2017 Award Winning Films

We want to thank those filmmakers who sent us their films this year, it was another record breaking season. We normally get around 500 films, but this year we greatly surpassed that with 803 films. More filmmakers are seeking us out, and more local filmmakers are returning to us to enter their work.

We also want to thank our judges, Susan Kerns, Carey Borth, Audrey Nowakowski, Jamal Currie, Van Campbell II and Nelson Oliveras. It wasn't an easy job scoring so many wonderful films.

It was also an amazing year at our new home Foxbay Cinema Grill, they made us feel welcome there and we again had shows filled to capacity, or sold out. It was great to see all these films screened on a big screen.  

See you next year!

 

The Milwaukee Short Film Festival returns for 19th year!

(Milwaukee) The 19th Annual Milwaukee Short Film Festival, named "Best Local Festival" by Moviemaker Magazine returns September 8th and 9th at Fox Bay Cinema Grill. Come celebrate the very best in local filmmaking, filmmaker diversity and the great works of women in film at this year's event.

This year's festival focus is on diversity and women in film making, featuring fourteen films directed by women, including the directorial debut of Caitlin FitzGerald (Masters of Sex and Gossip Girl) with her film, Mrs. Drake. Anticipated festival favorites include Johanna Nyberg's dark Comedians, Carrie Finklea's (Elephant) A Fish Story plus a strong showing by local filmmakers such as Elizabeth Wadium's Selva Obscura, Moriah Bame's Flambé and Mary K Omelina's A Woman Apart.

The event kicks off a batch of Juried films including James Roufus' In America: Red, White & Blood,   Hasan Can Dagli's The Black Ring, Teemu Nikki' The Log and previous "Best Director" winner Michael Viers returns with the horror film, Do You Love Me? Also, Twisted Dreams Festival Directors, Stephen Milek and Christopher House will be honored for her contributions to local filmmaking with the "Pace-setter Award" on September 8th.

The Milwaukee Short Film Festival also celebrates diversity in filmmaking with the third year of "Voices Heard", the only film event in Milwaukee spotlighting the work of local multi-cultural filmmakers. The wildly successful program returns this year to screen nine films from talented local, multi-cultural filmmakers on September 8th at 9:00 PM. Those films include returning filmmaker, Danny Villanueva Jr's Don't Cry Papa, two time audience favorite Ken Lawrence with two films, Hard Life and Twenty Segregation Street, Immanuel Baldwin's Till Death Do Us Part, and amazing new rising young filmmakers, Klifford Barkus' Midwest Problems, Micah Martin's Every Black Boy Wants To Be Loved , Ricardo Tenorio's Natural Horror, Francisco C. Torres' Every Moment and Paulina Bugembe's The Homecoming. Actress Anieya Walker hosts this can't miss event.

Diversity is celebrated throughout the festival with Rule of Threes by T.L. Quach, Emmanuil Morari's The Coldest Game, Jacob Young's We All Bleed Red, a documentary about the 2012 Sikh Temple shooting and other films like Inside Out by Vonnie Quest, a story about a young African American man turning to boxing in order to find a way out.  Plus the Milwaukee Short Film Festival screens the largest line up of local films of any other event in Milwaukee, with 36 films spread over the two day festival run. And that is our goal, to give the largest representation of local talent you'll ever see in this city.  Local works include Carter Green's Roar, Zachary Krueger's The Woodsman, Kristin Peterson's @Me, and Spencer Ortega's Recycle, the previously mentioned, Flambé by Moriah Bame, Pinhole by Elliot Hatch,  Sleep Aid by Brian Klewin, and Reclaimer by Parker Gayan.  All are works from aspiring local filmmakers.

Judging this year's festival are the Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Chicago Feminist Film Festival, Susan Kerns, Lake Effect producer, Audrey Nowakowski, local filmmaker Nelson Oliveras, Entertainment Lawyer and film producer, Carey Borth, Associate Professor of Art at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, Jamál Currie, and multiple award winning filmmaker, Van Campbell II. Awards will be given out during the two day event.


Juried films screen Friday September 8th at 6:45pm and Saturday September 9th at 9pm. Voices Heard screens September 8th at 9pm, with additional films screening Saturday at 4:30pm and 6:45pm.

For more information on the films themselves please go to our website, click on each title or image.
http://www.milwaukeeindependentfilmsociety.org/

Tickets info can be found here:
http://mkeshortfest.blogspot.com/2017/07/advanced-tickets-for-19th-annual.html Tickets at the door are on an available basis – seating may be limited. The Fox Bay Cinema Grill is at 334 E. Silver Spring Drive, Whitefish Bay, WI.

