary, fun, bizarre and possibly offensive midnight, cult and genre films you could possible cram into one film festival program."
They continue by letting us know - This year, Cinema Hooligante will feature screenings of six of the best modern genre films on the current festival circuit. There will also be a pair of incredibly rare, one-night-only 35mm screenings of two drastically different genre classics: Bruce Lee’s 1973 kung-fu classic, Enter the Dragon (celebrating its 40thanniversary), and 2001: A Space Odyssey, presented by Milwaukee Brewers pitcher John Axford.
CINEMA HOOLIGANTE LINE-UP:
100 Bloody Acres
(Australia / 2012 / Directors: Cameron Cairnes, Colin Cairnes)
Following in the proud cannibalism-as-business-model tradition of films from Soylent Green to Silence of the Lambs comes the tale of the Morgan brothers and their curiously potent organic fertilizer. Unfortunately, a scarcity of roadside product has seen demand far outstrip their supply. Younger brother Reg (Damon Herriman of Justified) sees a solution to their woes — in the form of three stranded travelers — that might also finally net his older brother's respect. But when he begins to fall for Sophie, meant for man-mulch and whose travel situation is more complicated than Reg could possibly realize, this wildly entertaining horror-comedy becomes violently and hilariously complicated.
2001: A Space Odyssey
Presented by John Axford
(USA, UK / 1968 / Director: Stanley Kubrick)
A movie about life, the universe and everything, Stanley Kubrick’s triumphant sci-fi classic is one of cinema’s towering achievements, a film whose awe-inspiring visuals, meticulous composition and editing demand the sort of big-screen treatment that is so luckily being afforded us with this 35 mm screening. 2001also heralds the return of Brewers fireballer John Axford to the MFF, bringing his expertise as a graduate of Notre Dame’s film program to bear as he presents this, one of his favorite films, to our audience — a rare opportunity to see one of the greatest movies ever made on film among fellow cinephiles.Enter the Dragon
(Hong Kong, USA / 1973 / Director: Robert Clouse)
Bruce Lee’s tragically short life allowed us only a scant few opportunities to see him lay waste to all who surrounded him with his awesome display of martial arts mastery. Enter the Dragon might be the best of them: Going undercover at the behest of an intelligence agency, Lee is entered into a bone-crunching karate tournament hosted by the dastardly Han in order to expose the drug trafficking and human slavery Han engages in on his secret island fortress. This 35 mm screening, during the film’s 40th anniversary, is skull-rattling, jump-kicking appointment viewing for any and all action fans.
Here Comes the Devil
(Mexico / 2012 / Director: Adrián García Bogliano)
Felix and Sol’s desire for some amorous alone time leads them to allow their children Sara and Adolfo to explore a hillside cave while on vacation in Tijuana. The children’s subsequent disappearance causes no small amount of anguish for the young parents, only for the kids to reappear the next day. It becomes clear, however, that the children didn’t come back alone. Director Adrián García Bogliano deftly blends art house and exploitation cinema in this tale of parental paranoia, piling on the tension and gratuitous nudity as this chilling, hypersexual tale careens toward its shocking and violent final revelations.
Sightseers
(UK / 2012 / Director: Ben Wheatley)
A road-trip vacation takes a turn for the gruesome in this pitch-black comedy from cult director Ben Wheatley (Kill List) and executive producer Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead). Chris means to show the sheltered Tina the British Isles and their many wonderments (sample destination: The Pencil Museum) in his caravan. Their sweet sojourn turns bitter after a violent encounter with a persnickety townsperson turns their idyllic journey into a gore-soaked romp through the countryside. Wheatley’s droll humor meshes exquisitely with his shocking bursts of arterial artistry, allowing for a horrifyingly funny culture critique in the proud British tradition.
The Rambler
(USA / 2013 / Director: Calvin Reeder)
Fresh out of prison, our laconic protagonist (Dermot Mulroney) abandons his ramshackle existence to start a
Vanishing Waves
(Lithuania, France, Belgium / 2012 / Director: Kristina Buozyte)
Fans of MFF 2012's Beyond the Black Rainbow take note: Vanishing Wavesis your ticket to trippy sci-fi delirium at this year's festival. Something like “Altered States” crossbred with “Inception,” but with the determination to mine the inescapable sexuality at the forefront of our subconscious, the film follows Lukas as his attempts to communicate with the comatose Aurora through sensory deprivation result in a hauntingly erotic journey through their united surrealistic dreamscapes. Lukas’ obsession grows deeper as he hides these trysts from his fellow researchers and probes further into the recesses of Aurora's subconscious to rescue her from certain doom.
