This year’s Wisconsin Film Festival, which runs April 14-21, is heavy on documentaries, international offerings and “Wisconsin’s Own” films. As festival organizers ramp up for next week’s release of the film guide, Isthmus asked Jim Healy, the festival’s director of programming, for help in identifying which films are likely to sell out quickly.
Look for the full schedule in the March 17 issue of Isthmus. Tickets go on sale at noon on Saturday, March 19. This post will be updated with locations, dates and times after the schedule is announced.
Hunt for the Wilderpeople
Thursday, April 14, Barrymore Theatre, 7 pm
A national manhunt is ordered after a troubled city kid (Julian Dennison) and his cranky foster uncle (Sam Neill) get lost in the New Zealand wilderness. Part of the opening night celebration at the Barrymore Theatre, the action-buddy comedy is the latest from Taika Waititi, the writer/director of Boy and recent vampire mockumentary What We Do in the Shadows.
Morris from America
Friday, April 15, Barrymore Theatre, 6:45 pm
Craig Robinson (The Office) and Markees Christmas star as a widowed father and his son in this coming-of-age, fish-out-of-water story set in Germany. Christmas plays the 13-year-old title character, the only African American kid in his town who must also grapple with adolescence and body-image issues.
No trailer available.
Tickled
Friday, April 15, Barrymore, 9 pm and Sunday, April 17, Sundance, 8:30 pm
Tickled started out as a lighthearted look into online tickle-videos featuring hunky young athletes. Made by the New Zealand duo David Farrier and Dylan Reeve, the film morphed into a disturbing investigation into a shady empire rife with legal troubles and homophobic cyber-bullying. It turns out many of the young athletes filmed in S&M light situations have good reasons to fear career-ruining reprisals. A fascinating exploration of the Internet’s power.
No trailer available.
Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World
Saturday, April 16, Barrymore, 6:30 pm and Tuesday, April 19, Sundance, 6:30 pm
Speaking of cyberspace: Werner Herzog tackles the history and impact of the World Wide Web and related technology in this documentary. The title references the Internet’s infancy — specifically Oct. 29, 1969 — when a graduate student tried to send a message (“login”), only to have the system crash after the first two letters.
The Fear of 13
Sunday, April 17, Sundance, 4:15 pm and Monday, April 18, Barrymore, 8:15 pm
Making a Murderer and Serial are easy comparisons to make to this documentary from British director David Sington, but the twist is that the film’s subject, Nick Yarris, tells his own story of being convicted of murder in Pennsylvania and spending 21 years on death row. He’s the only person who appears on screen.
The Smart Studios Story
Sunday, April 17, Barrymore, 5 pm and Tuesday, April 19, Sundance, 9:15 pm
“I think people initially thought Smart was a crack house,” deadpans Butch Vig of Garbage fame in The Smart Studios Story. Charting the rise of the nondescript studio at 1254 E. Washington Ave. in Madison, documentarian (and rocker) Wendy Schneider talks to the players who spent formative musical years in the studio that recorded Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins and Death Cab for Cutie. Schneider will be fresh off a premiere screening at SXSW, and a special reunion show of Smart recording artists — including Fun with Atoms, Bucky Pope, and the Weeds — is scheduled at the High Noon Saloon on April 17.
Starving the Beast
Wednesday, April 20, Barrymore, 6 pm and Thursday, April 21, Sundance, 2:45 pm
If it endangers your health and well-being to see a big-screen Gov. Scott Walker proudly crow about eliminating tenure protections, you might want to skip this documentary. It looks at efforts by conservatives to defund and devalue public universities here at the UW, University of Virginia, University of North Carolina, Louisiana State University, University of Texas and Texas A&M. But if you want to understand the strategies at play and the results felt around the country, Starving the Beast is a maddening yet essential watch, looking at how the right is “designing the system to fail” in order to remake universities into something more like businesses and less like institutions of higher learning.
Sunset Song
Wednesday, April 20, Sundance, 6:15 pm and Thursday, April 21, Sundance, 12 pm
The Guardian called this British drama “a lyrical triumph” with “ravishing cinematography.” The adaptation of a 1932 novel is the latest from Terence Davies. Starring Agyness Deyn as the Scottish lass Chris, the film lingers on her quest to find her place in the world as she navigates between a British education and her beloved Scottish landscape as the continent approaches World War I.
Operation Avalanche
Thursday, April 21, Sundance, 8:30 pm
A conspiracy-based mockumentary about NASA faking the 1969 moon landing. Director Matt Johnson and co-writer Owen Williams star as two ambitious CIA agents (an AV team!) who discover the “truth” about the moon landing while investigating whether a spy is sharing secrets with the Russians. In addition to using lots of found footage, the filmmakers actually infiltrated NASA HQ to shoot scenes. The goofy premise of the faked moon landing already exists, allowing these talented riffers plenty of truthy setup.
No trailer available.
Love & Friendship
Thursday, April 21, Sundance, 8:45 pm
Jane Austen’s posthumously published Lady Susan is the basis for this romantic comedy from writer/director Whit Stillman. It stars Kate Beckinsale and Chloë Sevigny, who also headlined Stillman’s 1998 film The Last Days of Disco. Here, Beckinsale plays Lady Susan Vernon, a conniving young widow who’s seeking a new husband and enlists the help of a close friend (Sevigny).
No trailer available.
