Updated: 10:09 a.m. Sept. 4
Movies can be a great escape from daily life, but there’s a lot to be said for their ability to connect us more strongly to the real world. Milwaukee Film’s Dialogues Documentary Festival fills that latter role by showcasing dozens of selections every year, including the ones coming to the Oriental and Downer Theaters from Sept. 18-21.
The local organization announced its full schedule of films this week, revealing another varied lineup that covers everything from music to medicine to mental health.
“We’re so proud that Dialogues Documentary Festival is returning for a second year,” Milwaukee Film executive director Susan Kerns said in a release. “This year’s lineup is bold, powerful, and sometimes just a lot of fun, and we can’t wait to welcome everyone to our theaters for four days of unbelievable true stories."
You can find the entire lineup below, starting with a few music-focused films that caught our eye. Tickets to all of this year’s selections are on sale now, and the organization will hold a Friends & Family Preview of the 2025 Dialogues Documentary Festival at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 10, at the Oriental Theatre.
Dialogues Documentary Festival 2025
Boy George & Culture Club
Alison Ellwood | 2025 | United States, United Kingdom
Sept. 18 | 7 p.m. | Oriental Theatre (Abele Cinema)
With humor, heart, and a lot of glitz and glam, this endlessly charming documentary dives into the chaos, charisma, and enduring bond of one of the most iconic bands of the ‘80s. Straight from the mouths of its four legendary members, MFF alum Alison Ellwood (Let the Canary Sing, MFF24) weaves a love story about the undeniable fondness that flowed beneath the surface of these musical legends — and the drama and heartbreak in between.
It's Dorothy!
Jeffrey McHale | 2025 | United States
Sept. 19 | 5:30 p.m. | Oriental Theatre (Abele Cinema)
It's Dorothy! fabulously pulls back the emerald curtain on 125 years of Dorothy Gale, from L. Frank Baum’s original literary Kansas dreamer to queer icon across stage and screen adaptations like Wicked, The Wiz, and the beloved 1939 film, The Wizard of Oz. Director Jeffrey McHale (You Don't Nomi, MFF19) assembles a twister of interviews, archival gems, and glittering pop culture moments to explore how Dorothy clicked her heels into the heart of LGBTQ+ identity and an undeniable cultural touchstone. This program will be followed by a filmmaker Q&A.
Just Sing
Abraham Troen, Angelique Molina | 2025 | United Kingdom
Sept. 21 | 7:30 p.m. | Oriental Theatre (Abele Cinema)
Angelique Molina and Abraham Troen's Just Sing takes us behind the curtain as USC's co-ed intercollegiate competitive a cappella group, the SoCal VoCals, prepares for their 2023 season and a hopeful, unprecedented, sixth national title. Like any sports or competition film, this doc is filled with adrenaline and heart, and will have you cheering (and perhaps even harmonizing) along until the credits roll. This program will be followed by an a cappella performance and talkback.
Wicket
Lily Plotkin | 2025 | United States
Sept. 19 | 8:30 p.m. | Downer Theatre (North Cinema)
After 41 years in the closet, breakdancing legend Bboy Wicket navigates the clash between his offstage persona and his public self. This high-energy coming of age again documentary follows Wicket’s reconciliation of his Filipino, queer, and hip-hop identities into a hip-hop icon finally living in his truth. Winner of Frameline’s Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature, Wicket reveals how falling in love with an artistic pursuit, a person, and yourself can change your life forever. This program will be followed by a talkback.
A Photographic Memory
Rachel Elizabeth Seed | 2024 | United States
Sept. 19 | 5 p.m. | Oriental Theatre (Herzfeld Cinema)
Award-winning journalist Sheila Turner Seed spent the 1970s interviewing such photography luminaries as Henri Cartier-Bresson, Gordon Parks, Cecil Beaton, and Lisette Model. When she passed away suddenly and tragically, she left behind an infant daughter, Rachel. More than 30 years later, Rachel has become a filmmaker, photographer, and writer herself. A Photographic Memory marks a moving attempt to construct a personal story of love, loss, and finding someone in the work they leave behind. This program will be followed by a filmmaker Q&A.
