2014 Milwaukee Film Festival Announces Shorter Is Better Lineup

MILWAUKEE – Tuesday, September 02, 2014 – The 6^th Annual Milwaukee Film Festival, presented by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, announces its lineup for Shorter Is Better, a short film showcase comprised of eight themed programs, featuring 68 of the best short stories told by filmmakers from all over the world, from all walks of life.

Innovative and enthralling, expansive in subject matter and style, Shorter Is Better allows the festival audience to view work from masters of the short format on the big screen, while offering a first glimpse at many future feature film directors.

“We have a stellar lineup of short films this year from 22 countries, including two excellent shorts with local ties. Taxidermists, part of Out of This World, features the Milwaukee Public Museum’s lead taxidermist, Wendy Christensen, while Untucked, which premiered at Sundance this year and is featured in our new Sports Shorts program, comes from Marquette alum, Danny Pudi,” says Shorts Programmer and Grant Writer Anna Sampers.

New to the program this year are the first annual Shorter Is Better juried award, recognizing the winning short film with a cash prize of $1,000, as well as two new shorts programs: Sports Shorts. Shorts about Sports. and Stories We Tell–a collection of nine personal stories both true and fictional. Both new programs join last year’s Oriental Theatre sellout, Date Night, along with the very popular The Best Damn F*#@ing Midnight Program Ever. Sh*t., Let’s Get Animated, Out of This World, Modern Families, and Stranger Than Fiction.

Media Sponsor: Tap Milwaukee

 

2014 MILWAUKEE FILM FESTIVAL

SHORTER IS BETTER
This is your chance to see a bunch of great short films, from a bunch of great up-and-coming filmmakers, in a proper theater. We took our favorite short films from around the world and put them into neat little packages for your viewing pleasure.

Shorts: The Best Damn F*#@ing Midnight Program Ever. Sh*t.

Total running time: 88 min
Hi kids, do you like violence? Put on your big-kid pants, because these shocking, gross, sexy, funny, and gory shorts aren’t for the weak of heart (or bladder). There will be swearing, there will be blood, there will be butts—but if you’re into that sort of thing, there will also be a great time had by all.

 

Box Room (Ireland / 2013 / Director: Michael Lathrop)
Fool’s Day (USA / 2013 / Director: Cody Blue Snider)
The Gunfighter (USA / 2014 / Director: Eric Kissack)

I Love You So Hard (United Kingdom / 2013 / Director: Ross Butter)
Invasion (France / 2014 / Directors: Hugo Ramirez, Olivier Patte)

Kekasih (Malaysia / 2013 / Director: Diffan Sina Norman)
Kids and Explosions – Swear Words (France / 2012 / Directors: Thomas Vernay, Yann Wallaert)

Not Funny (No Tiene Gracia) (Spain / 2013 / Director: Carlos Violade)
The Obvious Child (United Kingdom / 2013 / Director: Stephen Irwin)

 

Shorts: Date Night

Total running time: 93 min

For anyone who’s ever known the sweet sting of Cupid’s arrow, this slate of short films surrounding love, dating, and the heartbreaks that occur therein is the perfect cinemaphrodisiac—so take the one you love, grab a bite to eat beforehand, and treat yourself to these myriad tales of the heart both bitter and sweet.

2 Girls, 1 Cake (Denmark / 2013 / Director: Jens Dahl)
Best (United Kingdom / 2013 / Director: William Oldroyd)

Life’s A Bitch (Toutes des Connes) (Canada / 2013 / Director: Francois Jaros)

Love. Love. Love. (Russia / 2013 / Director: Sandhya Daisy Sundaram)

Oi, Meu Amor (Hi, My Love) (USA / 2014 / Director: Robert G. Putka)

Peepers (USA / 2014 / Director: Ken Lam)
Queenie (New Zealand / 2014 / Director: Paul Neason)

Scent of a Woman (USA / 2013 / Director: Lauren Savoy)
Send (USA / 2013 / Director: Peter Vack)

We Keep On Dancing (Australia / 2013 / Director: Jessica Barclay Lawton)

Where were you when Michael Jackson died? (T’étais où quand Michael Jackson est mort?) (France / 2013 / Director: Jean-Baptiste Pouilloux)

 

Shorts: Let’s Get Animated

Total running time: 90 min

From silly to serious, epic in scale yet with the most minute attention to detail, these stylistically varied works of animated genius are sure to tickle any connoisseur of the form—with the only common thread being their beautiful storytelling and gorgeous renderings. Come get inspired by these remarkable and zany works of art!

 

365 (United Kingdom / 2013 / Directors: Greg McLeod, Myles McLeod)
Coda (Ireland / 2013 / Director: Alan Holly)

Grace Under Water (Australia / 2014 / Director: Anthony Lawrence)

Love in the Time of March Madness (USA / 2014 / Directors: Melissa Johnson, Robertino Zambrano)
Marilyn Myller (USA / 2013 / Director: Mikey Please)
The Missing Scarf (Ireland / 2013 / Director: Eoin Duffy)
Phantom Limb (United Kingdom, Australia / 2013 / Director: Alex Grigg)

A Recipe for Gruel (United Kingdom / 2013 / Director: Sharon Smith)
Symphony No. 42 (Hungary / 2014 / Director: Reka Bucsi)

Through the Hawthorn (United Kingdom / 2014 / Directors: Anna Benner, Pia Borg, Gemma Burditt)

White Morning (United Kingdom / 2013 / Director: Paul Barritt)

 

Shorts: Modern Families

Total running time: 93 min

These shorts are for anyone who has ever spent hours attempting to teach Grandma the subtle nuances of Facebook, had a Thanksgiving we’d choose to forget, or has perfected the shuffling involved in capturing a perfect group photo—families of all shapes and sizes are portrayed in all of their complicated glory, running the gamut from heartbreaking to hilarious in this program not intended for children.

