2023 Legacy Film: The Egg

The Egg by Craig A Knitt

Appleton, WI

Running Time: 4 minutes
Block 3, September 9th. 3:30PM
Horror

For tickets click HERE.

A strange man accidentally digs up a huge egg while he is in the process of burying a body. The egg hatches and the creature that came from inside has plans of it's own.

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2023 Film: Blue Hour

Blue Hour by J.D. Shields

Los Angeles, CA (Milwaukee Premiere)

Running Time: 15 minutes
Block 4, September 9th. 6:30PM
Drama

For tickets click HERE.

Two personal journeys intersect when a struggling young photographer is hired for a cheap last minute portrait gig. The unfolding photo session, while transient, leaves an indelible mark on both women.

Blue Hour is the first partnership between the AFI Directing Workshop for Women and the Women in Film Production Program.

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2023 Film: Amount Due

Amount Due by Hernán Ballard, Matthew Jarosinski, Jordan DiBenedetto

Madison, WI (Milwaukee Premiere)

Running Time: 6 minutes
Block 4: September 9th, 6:30PM
Drama

For tickets click HERE.

"Amount Due" is a semi-autobiographical film about a mother, her terminally-declining health, the injustices of the U.S. healthcare system, and the suffering it brings upon the loved ones of the deceased. Shot in the style of magic realism, "Amount Due" involves puppetry, a metamorphosing main character, and a camera that reveals the biographical aspects of the story.

Directed by and starring Hernán Ballard, Matthew Jarosinski, and Jordan DiBenedetto, for Professor Will Quade's Communication Arts 355: Intro to Media Production, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

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2023 Film: Modo Island

Modo Island by Haeryun Kang
Seoul, South Korea (Milwaukee Premiere)

Running Time: 9 minutes
Block 5: September 9th, 9:15PM
Documentary

For tickets click HERE.

At the height of COVID-19, the erotic sculpture park on Modo Island is nearly empty, like the nearby Incheon Airport, which is South Korea’s largest. The film juxtaposes images of the human body with the stone, both limited by their physical realities as literal and figurative islands, trapped within a perpetual longing for flight.

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2023 Film: Wisconsin State Parks: The Volunteers

Wisconsin State Parks: The Volunteers by Katelyn Erath

Sherwood, WI (Milwaukee Premiere)

Running Time: 10 minutes
Block 3: September 9th, 3:30PM
Documentary

For tickets click HERE.

A documentary that features hard working volunteers and their work with-in, and for, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. The film explores the reasons, three groups decide to spend their time making the state parks and forests a better place for all.

2023 Film: A Passing Cloud

A Passing Cloud by Peiyan Tang
Shanghai, China (Milwaukee Premiere)

Running Time: 14 minutes
Block 3: September 9th, 3:30PM
Drama

For tickets click HERE.

While working as a rideshare driver to support her family, Zhao Mei gives a lift to a teenage girl, Yiyi, during schooltime one day. On the way to their destination, Zhao Mei slowly begins to question her role as a mother as she learns more about her young passenger.

2023 Film: A Letter with My Sword, Word by Word

A Letter with My Sword, Word by Word by Emma Barany
Milwaukee, WI (Milwaukee Premiere)

Running Time: 3 minutes
Block 1: September 8th, 6:30PM
Animation

For tickets click HERE.

Through swordplay and commands, our main figure, Emma, explores the structures and challenges of her past relationships. Ultimately, this leads her to the ones most important to her.

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2023 Film: Little Bird

Little Bird by Madison Uphoff

Milwaukee, WI (Milwaukee Premiere)

Running Time: 15 minutes
Block 3: September 9th, 3:30PM
Drama

For tickets click HERE.

Family traumas are hard to heal. Breaking free from a codependent parent is never easy, but to follow her dreams Birdie must do just that.

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2023 Film: Town of Sunshine

Town of Sunshine by Ricardo Tenorio
Milwaukee, WI (Milwaukee Premiere)

Running Time: 6 minutes
Block 4: September 9th, 6:30PM
Animation

For tickets click HERE.

You've stumbled upon a strange and wonderful world. You meet a very nice man. Everything is nice and safe - right?

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2023 Film: Wedlocked

Wedlocked by Debra Zarne
Mequon, WI (Milwaukee Premiere)

Running Time: 5 minutes
Block 4: September 9th, 6:30PM
Dramedy

For tickets click HERE.

A middle-aged husband and wife doing domestic chores together silently reflect upon each other and their marriage and decide whether to stay or leave. Created around and punctuated by an original piece of experimental music composed by avant-garde composer Yehuda Yannay.

2023 Film: 50 mL

50 mL by Vanessa M. H. Powers
Hopkins, MN (Milwaukee Premiere)

Running Time: 8 minutes
Block 4: September 9th, 6:30PM
Drama

For tickets click HERE.

