2024 Films: Sentinel

Sentinel by Jake Viaene
Menasha, WI (Milwaukee Premiere)

Running Time: 13 minutes
Horror

Saturday, Sept 7th 7PM
Avalon Atmospheric Theater
2473 S Kinnickinnic Ave, Milwaukee, WI 53207

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A reporter experiences bumps in the night after the whistleblower of a local corporate conspiracy goes missing.

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Director Bio:

Jake Viaene is a filmmaker from rural Wisconsin. He studied film at the Peck School of the Arts at UW-Milwaukee and is now a full-time commercial director, but also creates music videos and narrative films.


Director Statement:


I was inspired to write and direct this film, Sentinel, after my partner, Katy introduced me to the location. At the time, it was her workplace. It was originally built for the city's newspaper in the 1920s. For decades, the building's three stories were filled with reporters, editors, photographers, press operators, advertising and circulation. When Katy started working there, the editorial team had shrunk to just three people. By the time we started filming it was down to a team of two and plans had begun to turn the building into a boutique hotel. Because of the location's beauty--and it's lack of use--I knew it was a perfect filming location. The shrinking of the local newspaper industry and the degradation of integrity in the journalism industry as a whole has been terrifying to witness. It was constantly on the minds of Katy and I for the years she served as a reporter and editor. Naturally, I felt it was appropriate to write a horror film set around a dying newspaper. When there's not a good team of journalists to keep the powers that be in check, it's easy for greed and corruption to run rampant. The film's heroine, Grace, is a strong, determined reporter who refuses to let the fact that her newspaper is closing dissuade her from uncovering the truth. But she's only one person. The film is not set in a world where she can miraculously take down a corporation and fight off dangerous sociopaths. The only hope she has is an intervention from the supernatural--and sometimes it feels like that's what our journalism industry needs as well. But is it too late?