2014 Films: He Loves Her, She Loves Cake

He Loves Her, She Loves Cake by Melissa Smith
Australia (MKE Premiere)
Running Time: 8 Minutes
Screening Time: Saturday Sept 6th 12:45pm

The best part of Sandy’s day is when she stops by Henry’s patisserie shop to see her one true love – sweets. Henry and his sparky apprentice Kindle enjoy nothing more than the sight of the beautiful Sandy biting into a dessert made with passionate love. Will Sandy’s love move from the creations to the creators or does this desire stop at the sugar cane?

2014 Films: At a Distance

At a Distance by Baqir Rezaie
Australia (World Premiere)
Running Time: 7 Minutes
Screening Time: Saturday Sept 6th 12:45pm

Abiha is 7. She lives on the outskirts of Quetta in Pakistan. Her father has fled to Australia and she misses him terribly. Her home has been bombed and so the family have retreated to the back rooms of the house. Abiha's mother supports her children as a schoolteacher while waiting in hope that her husband's visa is processed in Australia, and the family might reunite one day. 

Abiha's life in this dangerous Hazara community is tumultuous, but Abiha continues to smile - and anyway she wants to be an artist one day.

2014 Films: The Roxy Incident

The Roxy Incident by Kris Schulz
Wisconsin (WI Premiere)
Running Time: 13 Minutes
Screening Time: Saturday, Sept 6th 2:30pm

The Roxy Incident is a stylized Film Noir that is an homage to the classics. Originally, the script was put together as a practice for another film contest/challenge, the 48 Hour Film Project. Instead of putting it aside, I worked to extend scenes and complete the story. Working with many of the actors for the first time, and being a first time director, this film was not only a passion project, but also a great lesson for me in film making. I liked taking on the challenge of the stylized films, with that particular look, feel, long shadows and subject material of Noir. 

2014 Films: Dear 11009

Dear 11009 by Aaron Orullian
Tustin, CA (MKE Premiere)
Running Time: 9 Minutes
Screening Time: Saturday, Sept 6th 4:40pm

Lost in a world of data entry and carbon paper, a lonely office worker starts to suspect that the night worker who shares his desk is a gourmet chef. As the two begin to exchange anonymous notes and sauces on the desk between shifts, an unlikely devotion develops which threatens to disrupt the order of the office.

Advanced Tickets for 16th Annual Milwaukee Short Film Festival

Purchase Tickets
To buy advance tickets we set up these Paypal options.

First: Use Firefox rather than Windows Internet Explorer. We find that Windows gets twitchy when using Paypal.


Second: Tickets will be tracked and held at the door. When going to your preferred show specify at the door the name in which the tickets were purchased under, the show (Fri 6:30pm, Sat 6:45pm , etc), the number of tickets bought and please bring your confirmation email as well.

Third: Be sure that you pick the right block of films. Tickets will be sold singly, pairs, sets of three,   four and five. If you need more than five you will have to go back in and purchase more. We are sorry if you have to do that, but we find people don't usually buy more than 4 or 5. There will be tickets sold at the door as well.

Fourth: There is no credit card purchases on site, cash only sales. The Milwaukee Art Museum does have ATM's on the premises.


Finally: The Milwaukee Art Museum charges $8 to park in the lots, but there is plenty of free parking on the street during the weekend. Please keep that in mind.

                                ADVANCED TICKETS WILL STOP AT 11AM
                          PLEASE ARRIVE 30 MINS EARLY FOR ALL SHOWS 



Fri. Session 1: (6:30pm)  OPENING NIGHT EVENT!!  Qualified, Wisconsin Beer - Behind the Scenes, Rediscovering Ginny, Stupid Awesome, Soft Kneecaps, Satellite Beach, Poupée, Billy Balfoor and our Pace-setter awarded to Jon Kline.

DOOR SALES ONLY.

