We are music people. We don’t play films on the radio, but that is just because that wouldn’t make any sense. Really, we are arts people. We love music, movies, books, the whole gambit of the arts world. That is why we love the Milwaukee Film Festival. It brings throngs of people in Milwaukee out to celebrate the best of the best in film.
So we got our highlighters out, opened up the guide, went through the 300 plus films at the festival this year, and picked the films that we are most excited to see. Each day we picked a feature film, a documentary, and a short film collection. These are our picks for the weekend of Oct 2.
Friday
Feature Film: One For The Road @ 3:30pm at The Oriental Theatre
Three octogenarian friends embark on a road trip to fulfill their friend's final wish in this heartfelt Spanish comedy. He wishes for his prized possession–a napkin with a draft of a song by legendary Ranchera singer José Alfredo Jiménez–to be bequeathed to Jiménez’s official museum. The trio embarks on a journey in defiance of loved ones and fears for their safety, engaging in a series of comic adventures that remind them that their golden years need not be spent solely reflecting on past memories. They can, in fact, be an opportunity to create entirely new ones.
Documentary Film: A Ballerina's Tale @ 7:00pm at Fox-Bay Cinema
Misty Copeland, the first African-American female soloist at New York’s American Ballet Theatre, would be the first to tell you that, based on body type, pedigree, and background, she shouldn’t be a part of one of the world’s most prestigious ballet companies. But her inspirational story of dogged determination (overcoming a debilitating shin injury, eating disorders, and racial issues), filmed here in a raw, cinéma vérité documentary, will leave no doubt as to how this trailblazer shot her way up the ranks and overcame all obstacles to turn in breathtaking performances in Firebird and Swan Lake.
Shorts: The Milwaukee Show II @ 6:30pm at The Oriental Theatre
The second installment of our local celebration brings us even more diverse styles and voices from the local film scene, with stories ranging from a documentary about a Kenyan sound engineer’s work in African crisis zones to Orson Welles’ “War of the Worlds” broadcast coming to life in our very own public museum, and even a claymation short about a cat-hating grump saddled with an affection-seeking kitten.
Saturday
Feature Film: Imperial Dreams @ 7:00pm at the Downer Theatre
A redemption tale anchored by an amazing lead performance from John Boyega (star of the upcoming STAR WARS film), IMPERIAL DREAMS is a family drama with an astonishingly realized father-son relationship at its core. Bambi (Boyega) is coming home to Watts; recently released from prison, he has designs on earning a living as a writer (having been published while incarcerated) to provide for his young son, Day. But he quickly realizes the deck is stacked against him and it’s going to take everything he has to achieve his dreams in this stunning, multiple award-winning drama.
Documentary Film: Stop Making Sense @ 11:00pm at The Oriental Theatre
A Milwaukee Film Festival tradition! Come dressed for movement and make sure all aisles are clear for dancing. Jonathan Demme’s essential concert documentary chronicling multiple nights of propulsive performance from the iconic Talking Heads (including magnetic frontman David Byrne and Milwaukee’s own Jerry Harrison) is sure to burn down the house once again. Gaining momentum like a runaway freight train, the show (and Byrne’s iconic suit) only gets bigger as it rolls along, so remember to pace yourself. This is a joyous marathon, not a sprint.
Shorts: Sport Shorts. Shorts about Sports @ 1:30pm at The Avalon Theater
Whether you’re a lifelong sports fanatic or you think a goalie can dunk a touchdown, these stories are for you. They all deal with some manner of underdog, and the humanity of these subjects shines through and leaves you rooting for their success. These populist parables of perseverance, as people push the limits of what’s possible, will leave you grinning ear to ear (and doing the wave).
SHORT FILMS PART OF THIS PROGRAM: RUN FAST, EVERY DAY,GIOVANNI AND THE WATER BALLET, BOXEADORA, THE EDGE OF IMPOSSIBLE, THE BAD BOY OF BOWLING.
Sunday
Feature Film: The Seventh Seal
Behold on the big screen in 35mm the most iconic work in Ingmar Bergman’s career, with its breathtaking black-and-white imagery that changed movies forever and proved the pure power that cinema as a medium could possess. Max von Sydow’s knight returns home from the Crusades wrestling with a crisis of faith, only to find Death itself in his plague-ravaged homeland, waiting to play the most high-stakes game of chess one can imagine. This “radical work of art reaches back to scripture, to Cervantes, and to Shakespeare to create a new dramatic idiom of its own” (The Guardian).
Documentary Film: The Glamour & The Squalor@ 7:00pm at The Oriental Theatre
Meet the man who discovered the music that defined a generation—Marco Collins, one of the last great rock radio DJs. Collins helped break such artists as Nirvana, Weezer, Death Cab for Cutie, and Beck while also rekindling an era of popularity for both punk rock and electronic dance music in America. But his story extends far beyond music—battles with drug addiction and stints in rehab, as well as a life spent in the closet before becoming an LGBT spokesperson, combine to forge a riveting documentary about a man whose relentless passion created a musical revolution.
Shorts: Kids Shorts: Size Small @ 10:45am at The Oriental Theatre
Safe for even the youngest cinephiles, this selection of energetic animated films is sure to be a crowdpleaser. Here you’ll find tales of nearly all creatures great and small, including a toe-tapping “MOO-sic” video from beloved author Sandra Boynton that will delight viewers young and old. All films in English or without dialogue.
SHORT FILMS PART OF THIS PROGRAM: ZEBRA, ONE, TWO, TREE, PIK-PIK-PIK, LAMBS, THE LAST LEAF, THE LAW OF THE JUNGLE (LA LOI DU PLUS FORT), THE LITTLE HEDGEHOG (LE PETIT HÉRISSON PARTAGEUR),THE MITTEN (LA MOUFLE), FORWARD, MARCH!, FRED & ANABEL, COWS (MOOSIC VIDEO).
