Every week, Kristopher Pollard from Milwaukee Film and Radio Milwaukee’s Dori Zori talk about movies — because that’s what you do when you’re Cinebuds.
Much like peanut butter and chocolate, the pairing of movies and music can make a tasty treat. If this combo sounds great to you, there is a whole category of films in the Milwaukee Film Festival you should check out. Sound Visions feature films based around music and storytelling. On this week’s podcast, we chat with MFF Sound Visions programmer Abbie Esterline to chat about some highlights from this year’s lineup.
‘Sound Visions’ schedule
Bright Beautiful World: The Infectious Joy of Pat McCurdy
April 25 @6:30pm
April 26 @11am
Over more than 50 years and 12,000 performances in Milwaukee and beyond, Pat McCurdy has cultivated a fiercely loyal fan base and a reputation for spreading infectious joy. He may not be a household name, but to those who know him, Pat is unforgettable. BRIGHT BEAUTIFUL WORLD is an uplifting portrait of an artist who found success on his own terms—and of the deep, decades-long love affair between a musician and the fans who keep showing up.
Broken English
April 22 @ 8pm
April 24 @ 4pm
April 26 @ 1:30pm
BROKEN ENGLISH is a hybrid, genre-bending portrait of the inimitable singer, songwriter, and icon Marianne Faithfull. Co-directors Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard introduce us to the Ministry of Not Forgetting, a fictitious research facility where Tilda Swinton and George MacKay delve into Marianne Faithfull’s life and career. Faithfull's dynamic presence is complemented by rich archival footage and performances by the singer herself, as well as Beth Orton, Courtney Love, Nick Cave, and Suki Waterhouse.
El Canto de Las Manos (Song Of The Hands)
April 17 @ 5:30pm
April 22 @ 4:30pm
April 27 @ 9:30pm
Renowned conductor Gustavo Dudamel partners with Coro de Manos Blancas, a choir of deaf performers in Venezuela, to stage Beethoven’s opera FIDELIO. As the choir prepares for their innovative performance, the film follows them through auditions, rehearsals, and personal stories of resilience in the face of anti-deaf discrimination. With music expressed through sign language, this film delivers a moving portrait of an often-overlooked community, celebrating the transformative power of art and self-expression.
If These Walls Could Rock
April 17 @ 3:30pmApril 23 @ 10:15pm
April 29 @ 8pm
Multi-MFF alum Tyler Measom returns to the Festival with IF THESE WALLS COULD ROCK—the untold story of the Sunset Marquis—the legendary West Hollywood hideaway where rock stars checked in, passed out, and made history. Featuring a Hall of Fame lineup including Ringo Starr, Cyndi Lauper, Morrissey, and Dave Grohl, the film dives deep into the debauchery, music, and magic that made the Marquis the heartbeat of rock 'n roll for over six decades.
Newport & The Great Folk Dream
April 17 @ 7:30pmApril 27 @ Noon
April 28 @ 3:30pm
Before Coachella and Woodstock, there was Newport. From 1963 to 1966, the famed Newport Folk Festival brought together the likes of Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Johnny Cash, Pete Seeger, and more. Rare and previously unseen archival footage captures this charged moment when freedom songs met work songs, tradition met innovation, and the spirit of protest filled the air. This earnest documentary by Robert Gordon and Joe Lauro is filled with poignant melodies that reveal how music can illuminate struggle, inspire courage, and keep democracy alive.
Peter Asher: Everywhere Man
April 21 @ 1pmApril 23 @ 4:30pm
April 27@ 6pm
Blending documentary and musical memoir, this film tells the extraordinary life story of Peter Asher—pop star, producer, manager, and confidant to legends from Paul McCartney to James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, Carole King, and more—across six decades at the heart of rock and roll history. Featuring rare archival footage, intimate interviews, and never-before-heard stories, the film offers an illuminating portrait of a man who helped shape the soundtrack of multiple generations.
Public Access
April 17 @ 8:15pmApril 18 @ 12:45pm
April 23 @ 9:45pm
An unprecedented look inside one of the greatest media experiments to hijack American screens. Rare archives from New York's underground capture a world of creators who transformed our TVs into groundbreaking spaces for self-expression that continue to shape debates around platforms, power, and free speech. PUBLIC ACCESS is the untold story of the channels that shattered norms, subverted media, defied censors, and provoked battles over free speech fortelling our world today.
Stop Making Sense
April 25 @ 9:30pm
One of our most sacred MFF traditions returns! Make sure all aisles are clear for dancing as 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. A24's new restoration of this iconic film gains momentum like a runaway freight train, the show (and Byrne's iconic suit) only gets bigger as it rolls along.
Summer Tour
April 20 @ 8:30pm
Few American demographics are more easily caricatured than Deadheads, those swirling, dosing, hippie-dressed vagabonds. But in his infinitely sweet and wise documentary, director Mischa Richter offers us the Deadheads as complex, self-aware, and resourceful members of a wandering commune, one that’s admirable for its kindness and care. SUMMER TOUR flows along like a Dead song, riffing and jamming along the way. The film presents a certain irresistible logic to the Deadhead way of life.
The Last Critic
April 18 @ 1:30pmApril 19 @ 11am
April 23 @ 1:30pm
Sixty years and a million records ago, Robert Christgau invented Rock music criticism. Now in his eighties, Bob is still at it—amazingly with the same vigor, wit, and masterful craft that has defined his expansive and trailblazing career. But in a world where albums are increasingly irrelevant, print is dead, and algorithms have eclipsed critics, this playful documentary asks: What happens next—for Bob, but also for music criticism as a whole??
The Reed Sisters: An American Story
April 21 @ 4pmApril 24 @ 1:45pm
April 25 @ 2pm
THE REED SISTERS: AN AMERICAN STORY traces the life and times of the legendary Reed Sisters. Spanning nearly fifty years, this "From the Vaults" style doc blends candid interviews with the sisters, friends, and fans, handmade dioramas, and a treasure trove of unforgettable archival footage from their iconic DIY variety show. A fun and fascinating dive into the wonders of 1970s public access TV with some surprising—sometimes unsettling—twists and turns.
The Way We Move
April 19 @ 9pmApril 21 @ 2pm
April 30 @ 4:45pm
Amber Galloway is a star ASL (American Sign Language) interpreter who specializes in live music interpretations. Amber teaches her art to share her life’s mission: making music accessible to the Deaf community. As the film unfolds, we learn about Amber’s painful past and the lives of her students, as they come together and forge life-long bonds. THE WAY WE MOVE is a powerful film about music, Deaf culture, connection, and resilience.
We Are Fugazi, From Washington D.C.
April 18 @ 10:45pmApril 25 @ 7pm
April 29 @ 9:30pm
WE ARE FUGAZI FROM WASHINGTON, D.C. is a collection of crowd-sourced, fan-recorded live shows, and rare archival footage that pays tribute to Fugazi’s prowess as a live act—for old fans to remember and for a new generation to discover what they missed. From the director of HEAVY METAL PARKING LOT, this film celebrates the fans and their cameras, as much as the band itself—a collision/collusion of the ephemeral moment on stage and the moments captured on camera.
You Had To Be ThereApril 23 @ 6pm
April 27 @ 12:15pm
The 1972 Toronto production of GODSPELL is legendary for launching many illustrious careers including Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Gilda Radner and more, and ignited a comedy revolution. With its deft mix of engaging interviews, animated recreations, and other inventive means of compensating for the scarcity of original archival materials, YOU HAD TO BE THERE brings this special time back into the present with an irrepressible sense of joy.