Sat. Session 2: (12:45pm) World View Berxen Kulek (Lame Lambs), Oh, my Princess, One Night Only, At a Distance, Culling, He Loves Her, She Loves Cake, Ão

DOOR SALES ONLY

Sat. Session 3: (2:30 pm) A Garden Within The Violence, Lucille, The Interview, Last Call, As We Are, The Roxy Incident, Loss, Clean Break
DOOR SALES ONLY

Sat. Session 4: (4:40pm) Domina, Stalker and Friend, Ballonatic, Free Man, Worthless, Dear 11009, Through the Chaos, Cold Feet

DOOR SALES ONLY

Sat Session 5: (6:45pm) Juried Films. ON/OFF, Rabbit, Solace, Vial, 
Give It Up For The Girl, Rejected, Tough Cookie, House Call

DOOR SALES ONLY 

 

MIFS Feature Presentation:


Friday Sept 5th: Zombie Frat House (with Caged) 

9:15pm

DOOR SALES ONLY.

Saturday Sept 6th Zombie Frat House

9:15pm

DOOR SALES ONLY

2014 Films: The Interview

The Interview by Carol Jones Potter
Milwaukee (MKE Premiere)
Running Time: 4 minutes
Screening Time: Saturday, Sept 6th 2:30

 

A young man has made it to the final stage of the interview process, only as the interview goes on the scenarios he must answer go way beyond what he thought he would have to answer. Little does he know the sick, twisted company had other plans for him.

2014 Films: As We Are

As We Are by Danny Rodic
Wisconsin (World Premiere)
Running Time: 6 minutes
Screening Time: Saturday, Sept 6th 2:30

Formed in the Fall of 2007, the band "CircleSwitch" has seen it's share of adversity. Experience their journey through current members Kenny James, Danny Rodic, Johnny "ROCKit" Wahlen, and Eddie Gunz. Never before in their history did there exist such a window of opportunity in revealing what all will find as an open book of personal expression and good times.

2014 Films: Balloonatic

Balloonatic by Josh B. Bryan
Milwaukee (MKE Premiere)
Running Time: 20 Minutes
Screening Time: Saturday, Sept 6th 4:40pm

All our hapless hero wants is to entertain.  The other buskers, however, have kicked him off the pitch and his foul mouthed boss has fired him.  A note reading, “See Me,” suggests that things might be looking up.  Our villain is a capitalist whose application of mass production threatens the very soul of balloon animals everywhere.  Will our hero escape the clutches of a dead end job or worse, find out first-hand how mimes are made?

From its vaudeville & independent theatre scenes, “Balloonatic,” casts some of Milwaukee’s finest performers, actors, and musicians into a mythological world of clowns.  

2014 Films: Zombie Frat House

Feature presentation: Zombie Frat House by Ross Bigley
Milwaukee (World Premiere)
Running Time: 89 Minutes
Screening Time: Sept 5th and 6th, 9:15pm
Adult Content: Nudity, gore, violence and language

The hard-partying and prankster boys of Sigma House areg expelled from the university. Of course, the boys decide a party of epic proportions is in order! But when they awake, they find that the zombie apocalypse occurred, and the only safe place to fight back a horde of zombies is Sigma house! 

Did one of the frat boys accidently set in motion the events that caused the zombie apocalypse? Who will hook up, and who'll live as they fight to survive, in between the sex and bong hits. And just who are the White Trash Zombie Killers?. 


This is the most epic independent film shot in Milwaukee with 40 speaking parts and 90 zombie extras. Great bloody fun!




Two Shows!
Friday Sept 5th at 9:15pm (with the short film Caged)

Saturday Sept 6th at 9:15pm






Website

2014 Films: Free Man

Free Man by Justin Leyba
Chicago (MKE Premiere)
Running Time: 8 Minutes
Screening Time: Saturday, Sept 6th 4:40pm

After getting away from committing a horrific crime, a single father must deal with his guilt after his daughter was accused of stealing her classmate's phone.

2014 Films: Wisconsin Beer - Behind the Scenes

Wisconsin Beer - Behind the Scenes by Roger Bindl 
Wisconsin (MKE Premiere)
Running Time: 20 Minutes
Screening Time: Friday Sept 5th 6:30pm

Wisconsin Beer - 'Behind The Scenes' is about craft beer movement in Wisconsin, the resurgence of hops & barley growers, the growing and harvesting process, the brewers using local ingredients, and the hops, barley, yeast, and water that goes into brewing.

