From music videos to documentaries, from worker bees to administrators, from sponsors to film experts, UWM and the Milwaukee Film Festival are intertwined like film (or memory cards) and a camera.
The 2016 festival opens Thursday, Sept. 22, and runs through Thursday, Oct. 6, and is jam-packed with films in numerous formats, varied languages and a diversity of topics and viewpoints. (See https://mkefilm.org/ for a complete list of films, times and ticket costs.)
How is UWM involved?
A fount of filmmakers
This year’s Cream City Cinema program, which highlights the best of local films, has 33 participants with UWM ties, including some with multiple pieces in the show. They account for more than half of the films in this program. The range includes everything from music videos to short features to documentaries.
“There is just an astonishing number of filmmakers from UWM involved, said Jonathan Jackson, the festival’s artistic and executive director, who earned his BFA from UWM, having moved to Wisconsin to attend UWM’s film program.
“One of the characteristics of this festival is having the work of more local filmmakers than other festivals, and UWM is a large part of that,” he added.
Rob Yeo, chair of the Department of Film, Video, Animation and New Genres, agreed.
“This is a big, big thing. We have really expanded the breadth of our participation. It’s indicative of the growth of the festival and the film department.”
UWM’s film department has been ranked among the top 15 programs in the nation by the Hollywood Reporter and among the top 25 internationally.
UWM’s program is a major factor in the growth of the film business in Milwaukee, according to Yeo. Graduates of the program “look for former classmates or roommates in the LLC (Living Learning Community), and they form companies with other grads.”
The festival attracted 249 entries in the Cream City Program this year, an increase of 56 percent from last year.
We know how to throw a party
The Peck School of the Arts is hosting the opening night party at the Kenilworth Building, 1915 E. Kenilworth Place, at 9 p.m. Sept. 22. The evening features food, drinks, music, dancing and, of course, trailers for this year’s festival films. The party is free to opening night ticket and festival pass holders. It’s $13 for Milwaukee Film members and $15 for the general public.
Encouraging budding filmmakers
Kim Cosier, associate dean of the Peck School of the Arts, is co-founder of the Milwaukee Visionaries Project, which works to promote media literacy among middle and high school students. The project, which started with a Research Growth Initiative grant, provides equipment and expertise to help the young filmmakers bring their visions to life. The once-a-week program, which is free to the students, brings in expert teachers from the film, music and art and design areas, many of them from UWM. This year, two films that grew out of this project – “Mid-Day of the Living Dead” and “Silent Folds” – are being featured at the festival’s Milwaukee Youth Show.
UWM stories on the big screen
In addition to making films, UWM alumni and students are part of the show. This year’s festival features two documentaries that are about the accomplishments of alums and others with ties to UWM.
The festival’s Centerpiece film, “Almost Sunrise,” tells the story of local veterans Tom Voss, who attended the Helen Bader School of Social Welfare, and Anthony Anderson, a School of Education graduate. The two walked 2,700 miles from Milwaukee, to Santa Monica, Calif., to raise awareness of veterans issues. (Click here for more.)
“Motley’s Law” tells the story of Kimberley Motley, a UWM grad who is the only American lawyer licensed to practice in Afghanistan. Motley will receive the UWM Alumni Association’s Community Service Award Oct. 7. (For more, click here.)
UWM offers expertise
This year’s film festival is featuring a new program, Cine Sin Fronteras, highlighting works by and about Latino topics. Co-curators of this program are Claudia Guzmán, UWM’s sociocultural program manager for student involvement, and Jeanette Martín, assistant director of the LGBT Resource Center.
The festival’s Black Lens program, which focuses on works involving African American filmmakers and topics, is co-curated by two UWM alumni, Geraud Blanks and Donte McFadden.
Other UWM faculty and staff members serve on juries and as experts on panels about film. UWM’s Peck School of the Arts is also hosting the panels in the lounge on the first floor of Kenilworth.
“Having that visible space near the Oriental is a wonderful asset,” said Jackson.
We have a job for you
In addition to artistic and executive director Jackson and others already mentioned, many other UWM alumni and students are involved with the festival year-round or as interns. Among the full-time UWM alumni who are staff members are: Megan Benedict, communications and press manager; Ben Balcom, technical director (also an adjunct faculty member at UWM); Anna Sampers, grant writer and shorts programmer; Rachel Vander Weit, development coordinator; Cara Ogburn, programming and education director; Jason Koehler, finance director; April Heding, education programs coordinator; and Mark Sabljak, corporate and community engagement adviser.
Sponsorships
The UWM Department of Film, Video, Animation and New Genres is a supporting sponsor of the festival. Other sponsors include the UWM Alumni Association, the Center for Caribbean and Latin American studies and WUWM (based at UWM). In addition, many departments and centers are community sponsors of films that reflect languages and cultures tied to their academic programs. For example, the Department of Spanish and Portuguese helps sponsor films about and by Latino and Hispanic communities and encourages students to attend. Other UWM community partners include: Cultures and Communities, Digital Arts and Culture, Global Inclusion and Engagement, Institute of World Affairs, LGBT Resource Center and the Women’s Studies Program.