A young man struggles with his sobriety while he and his wife host a holiday dinner with her dysfunctional family.

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2023 Film: Nosedive

Nosedive by Natalia Rzepinska

Shorewood, WI (Milwaukee Premiere)

Running Time: 4 minutes
Block 4: September 9th, 6:30PM
Music Video

For tickets click HERE.

During golden hour on the hottest day of summer, a friend group decides to host a backyard party. Infatuation sparks when someone catches the eye of another.

2023 Film: Triggered

Triggered by Hisonni Mustafa

Milwaukee, WI

Running Time: 15 minutes
Block 4: September 9th, 6:30PM
Drama

For tickets click HERE.

When a dedicated teacher's prized student mysteriously disappears, he is confronted with a pivotal challenge that compels him to reconcile with the boy's mother in a race against time to locate him.

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2023 Film: Robots Don't Tell Jokes

Robots Don't Tell Jokes by Kelli Caldwell
Portland, Oregon (Milwaukee Premiere)

Running Time: 4 minutes
Block 3: September 9th, 3:30PM
Music Video

For tickets click HERE.

Robot thinks he has a wonderful joke, so he keeps trying to tell it, but none of the other robots ever laugh. They tell him "robots don't tell jokes..." Will Robot give up on his awesome joke or will he find his tribe? Stop-motion using mainly wood scraps and metal pieces.

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2023 Film: Hey, I'm Home.

Hey, I'm Home. by Dom Udell

Chicago, IL (Milwaukee Premiere)

Running Time: 7 minutes
Block 5: September 9th, 9:15PM
Drama

For tickets click HERE.

A woman has trouble processing her grief after the sudden death of her husband.

A film about the strangeness of grief, loss and the disembodiment of a loved one.

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2023 Film: Machine in the Ghost

Machine in the Ghost by Casey T. Malone
Milwaukee, WI (Milwaukee Premiere)

Running Time: 6 minutes
Block 5: September 9th, 9:15PM
Experimental/ Music Video

For tickets click HERE.

Official music video for Pawn Pawn's single "Machine in the Ghost" off of their sophomore album "Mourning." Written, Directed, and Animated by Casey T. Malone.

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2023 Film: X'ed Out

X'ed Out by Melody R. Herr
Milwaukee, WI (Milwaukee Premiere)

Running Time: 10 minutes
Block 1: September 8th, 6:30PM
Drama

For tickets click HERE.

When a young C.E.O. is found dead, a small-town Lieutenant finds himself caught in the middle as his two main suspects accuse each other of murder.

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2023 Film: KAD (Korean Adoptee)

KAD (Korean Adoptee) by Katharin Mraz
Chicago, IL (Milwaukee Premiere)

Running Time: 8 minutes
Block 5: September 9th, 9:15PM
Drama/ Dark Comedy

For tickets click HERE.

KAD (Korean Adoptee) is a "day in the life" coming of age story about Kate Davison, a Korean Adoptee.

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2023 Film: Errands

Errands by Parker Cmeyla
Menomonie WI (Milwaukee Premiere)

Running Time: 4 minutes
Block 3: September 9th, 3:30PM
Action

For tickets click HERE.

A simple dad out to lunch, before his last errand.

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2023 Film: meyne hent (מײַנע הענט)

meyne hent (מײַנע הענט) by Amber Rose McNeill

Milwaukee, WI (Milwaukee Premiere)

Running Time: 7 minutes
Block 1: September 8th, 6:30PM
Experimental/ LGBTQ+

For tickets click HERE.

meyne hent (מײַנע הענט), translated from the Yiddish as my hands, is an adaption of the poem by Celia Dropkin. Using visual language, the filmmaker explores her intersecting identities of queerness, Jewishness, and womanhood. The film draws parallels between the body as landscape and landscape as body through intimately close portraiture and the queer lens. Connections emerge between religion and mythology, at times juxtaposed or reconstructed, surrounding the symbolism of etz hayim (the Tree of Life), shekhinah (the Divine feminine), and the mitzvah of the mikvah (ritual bathing).

In Hungarian folklore életfa connects the three spheres of the world; the sky, the earth, and the underworld. In Judaism etz hayim offers knowledge and comfort to those who may hold or touch her.

Landscape is further explored through a collage of natural sounds that observe silence, a sacred tenet of Judaism. The prepossession of womanhood is deconstructed and reconstructed through the feminine recitation of a Shabbat prayer. Shabbat is personified as a bride or queen in the Talmud, a central Jewish text. Furthering the connections and intersections between Jewishness and womanhood.

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2023 Film: Fine Turkey

Fine Turkey by Vincent Maslowski
Milwaukee, WI (Milwaukee Premiere)

Running Time: 2 minutes
Block 1: September 8th, 6:30PM
Animation/ Horror

For tickets click HERE.