All God's Children
Ondi Timoner | 2024 | United States
Sept. 21 | 6:30 p.m. | Oriental Theatre (Herzfeld Cinema)
In the latest from MFF alum Ondi Timoner (LAST FLIGHT HOME, MFF23), the leaders of Congregation Beth Elohim in Park Slope and Antioch Baptist Church in Bed-Stuy embark on a radical experiment. Tackling their complex histories head on, these two Brooklyn institutions find communal traction, fighting side-by-side for justice and compassion, revealing the potential of interfaith coalitions and that they have much more in common than may at first appear. This program will be followed by a virtual Q&A and talkback.
An Unquiet Mind
Rachel Immaraj | 2024 | United States
Sept. 21 | 3:30 p.m. | Oriental Theatre (Herzfeld Cinema)
Few people truly understand obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), despite the condition affecting nearly 3 million people in the U.S. Silence and stereotypes have created a culture of shame that keeps people with OCD from getting support. An Unquiet Mind is a portrait documentary following three individuals living with the condition. Through honest, personal storytelling, director Rachel Immaraj shares her own journey along with these others to give a voice to experiences many are too afraid to share. This program will be followed by a filmmaker Q&A and talkback.
Any Problem Is No Problem
Alyssa Fedele, Zachary Fink | 2025 | United States
Sept. 21 | 5 p.m. | Oriental Theatre (Abele Cinema)
In Any Problem Is No Problem, five young entrepreneurs embark on personal journeys to reshape the future of technology at Crypto Startup School. With only three months to refine their businesses, perfect their pitches, and sharpen their innovations before laying it on the line for investors at Demo Day, this intimate portrayal reveals the grit, creativity, and passion required to make it as a startup founder in crypto, no matter the headwinds.
Arrest the Midwife
Elaine Epstein | 2025 | United States
Sept 19 | 5:30 p.m. | Downer Theatre (North Cinema)
With rare access to an intensely private community, Arrest the Midwife exposes the rural healthcare desert created by New York state's approach to maternal health regulation, sharing the story of criminalized midwives, and the Amish and Mennonite women who break from their traditions to stand up, speak out, and join the fight for women’s bodily autonomy and reproductive justice. Relevant across cultures, this documentary inspires coalitions that advocate for healthcare choice and access for all. This program will be followed by a talkback.
Between Goodbyes
Jota Mun | 2024 | South Korea, United States
Sept. 20 | 11 a.m. | Oriental Theatre (Herzfeld Cinema)
An adoptee raised in the Netherlands, Mieke’s life is very different from the one she might have led if her Korean family had not been pressured to give her up as a baby. When Mieke's birth parents track her down in adulthood, their reunion unleashes a whirlwind of guilt, joy, regret, and ambivalence. Through non-linear storytelling, we witness the family’s journey towards reconnection in this unique tale of home, acceptance, and the power of forgiveness.
Cat Town, USA
Jonathan Napolitano | 2025 | United States
Sept. 20 | 5:30 p.m. | Downer Theatre (North Cinema)
Meet Terry and Bruce Jenkins, founders of Cats Cradle Foundation, a sanctuary and hospice for senior cats with nowhere else to go, but still a lot of love, if not life, left in them. In this feel-good doc, director Jonathan Napolitano captures the emotional bonds between the couple and their feline residents, highlighting the joys, challenges, and inevitable goodbyes that come with caring for cats in their final chapter. This program will be followed by a talkback.
Comparsa
Vickie Curtis, Doug Anderson | 2025 | United States
Sept. 20 | 7:45 p.m. | Oriental Theatre (Herzfeld Cinema)
Comparsa an intense, urgent exploration of the power of art to heal a community, overcoming the traumas of violence and corruption. Sisters Lesli and Lupe are visionary young artists who are spurred to action after a horrific act of violence strikes their community in Guatemala City. When 41 teenage girls are killed and the perpetrators go unpunished, the lionhearted sisters use exuberant public performance to fight back. This program will be followed by a virtual filmmaker Q&A.
