Milwaukee Film Festival

Feeling overwhelmed by the options in the Milwaukee Film Festival? The shorts can be a good starting point.

This month's Group Chat features two Susans of film: Susan Kerns, executive director of Milwaukee Film and legendary filmmaker Susan Seidelman. They have a conversation about everything from being the first to cast Madonna for the film "Desperately Seeking Susan" to the power of film festivals.

The new documentary, SALLY reveals Sally Ride's 27-year partnership with Tam O’Shaughnessy — who tells the full story of the complicated and iconic astronaut.

As of Feb. 3, Dr. Susan Kerns is the new executive director of Milwaukee Film—an appointment that follows a year of transition and tumult.

For Black History Month, Milwaukee Film's Ty Williams has handpicked a variety of films that exemplify the dynamic range of Black stories told through cinema.

Wisconsin has an impressive, homegrown motorcycle racing scene that’s supported many riders from childhood well into adulthood as professional racers. One of those racers was West Allis native Charlotte Kainz. The documentary "Angels of Dirt" traces Kainz's meteoric rise in Flat Track racing and the larger community she impacted.

This past year, Milwaukee Film hired a new CEO, re-opened the historic Downer Theater and launched a brand new event around documentary film, which will start later this month. They've also made deep cuts to outreach programming that centers young, diverse voices — cuts that past employees say are hypocritical to the organization's stated mission.

Since 2014, Black Lens has worked to bring films and documentaries to the festival that spotlight emerging and established Black storytellers.

There is both a positive and thorny legacy that the 1997 film “Chasing Amy” has in the LGBTQ community. The new documentary "Chasing Chasing Amy" provides a new outlook on the complicated classic indie, both for its director Sav Rodgers and the people who made it.

The experimental documentary from Milwaukee filmmaker Jesse Mclean explores the relationships — and social contract — between people and the plants we live with.