Baby Mary (USA / 2013 / Director: Kris Swanberg)
Butter Lamp (La Lampe Au Beurre De Yak) (France, China / 2013 / Director: Hu Wei)

Condom (Australia / 2013 / Directors: Igor Coric, Sheldon Lieberman)
Cruising Electric (1980) (USA / 2013 / Director: Brumby Boylston)

The Cut (La Coupe) (Canada / 2014 / Director: Genevieve Dulude-De Celles)
The Hunger (De Honger) (Belgium / 2013 / Director: Benoit De Clerck)

I Think This Is The Closest To How The Footage Looked (Israel / 2013 / Directors: Hameiri, Michal Vaknin)

Krisha (USA / 2013 / Director: Trey Edward Shults)
Pony Place (Netherlands / 2013 / Director: Joost Reijmers)

 

Shorts: Out of This World

Total running time: 94 min

These fantastical stories of space and the unknown will transport you to worlds unseen—so program your brand-new iMom, strap on your space suit, and keep an eye on your boyfriend who’s been behaving curiously ever since he escaped from that laboratory for these stories that would feel right at home on “The Twilight Zone.”

Bernard the Great (Bernard Le Grand) (Canada / 2013 / Directors: Marie-Hélène Viens, Philippe Lupien)

Democracy (Democracia) (Spain / 2013 / Director: Borja Cobeaga)

The iMom (Australia, USA / 2013 / Director: Ariel Martin)

The Kármán Line (United Kingdom / 2014 / Director: Oscar Sharp)

Orbit Ever After (United Kingdom / 2013 / Director: Jamie Stone)

When You Were Mine (USA / 2014 / Director: Michelle M. Witten)

 

Shorts: Sports Shorts. Shorts about Sports.

Total running time: 95 min

Whether you obsessively refresh box scores for your fantasy team or believe that one can dunk a touchdown, these stories that showcase the human side of athletic competition will appeal to you. Featuring Untucked, a portrait of the famous jerseys worn by Marquette’s basketball team in

1977, this program of crowd-pleasers will have you doing the wave with the rest of the theater.

 

Cadet (Belgium / 2013 / Director: Kevin Meul)

Gnarly in Pink – Featuring the Pink Helmet Posse (USA / 2014 / Directors: Benjamin Mullinkosson, Kristelle Laroche)

The High Five (USA / 2014 / Director: Michael Jacobs)
The Immaculate Reception (USA / 2014 / Director: Charlotte Glynn)

Strike: the Greatest Bowling Story Ever Told (USA / 2014 / Director: Joey Daoud)

Tennis Elbow (France / 2012 / Director: Vital Philippot)

Untucked (USA / 2013 / Director: Danny Pudi)

 

Shorts: Stories We Tell

Total running time: 84 min
Everybody’s got a story to tell—be it a nightmare landlord, the mysterious woman who just wouldn’t leave, a body covered in tattoos, or the most fun one can have chaperoning a school dance. This collection of nine personal stories true and fictional and the storytellers behind them will leave you satisfied and engaged.

 

The Chaperone (Canada / 2013 / Directors: Fraser Munden, Neil Rathbone)

CRIME: The Animated Series (Marcus McGhee) (USA, Canada / 2013 / Directors:Sam Chou, Alix Lambert)
Funnel (USA / 2013 / Director: Andre Hyland)

Maikaru (USA / 2014 / Director: Amanda Harryman)

One Is Listening Anymore! (Australia / 2013 / Director: Romi Trower)

One Year Lease (USA / 2014 / Director: Brian Bolster)

Person to Person (USA / 2014 / Director: Dustin Guy Defa)
Yearbook (USA / 2013 /  Director: Bernardo Britto)
You Won’t Regret That Tattoo (Canada / 2013 / Director: Angie Bird)

 

Shorts: Stranger Than Fiction

Total running time: 94 min

Subjects that simply beggar belief are the currency this program trades in, be it the Olympics of taxidermy (featuring Milwaukee’s own “Samson” the gorilla), a man finding the humor in his quadrilateral amputation, or the world’s largest pope statue. These documentaries are equal parts fascinating and entertaining, telling stories that are strange but true!

 

The Chilean Elvis(Chile / 2013 / Director: Marcelo Kiwi)

The Last Days of Peter Bergmann (Ireland / 2013 / Director: Ciaran Cassidy)

A Paradise (Un Paraíso) (Cuba / 2013 / Director: Jayisha Patel)
Stumped (USA / 2014 / Director: Robin Berghaus)
The Supreme (Najwyższy) (Poland / 2013 / Director: Katarzyna Gondek)

Taxidermists (USA / 2012 / Director: Nicole Triche)

 

The 2014 Milwaukee Film Festival runs September 25 – October 9, 2014 at the Landmark Oriental Theatre, Landmark Downer Theatre, Fox-Bay Cinema Grill and Times Cinema. Passes and ticket 6-Packs for the 2014 Milwaukee Film Festival are currently available at discounted rates exclusively online at mkefilm.org/tickets.

Tickets for individual screenings will be available through Milwaukee Film Festival Box Office starting September 10 for Milwaukee Film Members and September 11 for the General Public.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.