MSFF
Sunday, September 13, 2015
2015 Award Winning Films
What an incredible year, with 530+ submitted, 53 films picked and shown over Sept 11th and 12th, this is what won. We would like to thank all the filmmakers who took the time to send us their films because it was a difficult selection process, we would also like to thank the judges for doing the hard work. The scores were very close this year. We must thank our sponsors because without them there wouldn't be a festival. And much gratitude to Comedy Sportz for allowing us to be at their establishment when our venue, the Milwaukee Art Museum pulled our date.
Also, credit must be given to MKE Production Rental for supplying us the AV equipment. Lastly, I must acknowledge those that assisted this weekend, our volunteers Jeff and Julie, our photographer Darianne Edwards, our Marketing Director Krystal Hardy, the hosts Natasha Nafrini, Mikal Floyd-Pruitt, Anthony Myers, our designer Stacy Callies, Glen Popple our tech guy, Bill Qurimbach the co-director and finally Rubin Whitmore II who pulled together our new program, Voices Heard. For the first time local multi-cultural filmmakers in our community have an outlet for their work. All in all a great year, with sell out shows on Friday and filled to capacity shows Saturday night.
Here are this year's winners:
This category had a tie.
Cast: JoLane Lentz, Amie Barsky, Carlo Ramierz, Paul Whittmann, Justin Wade, Kevin Larsen and Rajan Dharni
And our first Voices Heard event curated by Rubin Whitmore II had their own awards:
See you next year!
Wednesday, September 9, 2015
MSFF 2015 Voices Heard Judges
We are pleased to announce the judges for our inaugural presentation of Voices Heard.
James Causey
(Journalist | JSOnline)
Dr. Demond Means
(Superintendent | Mequon/Theinsville School Dostrict)
George Tillman, Jr.
(Hollywood Director)
Marcia Wright Tillman
(Acting Coach)
Sierra Shea (Festival Coordinator | 48hr Film Project-Madison)
Dr. Chia Vang
(Professor UW-Milwaukee Hmong Cultural Studies)
Alma Velez
(Corporate Development | American Heart Association)
James Causey
(Journalist | JSOnline)
Dr. Demond Means
(Superintendent | Mequon/Theinsville School Dostrict)
George Tillman, Jr.
(Hollywood Director)
Marcia Wright Tillman
(Acting Coach)
Sierra Shea (Festival Coordinator | 48hr Film Project-Madison)
Dr. Chia Vang
(Professor UW-Milwaukee Hmong Cultural Studies)
Alma Velez
Wednesday, August 12, 2015
2015 Judge: Craig A. Knitt
Craig A. Knitt is an award winning artist, filmmaker, teacher, performer, writer and creator who is current employment has him engaged in an exciting educational endeavor that is part of a national Arts-based pilot between the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and the Wallace Foundation. The past three years Craig has been a volunteer for the Sundance Institute and the Sundance Film Festival where he's gotten the chance to se the festival from behind the scenes. He is also one of the founders of the Wildwood Film Festival, a festival dedicated to Wisconsin film talent.
When Craig is not busy teaching visual art to the young artists of Green Bay he is busy creating film projects or performing Improvisational Comedy with ComedyCity - DePere and DinnerTime Comedy. He has many short and feature length concepts in the works and he hopes to develop a TV series that will be completely created using the resources of our fine state.
2015 Judge: Kathy Fehl
Kathy Fehl
Along with Ian Teal, Kathy wrote, directed and produced a feature film, Mint Julep (mintjulepmovie.com), featuring Angelica Page (Torn), David Morse, John Mezzacappa, Susan Aston and James Gandolfini. This was shot in North Carolina and New York, and edited in Wisconsin. In 2007 Fehl & Teal started Wega Arts and bought and began renovating the Gerold Opera House in Weyauwega, WI. The organization, at wegaarts.org, is dedicated to developing new material in theater and film.
