Current students and alums are not the only ones displaying their work at the 2024 Milwaukee Film Festival. Several faculty members are also currently screening films for audiences, just one of many ways PSOA faculty stay engaged in the film community in Milwaukee and beyond.
Light Needs
Light Needs is an experimental documentary by Jesse McLean (Associate Professor & Chair, Department of Film, Video, Animation and New Genres). The film centers on the complex relationships that people have with plants, specifically domesticated.
UWM was well-represented in more ways than one for this film, with several other faculty members working on the film. Additionally, part of the film was shot in the UWM library. Crediting the library’s incredible selection of plants, McLean decided to feature UWM circulation assistant James Baxter in the film.
Having already screened at festivals around the world, McLean discussed how audiences have been responding to the film by re-evaluating their relationships with plants.
“Something that people have told me is that they think about their plants differently,” said McLean. “That they relate to their own houseplants in a more sympathetic way, and I find that is the ideal outcome for the film.”
McLean hopes that audiences at the Milwaukee Film Festival have a similar experience, acknowledging that plants are alive and should be treated as more than background objects in human life.
Bonus: Read an interview with McLean on OnMilwaukee.com and listen to an interview on WUWM Lake Effect.
Decoupling 脱钩
Directed by Yinan Wang (Lecturer, Film, Video, Animation and New Genres), Decoupling follows a Chinese father on his trip to Beijing to rescue his young daughter that has been stranded because of the “decoupling” between China and America. The film draws from Wang’s personal experience of how migrant families manage the stress that geopolitics bring. The feature will be preceded by Last Truths from a Dying Star, directed by PSOA alum Dontay Kankel ‘23.
Bonus: watch a segment with Wang on CBS 58 and listen to an interview on WUWM.
In Order for a Dune to Form
Jordy Brazo’s (Lecturer, Film, Video, Animation and New Genres) short film In Order for a Dune to Form details the cycles of extraction, consumption, and reclamation of a ghost town formerly on the banks of Lake Michigan. The short deals with the behaviors of the past, present, and future repeating themselves. In Order for a Dune to Form will precede the feature film Impossible Town.
The Inhabitants
Tate Bunker (Teaching Faculty I, Film, Video, Animation & New Genres) co-directed and co-wrote The Inhabitants alongside Shana McCaw and Brent Budsberg (BFA 2000, Art: Sculpture). The fictional short film follows ancestral immigrants exploring their shared past. Set in 19th century America, the no-dialogue short features highly cinematic imagery, reflecting how the two main characters are so similar, yet so different. The Inhabitants will screen during The Milwaukee Show II.
The Last Week
The Last Week, screening during the Black Lens Shorts showcase was produced by Robin Whitmore (Lecturer, Film, Video, Animation and New Genres). The intimate and emotional short details a couple’s last week together before the looming threat of a prison sentence rips them apart. Viewers will confront the difficult themes of love, sacrifice, and the effects of Black male incarceration.
Out of the Picture
A feature length documentary, Out of the Picture highlights the work of art critics who have experienced monumental changes in art and media. Portia Cobb (Associate Professor, Film, Video, Animation & New Genres) served as humanities expert and story consultant for the film. Katie Avila Loughmiller (Lecturer, Theatre) served as coordinating producer. Additional contributors include alumni Johnathon Olson as editor and Andrew Swant as producer.
Black Lens Series
The increasingly popular Black Lens series presents genre-varying short films that reflect the relationship between Blackness, tension, and conflict. Marquise Mays (Assistant Professor, Film, Video, Animation, and New Genres) is the lead programmer for Black Lens and selected the short films that will be shown this year.
Bonus: listen to an interview with Mays on WUWM.
Story by Jason McCullum ’25
EDITOR’S NOTE: This list is as comprehensive as possible at the time of publication. If we missed a PSOA faculty or staff member, please accept our sincere apologies! Contact us and we’ll gladly update the article.