Ross Bigley
Milwaukee Short Film Festival founder/co-director

2017 Voices Heard Film: Hard Life

Hard Life by Ken Lawrence
Milwaukee (Wisconsin Premiere)
Running Time: 5 minutes
Screening Time: Juried Friday, September 8th 9PM
Music Video





"Hard Life" Featuring fellow Milwaukee artist MistaSilkG. Story & filmed by Ken Lawrence. Track produced by Super Producer Doc Holiday of The Beat Creators. This is a diverse story of eight different lives in some hard situations.

IMDb

Twitter


Website


Director's Bio:

Born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Ken Lawrence grew up with a deep interest in film. At just 10 years old, he begged his single mother for a kid’s version of the Super 8 Camera for Christmas, and although it took everything she had, she supported her son’s dreams. Ken began filming his own shows with friends; turning every day into a drama, every funny moment into a comedy series. Years later, Ken joined the Plastering/Cement Masons Union to support his family but never forgot about his dreams. The failed economy brought Ken back to film. He is currently studying Motion Picture & Television at The Academy of Art University, has joined several local film groups, and works on a variety of local commercials and events throughout Wisconsin. Ken is also currently working on two web series’ and continues to write and turn his life into future films.

Ken is also a back to back "Audience" favorite winner at Voices Heard. 

2017 Voices Heard Judge: Nelson Oliveras

Born in Puerto Rico, Nelson Oliveras locally has been slowly making a name for himself in the independent film community. 

He is the founder of T.O. Media Group Studios, a multi media production company. He has produced more than ten short films, and directed three of those short films. 

Recently he produced his first feature film along with Dirty Job Films and it is now in the process of directing his first feature film for Well of Souls Productions.

2017 Films: Flambé

Flambé by Moriah Bame
Wisconsin (Wisconsin Premiere)
Running Time: 10 minutes
Screening Time: Juried Saturday, September 9th 9PM
Drama

The wife of a promiscuous chef reminisces on the good parts of their marriage.

Director's Bio:

Moriah is a Milwaukee based filmmaker who focuses on telling stories with minimal dialog. When she is not directing her own shorts, she does still photography for other filmmakers.

Advanced Tickets for 19th Annual Milwaukee Short Film Festival

Purchase Tickets

To buy advance tickets we set up these Paypal options. We use paypal to avoid adding extra surcharges and fees that Event Brite charges. This keeps our tickets at $10

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. We will not mail tickets. It is will call. 

When going to your preferred show specify at the door the name in which the tickets were purchased under, the show (Fri 6:45pm, Sat 4:30pm , 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 friends. There will be tickets sold at the door as well.

Fourth: There is no credit card purchases on site, cash only sales. ATM's are within walking distance to the venue.

Finally: Fox Bay Cinema has plenty of available parking near them and behind them. They also have food and drinks. Also, we suggest that our film selection is suitable for those 16 and up. Please keep that in mind.

                                         ADVANCED TICKETS STOP ON SEPT 7th.      

                               PLEASE ARRIVE 30 MINS EARLY FOR ALL SHOWS                                                                                     Sorry no refunds.

For the 9pm shows, please show up on time. 

The Kitchen closes 30 minutes after that show begins.

Fri. Session 1: (6:45pm)  OPENING NIGHT EVENT!! Juried Part 1  The Bouquet, Roar, In America: Red, White & Blood, In The Magical Forest of Wonder, Recycle, Black Ring, The Coldest Game, Do You Love Me?, The Log  and our Pace-setter awarded to Stephen Milek and Christopher House

DOOR SALES ONLY BEGINNING AT 6PM. Door Sales will stop for this show at 7pm. 

Friday. Session 2: (9pm) VOICES HEARD! LOCAL MULTI-CULTURAL FILMMAKERS  Don't Cry Papa , Every Black Boy Wants To Be Loved, Every Moment,  Midwest Problems, Till Death Do Us Part, 
Twenty Segregation Street, Natural Horror, and The Homecoming

DOOR SALES ONLY BEGINNING AT 6PM. Door sales will stop for this show at 9:15pm. The Kitchen will close at 9:30. 

