2026 Film: Crèche & Burn

Crèche & Burn by Frank O'Neil

Dundee, UK (Wisconsin Premiere)

Running Time: 4 minutes

Animated/Comedy/Horror

September 

Avalon Atmospheric Theater

2473 S Kinnickinnic Ave, Milwaukee, WI 53207

Staff at an office crèche fight to protect their children during a zombie outbreak.

Instagram

2026 Festival Judge: Timothy J. Lonsdale

Growing up in Wisconsin, Tim was a Cub Scout, Boy Scout and Explorer. He helped organize a train trip to the National Scout Ranch in Philmont, New Mexico. The next logical step was Special Forces. In 1968, he joined the Army, went to Jump School, became a Green Beret and spent a year in Vietnam as a sergeant with the 173rd Airborne Brigade.

Upon his discharge, he attended the University of Wisconsin in Madison for a BA in English and Theatre, and a BS in Secondary Ed. While there, he landed his first paid acting gig—he was cast in six radio dramas at WHA, the campus PBS station. He also acted in a play with classmate Jane (“Malcolm in the Middle”) Kaczmarek.

He decided to pursue an MFA in Acting. He chose to go to Southern Methodist University, where they offered him a full scholarship and a T.A. position. Besides, he always wanted to be a “Methodist” actor. While in Dallas, he performed with the Dallas Shakespeare Festival, got his Actors’ Equity card doing a dinner theater tour, and his SAG-AFTRA card when he was cast as a guest star in several episodes of “Dallas,” including three of the most watched TV episodes in history.

In 1981, he moved to New York where he acted Off-off-Broadway and in bit parts in multiple TV shows and films. He was accepted by acting guru Sanford Meisner for his private two-year program at the Neighborhood Playhouse.

The same week he was notified of good news from Mr. Meisner, he got a letter from the Directors Guild of America regarding an application and testing process he had begun six months earlier. The DGA was inviting him to join their two-year Training Program, which would ultimately lead to membership as an Assistant Director. He accepted the offer from the DGA. He knew he made the right choice when, on his first day on the job as a DGA Trainee, he was assigned to a movie starring Katherine Hepburn and Nick Nolte, directed by Tony Harvey.

Over the course of 34 years in production—7 in NY, 23 in LA and 4 in Atlanta—he has worked with about one hundred directors, including Marty Scorsese, Night Shyamalan, Martha Coolidge, Barnet Kellman, Harold Ramis, Shawn Levy and Carl Reiner. The scores of actors he has enjoyed working with include Meryl Streep (twice), Robert DeNiro, Gene Hackman (twice), Christopher Lloyd (twice), Bruce Willis, Jason Momoa, Samuel L. Jackson, Marlee Matlin and Jeff Bridges. He will not list the actors he did not enjoy working with.

Tim got the opportunity to direct prime time when he worked on “Charmed” (Aaron Spelling/WB Network) for five seasons as an AD. He successfully ended his “below-the-line” career when he worked as the Unit Production Manager on the first two seasons of “Stranger Things” (Netflix). Matt and Ross Duffer were nominated both years for DGA Best Directing Awards, and as such, the DGA also recognized Tim as the UPM and the Assistant Directors for their contributions as part of the directorial team. Due to the success of the show, he was invited to join the Producers Guild of America.

Now back in Wisconsin, Tim is focusing on “above-the-line” opportunities in writing, producing and directing. “Cricket” was the first film produced by his new company, Spring Lake International, llc.

2026 Festival Judge: Maya Korn

Maya is a UK/German native. Her company MHK Productions (London, LA, Cork) celebrates feminist, diverse, queer stories; often with a genre edge. She has produced in Beijing, NYC, CDMX, LA, Ireland, Budapest and London. Prior to this, she moonlighted in marketing (The Weinstein Company and BBC) before landing in the female content space (Refinery 29 & Maven Pictures). She is a Columbia University Producing MFA, La Femis, WIF Producing and WEMW graduate. Her features have collectively completed the Berlinale Talent Project Market, Fantasia Frontieres, Eave, Cine Qua Non, Sitges Pitchbox, Bifff Market and Midpoint among others. Recently, she’s been diversifying into the commercial space, working with non-binary director Rhi Bergado to create content for brands with MTV and on Facebook Live’s CARDI TRIES S2.

Maya Korn
MHK Productions
Executive Director/ Producer

mhkproductions.com

2026 Film: Senescence

Senescence by Klavdija Košir
Slovenia (Wisconsin Premiere)

Running Time: 3 minutes

Experimental

September 

Avalon Atmospheric Theater

2473 S Kinnickinnic Ave, Milwaukee, WI 53207

Senescence is a contemplative experimental film that, through a visual meditation on the emptiness of a home and the presence of an elderly man's body, reflects on the disintegration of time, identity, and memory.

Instagram

2026 Film: PIU

PIU by Alexander Eberhage
Wisconsin (Wisconsin Premiere)

Running Time: 5 minutes

Sci-Fi

September 

Avalon Atmospheric Theater

2473 S Kinnickinnic Ave, Milwaukee, WI 53207

PIU is a training film for employees of the Perception Investigation Unit. It teaches employees the proper treatment for the elderly with dementia.

Instagram

2026 Film: Space Rock

Space Rock by Ben Taman
Los Angeles, CA (Wisconsin Premiere)

Running Time: 3 minutes

Sci-Fi

September 

Avalon Atmospheric Theater

2473 S Kinnickinnic Ave, Milwaukee, WI 53207

Two friends drive a maybe-from-space rock to the university, chasing a family legend — and discovering the real story was never in the science, but in the belief.

Instagram

2026 Voices Heard Film: The Side Effects of U

The Side Effects of U by RJ Smith
Wisconsin (World Premiere)

Running Time: 14 minutes

Drama

September 

Avalon Atmospheric Theater

2473 S Kinnickinnic Ave, Milwaukee, WI 53207

A cry for help and an answered prayer. The Side Effects of U follows Darius Bryant as he navigates a fractured reality shaped by the ghosts of his past. Drifting between memory and revelation, Darius confronts the unraveling of his relationship with his father, and the truth that refuses to stay buried.

Instagram