We Are What We Are
(USA / 2013 / Director: Jim Mickle)
In the wake of the family matriarch’s untimely passing, father Frank Parker tasks his teenage daughters Iris and Rose with taking up her role in the family’s sacred traditions. However, the young women find themselves
The 2013 Milwaukee Film Festival runs September 26 – October 10, 2013.
For more information on Cinema Hooligante and the rest of the 2013 Milwaukee Film Festival, visit mkefilm.org.
Watch this space for more coverage all the way through the 2013 version of this festival.
With a community that is deep in German heritage, it is only natural that today's announcement of Milwaukee Film
Festival's Passport: Germany is bound to resonate in the community.
Past features have been focused on India and China.
This year's Passport: Germany features Eight German and one Australian filmmaker with films at least partially set in Germany and subjects connected to the country.
In the release from Milwaukee Film, Artistic and Executive Director, Jonathan Jackson says
“We’re hoping that Milwaukee’s own strong German heritage makes this year’s Passport program even more special for our audience.”
Not only will the special program feature eight films, but it will also include a lecture from Dr. Sara Hall (no relation) of the University of Illinois-Chicago on the current trends and concerns in German cinema.
The lineup for Passport: Germany
Almanya, Welcome to Germany(Germany / Director: Yasemin Samdereli)
In 1964, Huseyin leaves his native Turkey in order to create a better life for his family in Germany. Nearly fifty
years later, the patriarch insists on a group road trip back to the motherland. This colorful, family-friendly look at the amorphous world of cultural identity tackles the immigrant experience with a richly deserved warmth and humanity. Director Yasemin Samdereli expertly cuts between both past and present, pulling at your heartstrings and making you laugh out loud in equal doses, as she shows that no matter how the world changes, the question of what determines who you are remains ageless.Hannah Arendt
(Germany / Director: Margarethe von Trotta)
An intelligent and powerful biopic following the most memorable and controversial moment in the life of the German-Jewish political philosopher, whose series of New Yorker articles surrounding the 1961 Eichmann trial introduced her now-famous “banality of evil” concept and won her plaudits and condemnation alike the world over. Esteemed German director Margarethe von Trotta nimbly intercuts real trial footage into her dramatization, managing the herculean feat of making the inner life of an intellectual both honest and cinematically engrossing. Barbara Sukowa's magnetic lead performance centers the film, capturing the massive humanity and intellect behind the name.
Lore
(Australia, Germany, United Kingdom / Director: Cate Shortland)Lore (portrayed by the stunning Saskia Rosendahl) must lead her three younger siblings on a perilous five hundred mile journey through the Bavarian wilderness after the imprisonment of her Nazi parents during the regime’s dying throes in rural Germany. Her own staunchly anti-semitic feelings are put to the test along the way, as they encounter the enigmatic Thomas, a Jewish runaway who may be their best hope for reaching safety. Director Cate Shortland coaxes remarkable performances from her predominantly adolescent cast, making the multiple award-winning Lore into a tale of childhood’s end that provides a visually stunning glimpse into the damage wrought by hateful ideologies.
Ludwig II
(Germany / Directors: Marie Noelle, Peter Sehr)
This lush, sprawling epic surrounds the unexpected ascension and reign of the Bavarian king who wished to “remain an eternal enigma.” A believer in the transformative power of art and culture, King Ludwig II (both a patron and admirer of Wagner) ran afoul of the political elite with his focus on musical instruments of construction instead of weapons of destruction. Ludwig’s idyllic vision is shattered by the Franco-Prussian War, and the choices he’s forced to make have calamitous results. In the vein of Marie Antoinette before it, Ludwig IIfinds the humanity behind the history and brings the ‘mad monarch’ soaring to life.
Oh Boy
(Germany / Director: Jan Ole Gerster)
A fresh voice in German cinema emerges in Oh Boy, Jan-Ole Gerster’s French New Wave by way of Woody Allen day-in-the-life slacker comedy. Cut off by his father after his multi-year college dropout status is revealed, separated from a girlfriend who requires commitment and, perhaps worst of all, unable to acquire a normal cup of coffee; Niko's day couldn't be more exapserating. The jazz soundtrack and gorgeous black and white cinematography lend a classic flavor to this modern tale of youthful ennui that was the big winner at the 2012 Lolas (Germany’s answer to the Oscars).Oma and Bella
(Germany / Director: Alexa Karolinski)
Regina Karolinski and Bella Katz are octogenarians living together in modern Berlin who spend their days preparing the delicious comfort food with an eye towards creating a cookbook to keep alive the heritage and memories of their youth. They first met in the immediate aftermath of World War II, both having had endured concentration camps and the loss of their families. A heartwarming, appetite-stoking visit with to two wonderful women who pay tribute to their past while staying fully engaged in the present, Oma and Bella is a moving portrait of a cooking-as-therapy that provides a honest portrait of two irrepressible spirits.
