2014 Milwaukee Film Festival Announces Cream City Cinema Lineup

MILWAUKEE – Thursday, August 28, 2014 – The 6^th Annual Milwaukee Film Festival, presented by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, announces its Cream City Cinema lineup. Now in its 6^th year, Cream City Cinema showcases the best new work from Milwaukee-based filmmakers and awards one local filmmaker with a yearlong Filmmaker-in-Residence prize along with a $5,000 cash award.

“Cream City Cinema is the heart of our film festival and a celebration of Milwaukee filmmaker talent–it’s inspiring to see the program grow­. We received such a wide array of high quality film submissions this year that we had to expand The Milwaukee Show–our much-loved local filmmaker shorts showcase–into two parts. It’s one of the few outlets for local filmmakers to present their work on the big screen, making it incredibly vital to our filmmaking community. Anyone who’s attended The Milwaukee Show can sense the infectious energy present throughout,” shares Jonathan Jackson, Artistic and Executive Director for Milwaukee Film.

This year’s Cream City Cinema includes four feature-length fiction films (Hamlet A.D.D, Pester, The Other One, Serial Daters Anonymous), one feature-length documentary (Psychopath), and three shorts programs: The Milwaukee Youth Show—the festival’s third annual showcase for local filmmakers ages 18 and under as well as two installments of The Milwaukee Show.

The program culminates with the highly sought-after Filmmaker-in-Residence juried prize which awards a yearlong residency with Milwaukee Film. The residency includes a mentorship program, a $5,000 cash prize, and a production services package, sponsored by Independent, North American Camera, and RDI Stages, valued at more than $20,000 to help the winning filmmaker produce their next film. Past winners include Michael T. Vollman (2013), Chris James Thompson (2012), Michael Hawkins-Burgos (2011), Tate Bunker (2010), and John Roberts (2009).

Presented by John Axford

Media Sponsor: 88Nine Radio Milwaukee

2014 MILWAUKEE FILM FESTIVAL

CREAM CITY CINEMA
Cream City Cinema is our annual showcase of the best new work from Milwaukee-based filmmakers. One of these local creatives will receive a yearlong Filmmaker-in-Residence prize from our jury that includes a cash award of $5,000!

Hamlet A.D.D.

Hamlet A.D.D.

(USA / 2014 / Directors: Bobby Ciraldo, Andrew Swant)
Trailer: http://youtu.be/CMbbk1p9aCM
From the twisted minds of the men who brought you What What (In the Butt) and William Shatner’s Gonzo Ballet comes this bizarre and comical reimagining of Shakespeare’s work the way it was meant to be seen—chock-full of time travel and featuring Screech from “Saved by the Bell.” Hop-scotching from the 1800s through the 1950s and ‘70s (rest assured there will be disco dancing) before making its way into the distant future, Hamlet A.D.D. remakes Shakespeare for an era of viral videos and memes—a boldly irreverent take on the source material over 10 years in the making.

New Planet

The Milwaukee Show I

The first of two installments celebrating our abundance of hometown talent, The Milwaukee Show I brings a diversity of styles and voices to the big screen, a veritable wealth of filmmaking riches. The stories in this program include extraterrestrials searching for one another in the Milwaukee area and a sobering examination of the untimely death of Corey Stingley.

The Death of Corey Stingley | Spencer Chumbley

An Evening at Angelo’s | Kara Mulrooney

Glider | Junehyuck Jeon

The Harpist | Erica Thompson

The Kenny Dennis | WC Tank

Little America | Kurt Raether

New Planet | James Tindell

Settlers | Nathaniel Heuer

Geoffrey Broughe Handles Confrontation Poorly

The Milwaukee Show II

This second installment of the perennial favorite, The Milwaukee Show II shorts program brings us even more local filmmakers showcasing their immense talent on the festival’s biggest stage, with work spanning several genres and modes of storytelling. The films here range from a live-action narrative short of a young girl that brings happiness and color into the world through balloons to a wacky musical about an amnesiac trapped in a derelict bar adrift in time and space.