Just a regular Thanksgiving!

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2023 Film: Brief Exchanges

Brief Exchanges by Ashley Versher
Los Angeles, CA (Milwaukee Premiere)

Running Time: 12 minutes
Block 5: September 9th, 9:15PM
Drama

For tickets click HERE.

Brief Exchanges follows Tanya, a young Black woman living in NYC. After a harsh encounter with a drunken stranger, Tanya lands on the same street corner as Troy, whose kindness stands in sharp contrast to the unfriendly city. Their chance encounter becomes a daylong affair of flirtatious banter punctuated by poignant moments, or "brief exchanges,” that reflect the various microaggressions she must navigate daily. Filtered through the lens of a charming meet-cute, this film represents a Black woman’s reality in living with these intersectional identities.

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2023 Film: The Call

The Call by Anthony Wood

Highland,WI (Milwaukee Premiere)

Running Time: 6 minutes
Block 4: September 8th, 6:30PM
Drama

For tickets click HERE.

An solitary man is called out of retirement to help an old friend.

2023 Film: Don't Lose Faith

Don't Lose Faith by Brian Klewin
Milwaukee, WI (Milwaukee Premiere)

Running Time: 12 minutes
Block 4: September 9th, 6:30PM
Horror

For tickets click HERE.

During her freshman year in college a young Latina woman faces a crisis of faith and explores an alternate religion on Halloween. This is the first film co-produced by Alverno College's Creative Arts in Practice major. Alverno is the most diverse 4-year college in the state of Wisconsin, and the college is an official Hispanic Serving Institution. Students made up most of the cast and crew.

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2023 Voices Heard Film: [Subtitled]

[Subtitled] by Sergio Espino
Milwaukee, WI 

Running Time: 8 minutes
Block 2: Voices Heard September 8th, 9:15PM
Comedy

For tickets click HERE.

A pair of new parents try to get a little more than peace and quiet.

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2023 Voices Heard Film: Blunt

Blunt by Hisonni Mustafa Johnson

Milwaukee, WI (Milwaukee Premiere)

Running Time: 16 minutes
Block 2: Voices Heard September 8th, 9:15PM
Drama

For tickets click HERE.

In this dialogue-driven episode, an interracial lesbian couple attempts to ease the racial tension between them and their parents using the power of straight talk and a little bit of Cannabis.

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2023 Voices Heard Film: Vanquished

Vanquished by Ramesh Kumar
Milwaukee, WI (Milwaukee Premiere)

Running Time: 8 minutes
Block 2: Voices Heard September 8th  9:15PM
Drama/ Thriller

For tickets click HERE.

Dad learns that the drunk driver who killed his little girl is out on bond. He learns from his Attorney that the young driver posted a small amount and the Judge allowed him to get out of jail. Dad is determined to prevent the accused from hurting more innocents and is on a mission to find him.

IMDb

2023 Voices Heard Film: Seen//Unseen

Seen//Unseen by T.J. Blanco

Milwaukee, WI (Milwaukee Premiere)

Running Time: 8 minutes
Block 2: Voices Heard September 8th  9:15PM
Drama/ Documentary/ LGBTQ+

For tickets click HERE.

Trans and Gender Non-Conforming (TGNC) individuals, when asked about the topics of queer visibility, problematize the notion that visibility alone leads to any form of queer liberation and point towards what might instead.

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2023 Voices Heard Film: Gin

Gin by Jose Alberto Castillo
Madison, WI (Milwaukee Premiere)

Running Time: 15 minutes
Block 2: Voices Heard September 8th 9:15PM
Drama/ Thriller

For tickets click HERE.

A widowed hitman takes one last job but must decide between saving his corrupt brother or a helpless victim of human trafficking.

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2023 Voices Heard Film: Crown Me

Crown Me by Yaya Edmonds
Milwaukee, WI (Milwaukee Premiere)

Running Time: 5 minutes
Block 2: Voices Heard September 8th 9:15PM
Dance

For tickets click HERE.

A dance visual on Black men providing a space for Black women to be vulnerable and feel supported.

Section 1 (Flawless): Toxic Masculinity. Men doing stereotypical masculine movements and the women echoing with thought of acceptance. One woman tries to break out of the toxicity to be her authentic self but it isn’t accepted so she falls back in line

Section 2 (Spoken Word): The Woman vs the Man. Finally, one woman embraces all sides of her womanhood. Both masculine, feminine, soft and harsh; paving a way for other women

Section 3 (Boss): Women building together

Section 4 (Bow Down): Unity between the Black Man and Woman. The crown belongs to all, but the man no longer holds it. The woman does with the support of the Black man

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2023 Voices Heard Film: Shatter

Shatter by Allie Robinson

Madison, WI (Milwaukee Premiere)

Running Time: 15 minutes
Block 2: Voices Heard September 8th 9:15PM
Drama/ LGBTQ+

For tickets click HERE.