This Ain’t California
(Germany / Director: Marten Persiel)
Dogtown and Z-Boys meets The Lives of Others with a pinch of Exit Through the Gift Shop thrown in for good measure in this dazzling hybrid documentary tight-rope act that explores the little-known skateboarding subculture in 1980s East Germany through the lives of three close friends following their bliss on handmade boards through the concrete jungle of the GDR. Stunningly-crafted recreations in Super 8 film blend seamlessly alongside period-specific newscasts as director Marten Persiel tells his tale of youthful rebellion in an era of political tumult with vibrant energy—a joyous celebration built to awaken the dormant anti-authoritarian in all of us.
Wings of Desire
(Germany / Director: Wim Wenders)
A rare opportunity to experience classic cinema in its intended 35mm glory, Wim Wenders acclaimed city symphony posits a world where invisible angels glide effortlessly above a divided Berlin, listening to our hopes and fears. We follow Damiel (Bruno Ganz) and Cassiel (Otto Sander) as they weave their way through the city, until Damiel’s affection for a trapeze artist leads him to make the fateful decision to shed the immortal coil and become human. More driven by a love of humankind than the plot, Wender's gentle pacing and expert touch create a cinematic tone poem that enchants all who encounter it.
(Germany / Director: Marten Persiel)
Dogtown and Z-Boys meets The Lives of Others with a pinch of Exit Through the Gift Shop thrown in for good measure in this dazzling hybrid documentary tight-rope act that explores the little-known skateboarding subculture in 1980s East Germany through the lives of three close friends following their bliss on handmade boards through the concrete jungle of the GDR. Stunningly-crafted recreations in Super 8 film blend seamlessly alongside period-specific newscasts as director Marten Persiel tells his tale of youthful rebellion in an era of political tumult with vibrant energy—a joyous celebration built to awaken the dormant anti-authoritarian in all of us.
Wings of Desire
(Germany / Director: Wim Wenders)
A rare opportunity to experience classic cinema in its intended 35mm glory, Wim Wenders acclaimed city symphony posits a world where invisible angels glide effortlessly above a divided Berlin, listening to our hopes and fears. We follow Damiel (Bruno Ganz) and Cassiel (Otto Sander) as they weave their way through the city, until Damiel’s affection for a trapeze artist leads him to make the fateful decision to shed the immortal coil and become human. More driven by a love of humankind than the plot, Wender's gentle pacing and expert touch create a cinematic tone poem that enchants all who encounter it.
Visit Milwaukee Film for tickets (including 6-packs) and more -- and watch for the continuing coverage of the festival here. The festival runs September 26 - October 10, 2013.
The 5th Annual Milwaukee Film Festival is planned for September 26 - October 10, 2013.
In 2012 the festival had attendance over 50,000 and 77 sold-out film screenings according to Milwaukee Film.
The cool thing about the film festival for me personally is the last 2 years have featured to of my favorite documentaries to be released.
In 2011 the festival had The Interrupters, a film that took on the gun crimes of Chicago on the streets of Chicago...head on. The brave men and women of the group are doing their part to help at the most direct levels.
And in 2012, the US premiere of Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God was an amazing look inside the Catholic churches priest sex abuse scandals. Director Alex Gibney delivers a haunting and moving tale of lies, coverups and hope for the survivors.
While Mea Maxima Culpa was on the Academy short list for the Oscar, it didn't make the final cut (which is about as egregious as the snub of Ben Affleck and Kathryn Bigelow...but that's another story). Before I get too high on my horse with it, the 4th Milwaukee Film Festival DID feature 3 of the 5 nominees in the final Documentary category and is proving to be a place that midwestern viewers can count on for that programming.
Most of the details are still to come include the Call For Entries, Venues, Ticket Options and the like, but if the past couple years are any indications... the fall in the Milwaukee area will be hot!
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| Sold-out crowd at the Oriental Theatre for the MFF 2012 Opening Night Film, Starbuck (photo credit: Jennifer Johnson) |