A woman in a white doctor's coat and an older woman in a hospital gown.
Colleen Madden, left, as a palliative care doctor and Peggy Trojan as a patient in 'Winter Hymns.'
Tomah native Nathan Deming takes the “Wisconsin” in “Wisconsin Film Festival” seriously. After his film February played at the 2024 festival, he contacted theaters around the state to create a slate of showings, and now he’s done the same for Winter Hymns, his entry in the 2026 festival; that will include additional Madison showings at Flix Brewhouse.
Winter Hymns, which stars American Players Theatre favorite Colleen Madden as a palliative care doctor, sold out its initial showing during the festival at the Bartell Theatre and a second show was added at Flix on April 14 (aka The Night of the Hailstorm — Deming reports his parents’ car got hit bad during the screening).
Deming tells Isthmus in a phone interview that he’s hoping to do a “robust rollout” of the film in the fall, but he’s also keen to seize the momentum the film has locally right now.
As Deming had established relationships with many theater owners when he previously showed February around the state, he had a bit of a leg up this time.
Winter Hymns started its statewide tour in Hudson on April 19, with subsequent screenings in Menomonie, Hayward and Whitewater. Next up is Manitowoc at the Mikadow Theatre on April 24, followed by a three-day stand in Eau Claire, a stop in Viroqua and then Spring Green, before the film returns to Flix Brewhouse on May 3, with additional showings there on May 6 and 7.
Deming originally approached the owners of Flix about the possibility of more showings during the Wisconsin Film Festival, citing the evident demand, but didn’t necessarily have high hopes. But he didn’t need to ask twice. Flix management got back to him with the good news that they would show the film independent of the festival.
“It's exciting, especially for a movie that is so Wisconsin-based, to take it just straight to Wisconsin audiences,” says Deming, who’s “impressed that something like 60% of the theaters in Wisconsin are independently owned, and a lot of those are just small town theaters, you know, classic Main Street.”
Deming is optimistic that “more regional ecosystems” of film programming like this can take place.
Winter Hymns features not only a quiet but forceful performance from Madden as the palliative care doctor but a moving performance from another APT favorite, Sarah Day, as an English teacher having difficulty facing her own mortality. The large cast is all Wisconsin actors, from professionals to people taking on their first role.
Tickets to the Flix shows are available here.
