Milwaukee Film To Honor Late David Lynch and Celebrate Animation with series and 35mm Print of 1995 Ghost in the Shell
April is an especially busy month for Milwaukee Film, with the start of the 2025 Milwaukee Film Festival, which runs April 24-May 8, and the organization will continue to host exciting screenings throughout the weeks leading up to MFF25’s opening night. In honor of the late, great David Lynch, the Oriental Theatre will screen a retrospective of some of the visionary director’s works throughout the month. Milwaukee Film will also be celebrating the art of animation with a series called Animation April, which features animated films for children and adults, and a special one-night-only screening of the 1995 anime Ghost in the Shell, presented on 35mm film. April at the Oriental Theatre will also welcome director Karen Pearlman for a screening of her documentary alongside 10 short silent films from Cinema’s First Nasty Women, in a program called Breaking Plates and Smashing the Patriarchy. April will also see the continuation of ongoing environmental film series Let’s Dig In, and two more National Theatre Live screenings: Frankenstein and Nye.
But even before April, be sure to catch a screening of the Academy Award® winning documentary No Other Land, which moves from the Oriental Theatre to the Downer Theatre on Friday, March 14 and will continue to play for at least two additional weeks. The film doesn’t currently have major US distribution and is difficult for people to see in theaters widely, despite its Oscar-winning status.
“We opened No Other Land just days before it won the Oscar® for Best Documentary and have seen larger-than-anticipated audiences at our cinemas to see it, especially since the win,” noted Cara Ogburn, artistic director. “It’s been meaningful to see audiences from all corners of our community reflecting the filmmaking collective in a way—coming together across differences with hope in mind to face difficult material with open eyes. This is the power of cinema, to draw together folks with disparate experiences, to instead have a shared one,” she concluded.
Throughout April, Milwaukee Film will be hosting a retrospective of films by David Lynch, who passed away this past January. From his most beloved films like Mulholland Dr. and Blue Velvet, to some of Lynch’s more underseen work like a selection of his short films, the Oriental Theatre will be a place to remember this visionary filmmaker. There will even be a special screening of the cult classic Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, featuring a costume contest—so be sure to wear your finest Twin Peaks inspired attire!
“Pay your respects to the great David Lynch by seeing his films on the big screen as intended. These screenings will bring die hard fans and budding enthusiasts together to celebrate one of the foremost visionaries of cinema as an art form,” expressed Milwaukee Film’s programming director Kerstin Larson. “And the costume contest for our Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me screening is not to be missed!” she concluded.
See the full line-up of David Lynch Retrospective films here:
- THE SHORT FILMS OF DAVID LYNCH – 04/02 at 7 PM
- ERASERHEAD – 04/05 – 7 PM
- DUNE – 04/07 at 7 PM
- BLUE VELVET – 04/09 at 7 PM
- WILD AT HEART – 04/12 at 6 PM
- TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME (w/ costume contest) – 04/14 at 7 PM
- LOST HIGHWAY – 04/16 at 7 PM
- MULHOLLAND DR. – 04/19 at 7 PM
- INLAND EMPIRE – 04/21 at 6 PM
Celebrate the art of animation all month long with Animation April, a series that features animated films for film lovers of all ages! Some films in this program, like the newly Academy Award® winning Flow and 1988’s The Land Before Time are just right for children and families, while others, like the Academy Award® nominated Memoir of a Snail and the 2001 anime Cowboy Bebop: The Movie are more suited for an adult audience. The 1998 cult classic Ghost in the Shell will be presented on 35mm film for one night only on Thursday, April 3rd at 7 PM.
Ty Williams, Milwaukee Film’s Black Lens programmer, said, “Animation can fascinate audiences both young and old. From painstakingly made claymation to visually mind blowing anime, these films have been made with care from some of the greatest creatives in the industry.” He continued, “Bring the young people in your life to see nostalgic favorites or check out something new to check it off your watchlist.”
See the full line-up of The Animation April films here:
- GHOST IN THE SHELL (on 35mm film!) – 04/03 at 7 PM
- COWBOY BEBOP: THE MOVIE – 04/03-04/05 at 9 PM
- THE LAND BEFORE TIME – 04/05-04/06 at 3 PM
- MIND GAME – 04/10-04/12 at 9 PM
- FLOW – 04/11 at 3 PM, 04/13 at 12 PM and 6 PM
- THE PRINCE OF EGYPT – 04/12-04/13 at 3 PM
- PAPRIKA – 04/17-04/19 at 9 PM
- MEMOIR OF A SNAIL – 04/18 at 4 PM, 04/20 at 6 PM
- THE LAST UNICORN – 04/19-04/20 at 3 PM
On April 15th, director Karen Pearlman will be in Milwaukee to present Breaking Plates and Smashing the Patriarchy. Inspired by the creative mayhem of Cinema’s First Nasty Women collection, Breaking Plates is an extravaganza of 11 short films about “the not so silent women of the silent film era.” Pearlman’s new short entitled Breaking Plates opens the program, while ten rarely seen silent films about feminist protest, slapstick rebellion, and suggestive gender play follow. Foregrounding the idea that if we want to tell different stories, we must tell stories differently, this shorts program is sponsored by the UWM Film Department, UWM English Program in Media, Cinema and Digital Studies, and UWM Women’s and Gender Studies with support from the Mellon Foundation.
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.
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