Farming While Black
Mark Decena | 2023 | United States
Sept. 20 | 11:30 a.m. | Oriental Theatre (Abele Cinema)
In 1910, Black farmers owned 14 percent of all American farmland. Over the intervening decades, that number fell below two percent, as a result of racism, discrimination, and dispossession. This visually eloquent film chronicles author of the book Farming While Black, Leah Penniman, and two other Black farmers’ efforts to reclaim their agricultural heritage. Collectively, their work has a major impact as leaders in the sustainable agriculture and food justice movements.
Fire in the Heartland: The Kent State Story
Daniel L. Miller | 2025 | United States
Sept. 20 | Noon | Downer Theatre (North Cinema)
Looking back on the student activism of the turbulent and transformative 1960s and 1970s, when students across the U.S. were compelled to fight against racism, violence, and the war in Vietnam, Fire in the Heartland recalls the tragedy at Kent State on May 4, 1970. This moving documentary honors the fallen through interviews that resonate loudly with activism on campuses in the 21st century, and invites viewers to discover the larger truth of a generation. This program will be followed by a talkback.
Folktales
Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady | 2025 | United States, Norway
Sept. 19 | 2:30 p.m. | Downer Theatre (North Cinema)
In Oscar nominees Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady’s life-affirming film, teenagers converge at a traditional folk high school in Arctic Norway where they must rely only on themselves, one another, and a loyal pack of sled dogs as they all grow in unexpected directions. Through intimate verité storytelling and exhilarating cinematography, Ewing and Grady examine humans on the cusp of adulthood, finding themselves at the edge of the world.
Holding Liat
Brandon Kramer | 2025 | United States
Sept. 18 | 6:30 p.m. | Oriental Theatre (Herzfeld Cinema)
After Liat Beinin Atzili is kidnapped on October 7, 2023, her Israeli-American family faces their own conflicting perspectives to fight for her release and the future of the places they call home. With raw, intimate access to Liat's family, filmmakers Brandon and Lance Kramer bring viewers up close to both the conflict in Gaza and the political implications for Israeli and American Jews in its wake.
How Deep Is Your Love
Eleanor Mortimer | 2025 | United Kingdom
Sept. 21 | Noon | Downer Theatre (North Cinema)
Scientists explore the mysterious deep sea to collect and name undiscovered species. As they uncover mesmerizing creatures and ecosystems thriving in darkness, a looming threat emerges: the prospect of deep-sea mining in this untouched wilderness. Weaving wonder with urgency, this film challenges us to balance the drive for resources with the intrinsic value of an ecosystem. As we journey through this breathtaking realm, we are left to ponder — how deep is our love?
Just Kids
Gianna Toboni | 2025 | United States
Sept. 20 | 2:30 p.m. | Oriental Theatre (Abele Cinema)
Over a tumultuous year, director Gianna Toboni's powerful documentary follows three families living in states where gender-affirming care is banned, as they demonstrate extraordinary strength in their fight to save their children's lives. Through intimate access to their daily struggles, we witness the human cost of politically motivated bans that contradict the medical consensus of America's leading healthcare associations, coming away with hope for our nation's youth and the strength of family to persevere.
Make Peace or Die
Manny Marquez | 2024 | United States
Sept. 19 | 8 p.m. | Oriental Theatre (Herzfeld Cinema)
Marine Corps veteran Anthony Marquez (and brother of director, MFF alum Manny Marquez, Psychopath, MFF14; Operation Allie, MFF15) returned from Afghanistan riddled with survivor's guilt. His unit, 1st Battalion 5th Marine Regiment, lost 17 men on their 2011 deployment to Sangin. Upon returning home, Anthony made it his mission to help the Gold Star families of the fallen find healing, and in doing so, attempt to heal himself. This program will be followed by a filmmaker Q&A.
