Milwaukee Film Festival Returns to In-Person Screenings at Local Venues

MILWAUKEE – Tuesday, March 8, 2022 – Milwaukee Film announced that its 2022 Milwaukee Film Festival, presented by Associated Bank, occurring April 21 – May 5, will take place at the Oriental Theatre (on three screens), Avalon Theater, Times Cinema, and again offer a variety of titles through its virtual platform. Although this will be Milwaukee Film’s second year hosting a spring festival, the 2022 festival marks the first time the organization’s signature event will be held in person since shifting to April and May last year.

“We are ecstatic to see all our festival friends back in our cinemas together – laughing and crying together and letting conversation about films spill out into the lobbies,” enthused Cara Ogburn, Artistic Director. “And this year’s lineup is shaping up to continue to offer something for everyone – a return of all of our favorite program categories audiences have come to know and love, from Black Lens to Cream City Cinema to GenreQueer to Rated K: For Kids to Worldviews and so much more in between – and quite simply, two weeks of the best films of the year.”

Prior to our April full reveal of 200+ films, early highlights of the festival include:

• A 40th-anniversary screening of The Thing on 35mm, presented with a live episode of the Cinebuds podcast featuring Milwaukee Film’s Kristopher Pollard and 88.9 RadioMilwaukee’s Justin Barney.
• A big-screen presentation of Spike Lee’s 2020 documentary David Byrne’s American Utopia, featuring Milwaukeean Angie Swan.
• Inspiring and soaring music documentaries that deserve to be seen on the big screen, like Charli XCX: Alone Together (dirs. Bradley Bell, Pablo Jones-Soler), which intimately documents the pop star’s creative process and connection with her fans; For the Left Hand (dirs. Gordon Quinn, Leslie Simmer), which honors the tenacity of Chicago’s Norma Malone, who, after suffering a childhood trauma, masters piano virtuosity using only one hand.
• Favorites from the top festivals of the year, like the Sundance standout John Boyega-starring 892 (dir. Abi Damaris Corbin); and top films from Locarno, Venice, and Toronto such as family drama Costa Brava, Lebanon (dir. Mounia Akl), South African thriller Good Madam (dir. Jenna Cato Bass) and the Philippines’ surreal disaster movie Whether the Weather is Fine (dir. Carlo Francisco Manatad).

Returning to five theater screens for this year’s festival means Milwaukee Film can once again offer a full slate of local, national, and international films—hundreds of film titles available both in-person and virtually. As Artistic Director Cara Ogburn explains, the hybrid format provides additional access for film lovers who aren’t ready to return to the cinema just yet.

“We heard loud and clear that people appreciated the ease of the virtual offerings in 2020 and 2021, especially amidst many unknowns,” said Ogburn. “This year’s hybrid festival offers options for an all-virtual experience (using our virtual-only pass) as well as in-cinema screenings of every program. My recommendation? Mix and match, using the all-access pass available for members or by bundling a virtual pass with some six-packs of in-cinema single tickets.”

Virtual film screenings are available by purchasing an all-access festival pass (including in-cinema film screenings and other events) or a virtual-only pass. Individual tickets will also be available for all in-cinema screenings and in discounted six-packs now. Discounted passes and ticket packages are available now. Prices increase on March 12.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.