Wisconsin Film Fest
Film Fest attendees enter the Barrymore.
Movies are right in the neighborhood when the film fest is at the Barrymore.
Losing the AMC6 theater at Hilldale as a venue could have been a grievous wound for the Wisconsin Film Festival. But last year’s incorporation of East Towne’s Flix Brewhouse proved a neat solution.
“People who hadn’t been to Flix before were impressed with the theaters themselves,” says Ben Reiser, the fest’s director of operations, who says he heard “no complaints” about Flix.
The now demolished AMC6 theater was popular with many attendees for its ambience — and easy parking. Hilldale usually took on many of the showings after the initial weekend of the fest, which was weighted more heavily toward campus.
So important was the venue, that festival organizers managed to reopen the closed theater to show films there for the 2023 fest.
Wisconsin Film Fest
Film Fest attendees lined up outside the Bartell Theatre.
In 2024, WFF moved much of the programming to Flix. In some ways it was similar to Hilldale, a commercial theater with multiple screens and a robust food presence — Flix has a full menu and delivers meals to viewers’ seats. Flix also altered its lighting, somewhat brighter than usual to facilitate food delivery, to address concerns that it would be intrusive for moviegoers.
About 10,000 tickets were sold for WFF films screened at Flix last year, says Reiser. The venue worked so well that this year the fest has scheduled all films after April 6 there (the festival runs April 3-10). Weekday campus options are difficult to book, says Reiser, but perhaps more importantly it made sense to consolidate the fest geographically so volunteers don’t have to shuttle between East Towne, the Barrymore and campus.
The fest’s return to the Barrymore last year for the first time since 2017 also worked well.
“We love the Barrymore and being in that neighborhood,” says Reiser. The 1929 movie palace on Atwood Avenue will once again host the opening night film, Friendship, and after party on April 3. The film festival has been working with the Barrymore on sound improvement measures, and it’s “sounding better already,” says Reiser.
The bad news is that one of the three digital projectors that AMC gifted the film fest upon the closure of the Hilldale theater — the projector placed at the Barrymore — is kaput. They’re old, says Reiser, and difficult to get serviced; this one will be used for parts if the other two falter. The fest may look into other used digital projectors for the Barrymore but for this fest, they’ll once again be renting.
The other venues that received digital projectors are Music Hall on campus, a fest venue for the first time last year, and the Bartell Theatre, which had last hosted fest films in 2012. This year 13 films from the fest will be shown at the Bartell.
Reiser reports Music Hall turned out to be a great venue, and it will be hosting 10 screenings this year. The only drawback last year was some loudly clanging radiators in the 1878 building; a fix is underway. The 243-seat venue is so appealing, Reiser would like to see it used more often for films throughout the year.
Other fest venues include the Chazen Museum of Art, the UW Cinematheque and Marquee at Union South.