Malignant Practice
Kristin Catalano | 2025 | United States
Sept. 21 | 2:30 p.m. | Oriental Theatre (Abele Cinema)
Malignant Practice is an animated short film based on the medical misfortune of a young woman whose breast cancer was missed by a doctor and a mammogram. This Milwaukee-made, deeply personal yet true story from MFF alum Kristin Catalano (Clarence, MFF15) emphasizes the flaws within our healthcare system and the importance of being one's own healthcare advocate. This program will be followed by a talkback.
Natchez
Suzannah Herbert | 2025 | United States
Sept. 21 | 6 p.m. | Downer Theatre (North Cinema)
Winner of Best Documentary Feature at Tribeca ’25, Natchez unravels the complex layers of a town in Mississippi sustained by antebellum tourism yet divided by the narrative of its own history. As hoop skirts and mansion tours clash with hard truths, Natchez becomes a riveting meditation on the stories America chooses to tell—and forget. Alum Suzannah Herbert (Wrestle, MFF18) asks the question: Who gets to tell America’s story?
She Runs the World
Perri Peltz, Matthew O'Neill | 2025 | United States
Sept. 20 | 8:30 p.m. | Downer Theatre (North Cinema)
Allyson Felix is the most decorated track and field athlete of all time. At the peak of her career, Felix happily discovers she is pregnant with her first child. But the pinnacle of Felix’s life turns into a public fight for maternal protections in sports, as a life-threatening complication triggers a high-stakes showdown with the most powerful brand in athletics. Delve into the cataclysmic movement that changed the game for countless women athletes across the country.
Shorts: Inside Outside
Sept. 21 | 3:15 p.m. | Downer Theatre (North Cinema)
This duo of longer short docs explores visibility within the context of confinement. Both films depict the consequences of imprisonment while offering empathy and mercy to the subjects, showing that these concepts can lead to not only understanding, but real connection and growth, even in the most unlikely place: prison.
- Classroom 4 | Eden Wurmfeld
- Edge of Daybreak | Dawn Porter
Shorts: Parks and Crafts
Sept. 18 | 6:30 p.m. | Downer Theatre (North Cinema)
This vibrant mix of documentary shorts explores the beautifully tangled relationship between nature and human creativity. These films wander through forests and fields, studios and sketchbooks to reveal how artists draw inspiration from the natural world and give back in return. (Sunscreen optional.)
- Appalheads | Scott Faris
- A Color I Named Blue | Sybilla Patrizia
- The Conscience Files | Brian Bolster
- Into the Dark | Fiona Otway
- Tiger | Loren Waters
Shorts: Silver Linings
Sept. 20 | 3 p.m. | Downer Theatre (North Cinema)
Wrinkles? We call that wisdom. Slower pace? We say better storytelling. These short films celebrate the people who are living proof that life doesn’t stop at 60, 70, or 90 — it just gets more interesting. From typewriting legends to late-in-life reinventions, this program reminds us that growing older might just be the best-kept secret to living well. This program will be followed by a talkback.
- Angelita | Amira Rose Stone
- Houston’s Whitebeam | Alex Darby, Jake Morris
- Mercedes | Justine Nagan
- Thanks, Babs! | Rivkah Beth Medow, Jen Rainin
Shuffle
Benjamin Flaherty | 2025 | United States
Sept. 19 | 2:30 p.m. | Oriental Theatre (Abele Cinema)
Through the lens of his own recovery, director Benjamin Flaherty offers an intimate look inside the billion-dollar substance-abuse treatment industry in this eye-opening winner of SXSW's 2025 Documentary Feature Competition. Shot over the course of three years, Shuffle follows three individuals whose lives depend not on getting into treatment for their addictions, but on getting out alive, and in the process, shines a light on the insurance-fueled cycle of addiction treatment fraud spreading across the country.
Singing Back the Buffalo
Tasha Hubbard | 2024 | Canada
Sept. 20 | 4:45 p.m. | Oriental Theatre (Herzfeld Cinema)
After a dark recent history, the buffalo herds of North America are awaiting their return, aided by dedicated Indigenous activists, leaders, and communities, including award-winning Cree filmmaker Tasha Hubbard. Together with Blackfoot Elder Leroy Little Bear, Hubbard weaves an intimate story of humanity’s connections to buffalo and eloquently reveals how their return to the Great Plains can indeed usher in a new era of sustainability and balance.
