Every week on Cinebuds sponsored by Joe Wilde Garage Doors, Kristopher Pollard from Milwaukee Film and Radio Milwaukee’s Dori Zori review movies, tell you which ones are showing in our city and talk with the people who help bring them to the big screen.
The last time Wisconsin-born writer/director Nathan Deming stopped by for a podcast visit, he was coming off a big win that went beyond any single project. Now he’s back to focus a little more intently on one of his own creations — and talk a bit about that previous victory.
Deming and his Action! Wisconsin cohorts had plenty to smile about when he joined us in November of 2025, a few months after Wisconsin legislators passed and Governor Tony Evers signed into law the creation of production incentives and a state film office. These days, Deming’s joy comes from promoting his gripping new movie, Winter Hymns, which takes an ambitiously creative approach to examining the world of palliative (or end-of-life) care.
Shot in a single room at a hospital on a snowy Wisconsin day, the film captures a series of conversation-based “episodes” between a doctor (played by the wonderful Colleen Madden of the American Players Theatre in Spring Green) and her patients. Deming talks about being inspired by his father’s career as a hospice director, the importance of casting local talent and how the production choices resulted in an emotionally weighty film that paints an authentic picture of a difficult topic.
Use the player at the top of the page to hear Deming’s chat with Dori Zori, and head over to the Oriental Theatre at 3 p.m. this Saturday, June 20, for a special screening of Winter Hymns that includes a Q&A with Deming and cast members EK Johnson, Tara Min and Winter Williams.