The film touches on the history of beer and brewing with an industry brief, stories about growing and harvest, and how craft brewing led to resurgence of growing.

2014 Films: Worthless

Worthless  by Madeleine Stoppleworth 
Wisconsin (MKE Premiere)
Running Time: 10 Minutes
Screening Time: Saturday Sept 6th 4:40pm

An abusive con-man has his sights set on taking a train and its passengers for everything he can even if it means pushing his human-traffic accomplices to their breaking point.

Director Statement 
"Worthless" was born in the 2014 48-Hour Film Project and is a collaborative effort by more than 30 volunteers ranging in age from 19 to 75 who brought everything to the production — from gear to costuming to props to picture cars — without compensation.

We were given just 48 hours to create a Silent Film, and everything built from that genre.

Knowing I would be assembling a wide variety of extremely talented Creatives, I actively sought a location and theme that would both play to their strengths and act as a container — I wanted to see what happened when we packed so many dynamite performers on both sides of the camera into not only a narratively-tight space, but a physically tiny one as well.

The decision work within a vintage location came naturally, given our genre and the experience of our actors. The opportunity to tell our narrative within a period train car and station was too great to pass up. Having so many period elements, the decision was made to mimic the look of the Silent Era with locked down camera angles and post-production techniques, including photographing in black and white. This, in turn, dictated not only our lighting but our makeup and costuming choices as well.

2014 Films: Stalker and Friend

Stalker and Friend by Brian Ewig 
Wisconsin (World Premiere)
Running Time: 10 Minutes
Screening Time: Saturday Sept 6th 4:40pm

A man reevaluates his approach to dating.

2014 Films:Through the Chaos

Through the Chaos by David Busse
Wisconsin (World Premiere)
Running Time: 6 Minutes
Screening Time: Saturday Sept 6th 4:40pm

At the 2013 Boston Marathon two bombs detonated near the finish line. This found footage documentary tells the story of a musician who decided to go explore and observe what was happening during the aftermath and how he used his saxophone to capture the mood of the city the following day. His memory of the tragedy is reconstructed through an interview and footage captured by spectators during and after the bombings.

Director Statement I found out about the Boston Marathon Bombings fifteen minutes after they happened via Twitter. As soon as I saw the news I was scared for the safety of my brother, Kevin, who at the time was living in a dorm a few blocks away from where the explosions occurred. I immediately called his cell phone and a few dropped calls later there was a voice on the other line, but the person talking wasn't Kevin. I had no idea who I was talking to or what was happening and I feared for the worst. Never in my life had I been so scared for my brother's safety. Twenty panicked minutes later I messaged a friend of his on Facebook who told me she had seen Kevin around after the bombings occurred. I took a deep sigh of relief and continued to follow the news. Turns out that so many people were making calls to Boston after the bombings that the cell phone towers couldn't handle the traffic and many calls were sent to the wrong phones or dropped. Hours later Kevin called me back and told me that after the bombings he had ventured out into his neighborhood to get a firsthand glimpse of the aftermath. I was just happy to finally hear his voice. The next day Kevin took his saxophone outside and played mournful and patriotic songs around the police perimeter and was subsequently interviewed by a reporter from Boston's NPR station who felt that Kevin had captured the mood of the city with his music.

Months later Kevin and I decided to work together to tell the story of what it felt like to be in Boston at the time of the bombings and how he made an impact with his music. To tell this story required taking NPR's audio which ended up dictating the creation of the piece in many ways because it led me to take much of my content from online sources. After scavenging to find the best footage that spectators from the marathon captured I explored many different options on how to tell the story. In many ways I found it much more difficult to construct a story with found footage than by writing a story because I couldn't just make something up in order to move the story along in a particular way. After at least a dozen revisions and many debates including the choice to leave out as much information about the perpetrators as possible Kevin and I feel we have completed a piece which places the viewer in the chaos of the Boston Marathon.

