Milwaukee Film Festival Returns in April

The Oriental Theatre, 2230 N. Farwell Ave. Photo taken March 31, 2023 by Sophie Bolich.

In just a few short weeks, a roomful of film-lovers will settle into their seats at the Oriental Theatre — Milk Duds in hand — as the lights go down for opening night of the Milwaukee Film Festival.

From April 11 to 25, the festival will screen 300 films from 61 countries, touching on dozens of different themes and genres. The 15-day whirlwind is sure to bring laughter, tears, growth, new realizations and plenty of nutritional yeast-dusted popcorn.

The 16th annual festival, organized by the nonprofit Milwaukee Film, will take place across four theaters: The Oriental, 2230 N. Farwell Ave., Times Cinema, 5906 W. Vliet St., Avalon Theater, 2473 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. and — for the first time since its closure last fall — Downer Theatre, 2589 N. Downer Ave.

The triumphant return of the Downer follows Milwaukee Film’s March 5 announcement that it would take over operations for the theater, setting the two-screen cinema’s reopening date to coincide with the annual festival.

“We’re really excited to bring the Downer back into our festival family and back into our footprint,” said Cara Ogburn, artistic director for Milwaukee Film.

In terms of featured titles, this year’s festival is roughly the same size as the 2023 event; however, the films will have additional screenings, allowing more attendees the opportunity to catch a showing.

“We really think this is the right size of a festival for our city, to make sure that folks get a chance to see everything that they’re curious about,” Ogburn said.

The lineup includes three “must see” spotlight presentation films, as well as picks from the festival’s broad range of categories including Art & Artists, Black Lens, Cine Sin Fronteras, Cinema Hooligante, Documentary Festival Favorites, GenreQueer, North American Independents, Rated K: For Kids, Shorter is Better, Sound Vision, Sportsball, Teen Screen, Worldviews and Cream City Cinema.

The spotlight films, or those selected for opening night, centerpiece and closing night showings, are generally those that appeal to a wide range of tastes. This year’s festival will lead off with Lisa D’Apolito’s Shari and Lamb Chop, a heartfelt and nostalgic documentary following the life of Shari Lewis and her career as a ventriloquist.

The centerpiece film, set to screen at the midway point of the festival, is Fawzia Mirza’s Queen of My Dreams, a dramedy that Ogburn described as “an updated take on a Bollywood romance.”

The festival will close out its 2024 programming with Robot Dreams. Directed by Pablo Berger, the film explores the adventures of a dog and his robot companion.

Festival attendees should also keep an eye out for local films, nine of which will be screened as part of the Cream City Cinema program.

Tracing the Divide, Wherever You Are, There You Go, Angels of Dirt, Corridor, Decoupling 脱钩, Light Needs, No One Asked You, Out of the Picture and String Theory: The Richard Davis Method all feature a local angle, filmmaker or scenes shot in Milwaukee.

Everyone will be able to find something to love at the festival, organizers said. The lineup has impressive range, encompassing feel-good features, gripping dramas, haunting fantasies, kid-friendly cartoons, nostalgia-fueled flicks like Spy Kids, curious tales of elder fraud — of which the festival has two — and much more.

“As you can tell, the theme here is that we’ve got movies for everyone,” said Kerstin Larson, programming director for Milwaukee Film.

Along with the films themselves, the festival offers numerous opportunities for connection, with plans for post-credit conversations, special guests appearances, Q&A sessions, movie rankings and even a take-to-the-aisles dance party.

Festival passes and ticket packages are available to purchase online through the end of March. Tickets to individual screenings will be available to purchase online starting April 3 (or April 1 for Milwaukee Film Members). The in-person box office will open at the Oriental Theatre on April 5.