VOICES HEARD 2015: Death After Life
Death After Life by Rubin Whitmore II
Milwaukee
Running Time: 10 minutes
Screening Time: Friiday, Sept 11th 8:30pm
Race Drama/ Urban
Running Time: 10 minutes
Screening Time: Friiday, Sept 11th 8:30pm
Race Drama/ Urban
VOICES HEARD 2015: Grass Between My Lips
Grass Between My Lips by Amardeep Kaleka
Milwaukee (MKE Premiere)
Running Time: 30 minutes
Screening Time: Friday, Sept 11th 8:30pm
African/ Rural/ Young Adult
Running Time: 30 minutes
Screening Time: Friday, Sept 11th 8:30pm
African/ Rural/ Young Adult
Tuesday, August 11, 2015
VOICES HEARD 2015: D for Dezire
D for Dezire by Bonnie Janelle
Milwaukee (MKE Premiere)
Running Time: 8 minutes
Screening Time: Friiday, Sept 11th 8:30pm
Drama/ Adult/Urban
Running Time: 8 minutes
Screening Time: Friiday, Sept 11th 8:30pm
Drama/ Adult/Urban
VOICES HEARD 2015: Spare Change
Spare Change by Kenny Lawrence
Milwaukee (World Premiere)
Running Time: 10 minutes
Screening Time: Friiday, Sept 11th 8:30pm
Drama/ Adult/Urban
Running Time: 10 minutes
Screening Time: Friiday, Sept 11th 8:30pm
Drama/ Adult/Urban
VOICES HEARD 2015: Redemption
Redemption by Jezse Galan
Milwaukee (World Premiere)
Running Time: 22 minutes
Screening Time: Friiday, Sept 11th 8:30pm
Crime Drama/ Latino/Urban
Running Time: 22 minutes
Screening Time: Friiday, Sept 11th 8:30pm
Crime Drama/ Latino/Urban
VOICES HEARD 2015: Something Under The Christmas Tree
Something Under The Christmas Tree by Danny Villanueva Jr
Milwaukee (MKE Premiere)
Running Time: 4 minutes
Screening Time: Friiday, Sept 11th 8:30pm
Horror/ Latino/ Youth
Running Time: 4 minutes
Screening Time: Friiday, Sept 11th 8:30pm
Horror/ Latino/ Youth
VOICES HEARD 2015: Fight Night, Legacy
Milwaukee (MKE Premiere)
Running Time: 8 minutes
Screening Time: Friiday, Sept 11th 8:30pm
Sports Drama/ Urban
Running Time: 8 minutes
Screening Time: Friiday, Sept 11th 8:30pm
Sports Drama/ Urban
2015 Films: Diana
Diana by Erin O. Kay
Seattle (MKE Premiere)
Running Time: 8 minutes
Screening Time: Saturday, Sept 12th 2pm
Western/ Fantasy/ Adventure/ LGBT/ Mature
Seattle (MKE Premiere)
Running Time: 8 minutes
Screening Time: Saturday, Sept 12th 2pm
Western/ Fantasy/ Adventure/ LGBT/ Mature
2015 Films: Pre (view)
Pre (View) by Ryan Klassa
Wisconsin (MKE Premiere)
Running Time: 4 minutes
Screening Time: Saturday, Sept 12th 2pm
Drama/ Thriller
A man obsessed taking photographs of everything around him discovers that his cellphone camera can suddenly show him the world 3 minutes into the future.
Wisconsin (MKE Premiere)
Running Time: 4 minutes
Screening Time: Saturday, Sept 12th 2pm
Drama/ Thriller
A man obsessed taking photographs of everything around him discovers that his cellphone camera can suddenly show him the world 3 minutes into the future.
2015 Films: Excising The Heart
Excising The Heart by Samuel Karow
Wisconsin (MKE Premiere)
Running Time: 5 minutes
Screening Time: Friiday, Sept 11th 6:30pm
Experimental
This visual journey through one barn's demolition offers a reflection on time, decay, and man's ever-changing relationship to nature.
Samuel Karow is a video artist based in Central Wisconsin. In 2011 he received his BFA from UW-Milwaukee's Department of Film. Specializing in documentaries, Karow seeks to capture genuine moments of beauty, intimacy, and conflict. When given ample time for discovery, he finds that the ordinary becomes quite extraordinary.
Karow's work has been been exhibited nationally and internationally. His award-winning short film “3 Miles East” was included in the 64th Cannes Film Festival Court Metrage.
Director’s Statement
Some say a barn is like a cathedral; a vast expanse of space holding back the elements, connecting people to a larger power. A tie to nature. A link to the past.
Every church has its priest. That was the role my grandfather assumed. Raised on a small dairy farm that saw three generations living and working together, he knew such places to be sacred. They represented the heart of a farm, the livelihood of a family.
Only after his death did the barn succumb to ruin. I wish I could have saved it, but it was not mine to save. I never milked a cow, bundled hay, or shoveled manure. No, this was my childhood playhouse. A place of fantasy.
For a time, we kept the barn propped up as an oversized lawn ornament, but soon discovered a thin coat of red paint does little to mend a leaking roof and crumbling foundation.
It takes a truly symbiotic bond for a barn to endure. When this bond breaks, we, the surviving heathens, are forced to choose between slow rot and swift destruction. We chose the latter. This film serves as my personal documentation of the process.
Wisconsin (MKE Premiere)
Running Time: 5 minutes
Screening Time: Friiday, Sept 11th 6:30pm
Experimental
This visual journey through one barn's demolition offers a reflection on time, decay, and man's ever-changing relationship to nature.
Director Bio:
Samuel Karow is a video artist based in Central Wisconsin. In 2011 he received his BFA from UW-Milwaukee's Department of Film. Specializing in documentaries, Karow seeks to capture genuine moments of beauty, intimacy, and conflict. When given ample time for discovery, he finds that the ordinary becomes quite extraordinary.
Karow's work has been been exhibited nationally and internationally. His award-winning short film “3 Miles East” was included in the 64th Cannes Film Festival Court Metrage.
Director’s Statement
Some say a barn is like a cathedral; a vast expanse of space holding back the elements, connecting people to a larger power. A tie to nature. A link to the past.
Every church has its priest. That was the role my grandfather assumed. Raised on a small dairy farm that saw three generations living and working together, he knew such places to be sacred. They represented the heart of a farm, the livelihood of a family.
Only after his death did the barn succumb to ruin. I wish I could have saved it, but it was not mine to save. I never milked a cow, bundled hay, or shoveled manure. No, this was my childhood playhouse. A place of fantasy.
For a time, we kept the barn propped up as an oversized lawn ornament, but soon discovered a thin coat of red paint does little to mend a leaking roof and crumbling foundation.
It takes a truly symbiotic bond for a barn to endure. When this bond breaks, we, the surviving heathens, are forced to choose between slow rot and swift destruction. We chose the latter. This film serves as my personal documentation of the process.
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