Space Cowboy
Marah Strauch, Bryce Leavitt | 2024 | United States
Sept. 19 | 8:30 p.m. | Oriental Theatre (Abele Cinema)
If Free Solo had a skydiving cousin, it would be Space Cowboy. Hold onto your harness for this heart expanding documentary that follows legendary skydiving cinematographer Joe Jennings as he prepares for one final, outrageous stunt: filming a convertible dropped from the sky. Blending daredevil visuals with deep emotional currents, the film soars through Jennings’ decades-long career while reckoning with loss, mental health, and the question of what comes after a lifetime of chasing the next big leap.
Standing Above the Clouds
Jalena Keane-Lee | 2024 | United States
Sept. 21 | 1 p.m. | Oriental Theatre (Herzfeld Cinema)
Jalena Keane-Lee’s debut feature bears witness to history, poised at the center of the global movement to protect Mauna Kea, the famed Hawaiian mountain, as it faces the proposal of having another telescope built on it. Told through vérité footage and archival material, Standing Above the Clouds is an inspiring adventure delivered with passion and integrity, connecting to the detrimental environmental and cultural impact telescopes have had on the sacred mountain and on Native Hawaiians.
Stolen Kingdom
Joshua Bailey | 2025 | United States
Sept. 20 | 8:30 p.m. | Oriental Theatre (Abele Cinema)
Stolen Kingdom uncovers the history of mischief, scandal and crime at Walt Disney World, ultimately leading to the theft of one of the world's most famous animatronics. Key figures from the park's underground community each share their unique stories of thrilling adventures and pranks. Their antics are shown to have inspired more recent crimes, culminating in a true-crime mystery. What begins as a tale of friendship and passion ends with one lingering question: Who stole Buzzy?
The Secret of Me
Grace Hughes-Hallett | 2025 | United Kingdom
Sept. 19 | 2 p.m. | Oriental Theatre (Herzfeld Cinema)
Part personal quest, part historical exposé, The Secret of Me is a quietly furious documentary reckoning with truth, identity, and power. During a feminist studies class in 1995, college student Kristi opens a textbook and discovers a secret that would change everything: Kristi was born intersex and was never told. Through intimate storytelling and powerful archival footage, this stunning documentary follows a worldwide reckoning with flawed medical systems.
The Tallest Dwarf
Julie Forrest Wyman | 2025 | United States
Sept. 20 | 1:30 p.m. | Oriental Theatre (Herzfeld Cinema)
Filmmaker Julie Wyman embarks on a quest to find her place within the little people (LP) community at a moment when dwarf identity is on the brink of radical transformation. She unpacks the rumors of “partial dwarfism” in her family, and finds that hers is the last of a body type she has inherited. As Julie discovers her place in dwarf culture, the film asks whether it’s possible to see and be seen differently. This program will be followed by a talkback.
We Are Pat
Rowan Haber | 2025 | United States
Sept. 20 | 5:30 p.m. | Oriental Theatre (Abele Cinema)
Back in the 1990s, Pat was one of Saturday Night Live’s most infamous recurring characters: awkward, ambiguous, and the punchline of every joke. This sharp and funny documentary is part pop culture excavation, part identity reckoning. Revisiting SNL clips, a film spin-off, and the trans and nonbinary voices who grew up under Pat’s shadow, the film unpacks how visibility without understanding can do real harm and how our culture has (and hasn’t) changed.
Zurawski v Texas
Maisie Crow, Abbie Perrault | 2024 | United States, United Kingdom
Sept. 21 | 11:30 a.m. | Oriental Theatre (Abele Cinema)
After being denied abortion access, even with a non-viable pregnancy, Amanda Zurawski nearly died from septic shock. This real-time portrait of what happens when legal ambiguity forces life and death decisions is one of the most searing documentaries of the year. Featuring both urgent courtroom moments and intimate family scenes, the film balances grief and a fierce community-driven fight that navigates the murky intersection of state power and personal autonomy.