Joy and Eden meet by chance and fall in love quickly but soon realize their love may only be seasonal and that perhaps they met the wrong person at the right time.

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2023 Voices Heard Film: Genesis

Genesis by Rosella Joseph

Milwaukee, WI (Milwaukee Premiere)

Running Time: 7 minutes
Block 2: Voices Heard September 8th 9:15PM
Sci-Fi

For tickets click HERE.

A short experimental afro futurist film about a young black woman's brief journey into space while trying to find herself.

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2023 Voices Heard Film: See Sides

See Sides by Darren Cole

Milwaukee, WI (Milwaukee Premiere)

Running Time: 7 minutes
Block 2: Voices Heard September 8th 9:15PM
Documentary/ Drama

For tickets click HERE.

Kwame Nantambu has a barbershop conversation in Sanford, Florida, during the trial of George Zimmerman for the murder of Trayvon Martin.

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2023 Film: Defunction

Defunction by Alexander Eberhage
Milwaukee, WI (Milwaukee Premiere)

Running Time: 10 minutes
Block 3: September 9th, 3:30PM
Drama/Sci-Fi

For tickets click HERE.

A young scientist couple experiments with time travel encountering unexpected results.

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2023 Legacy Film: The Phantom Limb

The Phantom Limb by Mark G.E.

Milwaukee
Running Time: 19 minutes
Block 1, September 8th. 6:30PM
Drama/Film Noir

For tickets click HERE.

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The Phantom Limb was the very first film screened at the festival in 1994.

Phantom Limb the noir tale of a man who, after committing murder, cuts off his arm only to find himself finding it harder to tell what is real and what is imagined. Original soundtrack by John Kruth.

"Mark G. E.'s best work lies in his visual ideas... like Monty Python on magic mushrooms."

-Dave Lurhssen - Shepherd Express

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2023 Film: The Art of Purpose

The Art of Purpose by Abby Lamkins

Milwaukee, WI (Milwaukee Premiere)

Running Time: 5 minutes
Block 3: September 9th,  3:30PM
Documentary

For tickets click HERE.

After an unconventional start to her college career, a young entrepreneur explores her purpose through the art of tattooing while also balancing school.

*This project does not have a credited director as it was a team project, the editor, Abby Lamkins is spearheading the submission process. 

2023 Film: Now We Wait

Now We Wait by Megan Kitzman
Oshkosh, WI (Milwaukee Premiere)

Running Time: 9 minutes
Block 3: September 9th,  3:30PM
Drama

For tickets click HERE.

Rae, an anxious young adult battles with her crippling fear of dying. After being pushed to enjoy a night out with friends, they all encounter death too soon, too young, and without warning.

Now We Wait is a social piece about gun violence and its ability to happen to anyone and anywhere.

2023 Film: Dicktation

Dicktation by Stephanie Kalogriopoulos
Brooklyn, NY(Milwaukee Premiere)
Running Time: 7 minutes
Block 4: September 9th,  6:30PM
Dark Comedy

For tickets click HERE.

Three women go in for an interview. Is it for a job? A bank loan? Only one thing is for sure... This interview will change their lives.

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2023 Film: Fuzzysurf - Sheep Shed

Fuzzysurf - Sheep Shed by Tommy Simms & Joe Ludwig

Milwaukee, WI

Running Time: 5 minutes
Block 1: September 8th,  6:30PM
Comedy

For tickets click HERE.

When the singer of the rock band Fuzzysurf makes quick enemies with the singer of the doppelgänger band Roughturf, they attempt to settle their differences at a Battle of the Bands, only to discover that the music competition is just the beginning of an endless rivalry.

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2023 Film: Big Bang

Big Bang by Carlos Segundo

Paris, France (Milwaukee Premiere)

Running Time: 14 minutes
Block 1: September 8th,  6:30PM
Drama

For tickets click HERE.

In Uberlandia, Brazil, Chico earns his living fixing ovens, in which he easily fits into thanks to his small size. Marginalized by a system that values him as a misfit, he begins to start resisting it.

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2023 Film: Volume 22

Volume 22 by Mizuleyka H McCarthy
Milwaukee, WI (Milwaukee Premiere)

Running Time: 7 minutes
Block 1: September 8th, 6:30PM
Documentary/ Drama

For tickets click HERE.

This film is about a family documenting their lives through 1992-2007 with a humane lens around alcoholism and the complications it brings with raising children and yourself.

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2023 Film: The Little Girls

The Little Girls by Mohamad Reza Misaghi
Tehran, Iran (Milwaukee Premiere)

Running Time: 5 minutes
Block 5: September 9th,  9:15PM
Drama

For tickets click HERE.

The story of a little girl who is forced into marriage as a child by the family and the wrong tradition of society

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