2022 Films: Alfie

Alfie by Anastasia Esther

Milwaukee 

Running Time: 4 minutes
Screening Time: Saturday, Sept 10 at 9:15PM
Experimental

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Alfie is an odd creature, seeking something outside his home. What will he find?

Director Bio: 

Anastasia Esther (she/they) is an experimental filmmaker based in Milwaukee, WI. Esther received the 2020 Lubar Scholars in Film Award for her film CONFINEMENT / LIBERATION. Her work focuses on social issues, Jewish identity, and the prevalence of absurdity in our daily lives. She is also the co-host of Filmosophy, a podcast dedicated to confronting the ethical issues of the film and TV industry.

 

2022 Films: Image Of A Glassman

Image Of A Glassman by Sam Aidan Coombes
United Kingdom (Milwaukee Premiere)

Running Time: 3 minutes
Screening Time: Saturday, Sept 10 at 6:30PM
Documentary

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A short documentary about the transition from analogue to digital photography, and the lasting effect it's had on John Quantick over his 44 year career.

Director Bio:

An award winning cinematographer, filmmaker and camera OP – creating bold and distinctive visuals for advertisement, social media, TV & film.

Well versed in many creative areas, with an extensive knowledge of camera & lighting equipment. Highly skilled with industry standard editing software and post-production techniques.

2022 Voices Heard Films: Todrick Hall - WIG

Todrick Hall - WIG by Chancie T. Cole
Milwaukee, WI (Milwaukee Premiere)

Running Time: 5 minutes
Screening Time: Saturday, Sept 10 at 4PM
Dance/ LGBTQ

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This collaboration project was my 1st biggest creative projects I've ever done and by far one of my favorites as well. As an artist, creative director, choreographer and producer my mission is to inspire other passionate artists, build connections and share my gifts to the world. I was able to reach out to 3 other choreographers, videographer, photographer and dancers to make this visual come to life. It took a few months of planning/creating to figure out what I wanted from this piece. Inspired by the music I wanted to create a fun cultural experience for my viewers. Not only was in loud, extra, colorful and black it was also gay! For the people by the people embracing the pride type of atmosphere celebrating how great life can be if you stay true to who you are.

Website

Instagram

Director Bio:

Chancie Cole was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with a unique form of talent that grew into passion at a young age. With more than 13 years of professional experience as an artist, choreographer, creative director, freelance performer, and lead dance instructor, Ms. Cole has grown into a versatile creative in all areas. Outside of her involvement with her community performances/projects, she has also been involved in many events and requested for many bookings. Her goal is to continue to experiment with different music/sounds, exploring new genres, directing/managing productions, teaching and collaborating with other artists/teams. Her experiences has allowed her to work with the youth, mentor, instruct, choreograph, entertain, produce, perform, creatively direct and all while being a team player. Furthermore, this has molded her into the leader she is today. Throughout Cole’s career she is always looking to perfect her craft and gain new experiences. Ms. Cole goals are to continue learning with the intent to gain personal growth as well as positive inspiration for her work and providing more opportunities to all creators with her business CCreates.

2022 Voices Heard Films: Inoculation

Inoculation by John Carlo Rosillo
Fond du Lac, WI (Milwaukee Premiere)

Running Time: 10 minutes
Screening Time: Saturday, Sept 10 at 4PM
Horror/Comedy

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From Director John Carlo Rosillo, a horror-comedy short film that explores the world of vaccinations and their effect on friendship.

Director Bio:

John Carlo Rosillo is a Filipino director and cinematographer who specializes in creating stories about mental health with limited resources. Immigrating and moving to northern Wisconsin, John Carlo or Carlo as he likes to be named, learned skills from editing to cinematography all on his own since he was in middle school.

Now in his adulthood he has worked for a variety of national brands in a variety of positions. In his free time he’s created award winning short films with no budget or funding. His main goal with his films is to transcend language and use film to reach an emotional connection like his childhood films did for him when he first moved to the US. His films focus on telling stories of mental health through a new lens that he believes no other filmmakers have explored.

