ONLINE: Wisconsin Film Festival

×

Expand

Jordan Biagomala

A still from Elijah Edwards short "Make A Wish," a Wisconsin's Own selection in the 2021 Wisconsin Film Festival.

The beloved Wisconsin Film Festival was one of the arts losses at the beginning of the pandemic last year; scheduled for the first week in April, it was too soon after the shutdown for organizers to truly pivot to online viewing. This year, the Festival is online only, with films streaming through the app Eventive. (See Linda Falkenstein’s article, a crash course in how to navigate the Festival, here.) The lineup of films, as usual, is impressive, not the least of which is the excellent showing of 37 films in the Wisconsin’s Own category. Peruse the complete guide at watch.eventive.org/wifilmfest. All films are available for viewing throughout the duration of the festival.

press release: From May 13-20, the Wisconsin Film Festival you know and love will be back onscreen, chock full of international and local cinema, cutting-edge indies, vital documentaries, classic rediscoveries, and more in its 23rd edition. But this year, the screens will be your own, with all 100+ shorts and features streaming at wifilmfest.eventive.org.

Head to our Eventive page today to get your very own festival pass, on sale now! The lineup will be announced April 30, with individual tickets on sale May 1. So check your internet connection, coordinate your takeout orders, and drag your couch too close to the TV. Or go for it and hang a sheet in the backyard and fire up your own projector. At the very least, dust off your laptop screen. A festival pass is $140, with individual films $10 each.

Having the entire Festival at your fingertips at home, you can create your own dream schedule, and without having to get from one venue to the next or worry about start times or where to get a drink or popcorn, or how many films you can fit into one day. This year seems like the year to break your own personal record when it comes to how many films you get to see. You could go from 9am to 9pm, take a little nap, and get back into things at midnight. For eight straight days! We’ve got over a hundred features and shorts for you this year, and a Festival pass gives you access to the whole kit and kaboodle.

One of the essential pieces of the Festival is our Wisconsin’s Own competition. This year our jury got to watch films and deliberate from the comfort of their own homes: Rebecca Weaver, director of June Falling Down (WFF 2016) watched our slate in California. James Runde (Golden Badger winner 2019 for Played Out) deliberated with us from Florida, and Amanda McQueen, former Wisconsin’s Own Programmer, joined us from her home in Alabama.    

Iron Family – Delicately directed by Patrick Longstreth, Iron Family is a detailed, warm and funny documentary about an Upper Peninsula community that left us buzzing for days.

The Passing On – Another feature length documentary, this one explores the world of Black-owned funeral homes in the San Antonio area. The Passing On is filled with characters worth rooting for, finding both the beauty and humanity in this under-told story.

Congrats to the winners! Here's a sneak peek at a few more of the films you’ll have the chance to see:

Mogul Mowgli – Riz Ahmed plays Zed, a British-Pakistani rapper on the cusp of his big break, a high-profile slot on a major European tour. But while visiting his conservative Muslim family in suburban London, Zed undergoes a sudden medical trauma that derails his plans and forces him to reckon with his fractured cultural identity. “Culturally rich and emotionally raw, Mogul Mowgli is a brilliant showcase for Riz Ahmed’s bevy of talents, and speaks visceral truth to the British-South Asian experience so rarely explored on screen” (Empire)

Here We Are - Aharon has devoted his life to raising his son Uri. They live together in a gentle routine, away from the real world. But Uri is autistic, and now as a young adult it might be time for him to live in a specialized home. While on their way to the institution, Aharon decides to run away with his son and hits the road, knowing that Uri is not ready for this separation. Or is it, in fact, his father who is not ready?