The Milwaukee International Short Film Festival is the longest running film festival that honors local filmmakers. This year, 90% of its lineup is presented by Wisconsin filmmakers, including 51 Milwaukee premieres.
With films, events, and panels that celebrate everything from comedy to horror and local filmmakers of color there is plenty to see over the two-day festival, Sept. 7-8.
Milwaukee Short Film Festival founder and director Ross Bigley shares more.
"Every year when I program the festival, and after I watch all the films, I see if there’s films that complement each other, and you can see a theme building," he explains. "And this year, it was clear that the films I was selecting had a very Wisconsin sensibility about them, more so than previous years."
Bigley and the team intentionally refrain from overly political topics during the festival to appeal to a wider audience. However this year, certain topics were "unavoidable considering what people's fears might be," he notes. "One film, Safety State, is a film about a couple of LGBTQ people who fake being married and straight because the state that they live in is going to have a ban on gay marriage... [Filmmakers are] looking at how things might affect their lives and they're making films about that."
A particularly anticipated film included this year is The Avon Lady, directed by Carolina Espiro. Bigley says, "It stars [Espiro's] mother as an immigrant coming to this country. And she is using selling Avon door-to-door as trying to integrate herself into the community and learning English and learning what it means to be an American and all that."
Regardless of the film style you're interested in, the festival has something for everyone. "This year, more than ever, we have tried to make it easier for people ... if you like comedy, we're showing you which films are comedies and which times they're playing. If you like drama, you'll be able to hopefully navigate where your tastes lie and which block you want to see," Bigley explains.
The festival takes place Sept. 7-8 at the Avalon Theatre in Bayview. WUWM is one of the sponsors.
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