2022 Films: Normal Porn for Normal People

Normal Porn for Normal People by Amber Rose McNeill

Milwaukee 

Running Time: 4 minutes
Screening Time: Saturday, Sept 10 at 6:30PM
Experimental/ LGBTQ

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"Normal Porn for Normal People" is an appropriated media piece that explores our societal need to consume violence for entertainment. The film offers a satirical commentary on the romanticizing and normalization of violent imagery, while observing the link to commercial consumerism that exploits human sexuality, while simultaneously demonizing it. Interview segments echo our endless need to devour salacious content by venerating both real and fictional violence. Sexuality and sexual images remain a convenient scapegoat that facilitate a continued avoidance regarding the impact that the glorification of violence has within North American culture.

Director Bio:

Amber Rose McNeill is an Australian film director and appropriated media artist based in Wisconsin. Her work focuses on societal attitudes towards violence, dark psychology and challenging normative concepts of sexuality. Amber Rose frequently examines the relationship that media and popular culture play in the consumption of violence within western society. Her current projects serve to rework traditional structures within the horror genre to further queer narratives in addition to creating more films made via the female, and gender queer, lens.

Director Statement

I wanted to make a provocative film that examined the way we consume violence for entertainment in such a normalized manner. I had recently started working with appropriated media, and this concept lent itself perfectly to the medium. By using select clips from horror movie trailers, 1980s TV commercials, sexualized imagery, interviews with serial killers and original text, I was able to create a growing sense of unease that aims to make the viewer reconsider their relationship with violent media. I fashioned together a bootleg film that’s very nature comments on the exploitation of violence, particularly violence against women, that exists as the sexualized storytelling structure in much of mainstream cinema.

2022 Films: Of Wood

Of Wood by Owen Klatte

Wisconsin (Milwaukee Premiere)

Running Time: 7 minutes
Screening Time: Saturday, Sept 10 at 6:30PM
Experimental/ Animation

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"Of Wood" is a unique experimental stop motion film created by progressively carving images in a large round of wood, enhanced with wooden objects coming out of the wood. It examines the role of wood in daily life through the ages and comments on the impact of consumerism on our lives.

Director Bio:

Owen Klatte is a Character Animator and Animation Director with extensive experience in stop motion and CG animation for feature films, commercials, television, and special venue projects. His credits include "The Nightmare Before Christmas", "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1", Disney's "Dinosaur", "Anomolisa", and "James and the Giant Peach".

Owen was drawn to animation by the wonderfully strange and beautiful independent films seen in international film festivals. "Of Wood" is Klatte's first independent animation project since college, fulfilling a decades-old dream.

Director Statement

Having always been a lover of trees and wood sculpture, and wanting to use my professional animation knowledge on a personal film, "Of Wood" began as an experiment in finding a new way to animate with wood. I had almost no woodworking experience when I began this project, but took a short wood carving class in order to learn the basic techniques and tools necessary.

Most of the film was shot without storyboards, tests, or exposure sheets since I could never plan very far ahead due to the nature of the process. As such, I had to make it up as I went along, just using my overall vision for the film to guide each particular moment's actions.

2022 Films: Perfect Match

Perfect Match by Lynda Reiss

Los Angeles (Milwaukee Premiere)

Running Time: 8 minutes
Screening Time: Saturday, Sept 10 at 9:15PM
Comedy

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A woman wants to search the internet for her soul mate, and invites a friend over to help her choose.

Director Bio:

Lynda Reiss is an award-winning director whose character driven films explore the darker parts of the human condition, with a levity from the humor in her voice. Born in New York and raised in the UK, she has travelled the world, been a nanny for the super-rich, a Prop House owner, as well as having had a successful career as a Property Master on projects such as American Beauty, True Detective and Stranger Things. When this work could no longer satisfy her creative soul, she decided to follow her dream and directed her first film. This short, Ready to Go won 27 awards on the festival circuit, and was Oscar qualified for 2020. Lynda is a fellow of the Sony Diverse Directors Program. She is in development on two feature films, and a limited series, which she has written. Her second short, Lancaster Park is currently on its festival run, already having won several awards, and this is her third short, Perfect Match.

Irrepressible and hilarious, Lynda is who you want to be working alongside when you are shooting in some alley at three in the morning, completing the day and having fun doing it.

Director Statement

I made this film as a celebration of what happens when you meet great collaborators at film festivals. The writer, and the two actresses all met at various festivals prior to covid and have stayed great friends and collaborate on each others projects. I also wanted the exercise of making a 6 minute conversation with two people sitting on a couch entertaining to watch, that I could keep the entire physical production cast and crew to under ten people (we were 8 in the end) and to use only practical lights. I am really happy with how it turned out.