Balloons | Sitora Takanaev

Geoffrey Broughe Handles Confrontation Poorly | Jon Phillips

MECCA: The Floor That Made Milwaukee Famous | Chris James Thompson

One Week Vacation | Brendan T. Jones

Smoky Places | Michael DiMilo

This is Jackie. | Anna Sampers

‘Tis the Season | Kirsten Stuck

To Hold In the Heart | Pang Yang Her

The Waystation in the Stars | Brandon L Morrissey

The Milwaukee Youth Show

The Milwaukee Youth Show
When you take a look at the remarkable work being created by our area youth (ages 18 and under), you’ll know without a doubt that the kids are all right. Spanning a range of styles, this showcase for the next generation of local filmmakers is a great way to get acquainted with the names you’ll be seeing at future editions of MFF.

200,000 | Gavin White, Tyler Matthews, Jeremy LeCleir, Scott Meade

Assist Bhopal | Megan Sai Dogra

The Autumn Vignette | Serbata Tarrer

Counting the Dead | Alexandra Van Den Heuvel

Dreaming | Felicia McGowan

Get Real People | Griffin Anderson, Mitch Dykstra, Tanner Dykstra, Ronnie Al-Ramahi

Iero | Gabriella Avila, Alexia Jaso

If You Weren’t Here | LaVarnway Boys & Girls Club workshop participants

La Decisiones de Tu Vida | Alondra Mercado, Ana Ornelas

Let the Children Live | Clarke Street Boys & Girls Club workshop participants

Media and Mental Illness | Eden Raduege, Mikayla Bell

Protect Yourself | Youth from Townsend CLC Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee

Wake Up and Pay Attention | Youth from the Daniels-Mardak Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee

The Other One

The Other One

(USA / 2014 / Director: Josef Steiff)
Trailer: http://youtu.be/V4SDEOWmwg4
Schoolteacher Amber, who survived a school shooting, returns to her rural childhood home to tend to her mother, whose dementia is becoming increasingly unmanageable. As her mother’s mental state deteriorates, family secrets are spilled that throw everything Amber thought she knew about her childhood into question. Family conflict brews as the women deal with the traumatic events of the past that have shaped them in the present. A supernaturally tinged drama about how the past can quite literally come back to haunt us, The Other One asks whether or not some emotional scars can ever heal and if redemption is possible when one struggles to forgive herself.

Preceded by Years | Director: Rose Curley

Pester

Pester
(USA / 2014 / Director: Eric Gerber)
Trailer: http://vimeo.com/67927648
A family extermination business run by two brothers and their father falls upon economic and ethical hardships in this challenging drama from UWM graduate Eric Gerber. With a cast and crew largely exported from Milwaukee to film in Los Angeles (including co-star Nick Sommer from MFF 2013’s Billy Club), Gerber delves into this unusual portrait of the American dream, as both brothers struggle with issues of identity and very different forms of addiction. Their pest control business hangs in the balance, in danger of being muscled out of the market by bigger corporate entities.

Preceded by Give It Up for the Girl | Director: Carol Brandt

Psychopath

Psychopath
(USA / 2014 / Director: Manny Marquez)
Trailer: n/a
Oklahoma garbageman Victor Marquez has held a lifelong dream of creating gruesome makeup effects for Hollywood movies, but life got in the way and Victor deferred his dream to start a family with the love of his life. Twenty-five years later, husband and wife pool their life savings to purchase acreage where Victor will put together a haunted house that showcases his ghoulish talents, a risky business venture in rural Oklahoma where such celebrations of the macabre raise the ire of locals who perpetuate racial stereotypes. A documentary from Victor’s nephew Manny (MFF 2012 Work-in-Progress alum), Psychopath is a portrait of a self-made entrepreneur following the American dream despite long odds.

Preceded by Carnival of the Animals | Director: Sitora Takanaev

Serial Daters Anonymous

Serial Daters Anonymous
(USA / 2014 / Director: Christopher Carson Emmons)
Trailer: http://youtu.be/J7x76CUJd-g 
Filmed entirely in Milwaukee, this rom-com features jilted fashion columnist Claire cutting a wide swath through the local dating scene on the heels of being informed by her fiancé of his philandering tendencies at the altar. She blogs about each first date while refusing to go on a second. But this angel of dating vengeance meets her match in Kyle (Milwaukee-born Sam Page, a.k.a. Joan’s hot husband from “Mad Men”), a former flame who threatens to derail her plans for revenge on the entire male populace by introducing feelings back into the equation. A dating comedy with local flavor, Serial Daters Anonymous is a witty tonic for the brokenhearted.

Preceded by Anchovies | Director: Annabelle Attanasio

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. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.

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