Production Notes 
"Telling a story through found footage"
This project was challenging for me due to its reliance on found footage. Scavenging Youtube for clips taken by spectators of the Boston Marathon took many hours and compiling everything into a cohesive whole was very challenging. There were many times when I ran into roadblocks because I either ran out of footage or because footage that I wanted seemed to not exist. Due to this I feel that the final piece was guided by the footage available as much as it was by myself in the editing room.

2014 Films: Soft Kneecaps

Soft Kneecaps by Wil Loper & Dustin Hardy
Wisconsin (MKE Premiere)
Running Time: 6 Minutes
Screening Time: Friday Sept 5th, 6:30pm

It's a quiet day at the office; that is, until scientist Allen Smithee runs over a baby and attempts to revive it but unwittingly creates a horrific, overweight monster. When the monster invades an office meeting, all bets and umbrellas are off in this silent comedy short.

Director Statement This movie was created as part of the Milwaukee 48 Hour Film Project. We were required to draw a genre out of a hat; the genre we drew was Silent Film. We also had to incorporate three elements: An umbrella, the line, "This is what it's all about" and the character of Allen Smithee, a scientist.

We drew inspiration from "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" blended with comedy. We also sought to use as few intertitles as possible, telling the story as visually as possible. Our aim was to create a movie that would ultimately make people laugh and hopefully create something they had never seen before.

2014 Films: Ão

Ão by Livia Cathiard
Brazil (World Premiere)
Running Time: 9 Minutes
Screening Time: Saturday Sept 6th 12:45pm

 

The film leads us through the inner monologue of a character who lives an experience through her own limits and through the subjective and non-linear time in which words, images and sounds intertwine. 

2014 Films: Lucille

Lucille by Aaron Greer
Chicago (World Premiere)
Running Time: 6 minutes
Screening Time: Saturday, Sept 6th 2:30

After her mother dies, Pam retreats to the clutches of old friends and old habits-- a decision that threatens the only family she has left-- in this short film about life, love and liquor. Lucille is the first installment of a cinematic exquisite corpse, challenging directors to produce a compelling, short film with few actors, little cash, and no crew.

Director Statement 
"Lucille" is the first installment of filmmaking challenge and exquisite corpse dubbed a "Less Than but Equal to Production," requiring makers to create a short film following five rules:
1 person production crew
2 hundred dollar production budget
3 or fewer scenes
4 or fewer actors
5 page or shorter script

The challenge was devised by Aaron as a response to his students' work (and whining), an alternative to Hollywood excess, and a test of his own abilities. It proved to be all of those things, in addition to an opportunity to focus on collaborating with the actors, who were incredibly good sports about the process, and to get a incredibly effective full-body workout (nothing is more taxing than serving as your own grip, gaffer, sound mixer, camera op, AD and caterer for 12 hours).

Ultimately the goal is to entice other filmmakers to accept the challenge and create other films using the rules; or if nothing else, have "Less Than but Equal to" films become the new workout regimen of choice for the creative class.

2014 Films: Un Jardín Adentro de La Violencia

Un Jardín Adentro de La Violencia 
(A Garden Within The Violence) by Jozef K. Richards
Wisconsin (World Premiere)
Running Time: 21 minutes
Screening Time: Saturday, Sept 6th 2:30

A young campesino, Germán, recounts a week spent on a farm in 1967 in Colombia, whereby he came to fall into a pit and sustain leg injury on his way to rendezvous with his love, María, amidst the historical period of La Violencia.

Production Notes
Un Jardín Adentro de La Violencia (A Garden Within The Violence) is the fourth short film release by King's Tower Productions, filmed on location in Tolima Departamento, Colombia in March of 2014. Written in English, translated to Spanish, and filmed in the span of less than three weeks, Un Jardín Adentro de La Violencia was made with a principally debut Colombian cast and crew, with King's Tower mainstays Jozef K. Richards and Alex Trapp as the only foreigners/veterans involved in production. It will be released online this fall in conjunction with a worldwide festival release, beginning with its premiere in Líbano, Colombia at their local festival.

Website