Sat. Session 3: (4:30pm) NeoFerals - The Gathering, The Art and Dreams of D.J. Sheskin,  Motivated, Rule of Threes, The Woodsman,  Home Invasion,  Sleep Aid,  A Woman Apart, Selva Obscura, All The World's a Stage, Woman, and Gardening At Night

DOOR SALES ONLY BEGINNING AT 6PM on Sept 8th. Door Sales will stop for this show at 4:45pm.

Tickets sales on Sept 9th begin at 3:30pm

Sat Session 4: (6:45pm)  Dead Man's Carnival: A Conversation With Pinkerton Xyloma ,  Reclaimer, Kat the Baker,  We All Bleed Red, Chrome N Star,  A Whole World For A Little World , Ornament of Beauty,   "SUDDEN TITLE APPEARS ONSCREEN" ,  and Pinhole

DOOR SALES ONLY BEGINNING AT 6PM on Sept 8th. Door Sales will stop for this show at 7pm. 

Sat Session 5: (9pm) Juried Films Part 2.  @Me,  Unbuttoned, Flambé,  Ten More, 

A Hard World For Little Things, Inside Out,  A Fish Story,  Strings Attached,  Comedians and Mrs. Drake  

DOOR SALES ONLY BEGINNING AT 6PM on Sept 8th. Door sales will stop for this show at 9:15pm. The Kitchen will close at 9:30. 

Remember tickets will not be mailed, bring your email notification, and enjoy the show!

2017 Films: The Woodsman

The Woodsman by Zachary Krueger
Wisconsin (Wisconsin Premiere)
Running Time: 10 minutes
Screening Time: Saturday, September 9th 4:30PM
Drama
 

A fur-clad nomad living off the land is forced to drastic measures when a rotting tooth has become unbearable.



Director's Bio:

My film education began in Milwaukee at the Peck School of the Arts, UW-Milwaukee in 2013. Before then, I grew up in several different states from Missouri, to Oklahoma, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. My exploration of filmmaking and the arts lied mostly in theatre and the performing arts. I identified first as an actor, but moved eagerly into writing and directing. I graduated from UW-Milwaukee in 2017 and i’ve been supporting myself through freelance videography and professional work on film sets while writing my own personal projects. 

2017 Films: The Coldest Game

The Coldest Game by Emmanuil Morari
Wisconsin (Wisconsin Premiere)
Running Time: 13 minutes
Screening Time: Juried Friday, September 8th 6:45PM
Thriller

We follow a lone hunter through the forest as he calls and waits for game. As he stops for a break, he is gruesomely shot and dies slowly in a forest. 

Ben, a late teenager, is guided on his first hunting trip by his hard-faced veteran Uncle Saul. After Ben takes a shot at a suspected deer, the duo soon discover the consequence : a dead hunter in a snowy field. After much shock and argument, Uncle Saul convinces Ben to leave the body and make a run for it. In order to cover their tracks, they attempt to retrieve Ben’s shell casing. When they find it, another hunter discovers the dead body. At this point, Uncle Saul and Ben have no choice but to take the mile-and-a-half trek back through the woods to their truck avoiding anyone who might have questions. 

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2017 Voices Heard Judge: Jamál Currie

Jamál Currie is currently an Associate Professor of Art at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. He is a video, sound, installation and assemblage artist who has been teaching film and video courses to students of all ages for over fifteen years. He received his MFA from the University of South Florida-Tampa in 1998.

2017 Voices Heard Films: Twenty Segregation Street

Twenty Segregation Street by Ken Lawrence
Milwaukee (Wisconsin Premiere)
Running Time: 11 minutes
Screening Time: Juried Friday, September 8th 9PM
Documentary 

This documentary shines a light on the vast economical differences between Milwaukee's North 27th Street, and South 27th Street. 

IMDb

Twitter

Website


Director's Bio:

Born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Ken Lawrence grew up with a deep interest in film. At just 10 years old, he begged his single mother for a kid’s version of the Super 8 Camera for Christmas, and although it took everything she had, she supported her son’s dreams. Ken began filming his own shows with friends; turning every day into a drama, every funny moment into a comedy series. Years later, Ken joined the Plastering/Cement Masons Union to support his family but never forgot about his dreams. The failed economy brought Ken back to film. He is currently studying Motion Picture & Television at The Academy of Art University, has joined several local film groups, and works on a variety of local commercials and events throughout Wisconsin. Ken is also currently working on two web series’ and continues to write and turn his life into future films.

Ken is also a back to back "Audience" favorite winner at Voices Heard.