If you’ve ever stepped one foot onto this campus, you’ve seen a flier for free movies at The Marquee in Union South. They’re free to all students, play throughout the week and vary between films you missed in theaters and ones you’ve never even heard of. The people responsible for these great showings are the folks at Wisconsin Union Directorate (WUD) Film. WUD Film is a student-run group here on campus that programs the films we see at The Marquee, and they work through the Union to collaborate with different clubs on campus.
WUD Film has four kinds of programming: Hollywood, Alternative, Cult and Collaboration. Because of their diverse showings, there’s generally something for everyone on campus, covering a wide variety of genres. The sub-committees for each type of film meet once a week, debate between four and five films and vote. There is a debate, and members give pitches for each film. No one is allowed to attack anyone else in the group; all discussions are civil. Afterwards the associate director contacts distributors. The Marquee shows everything from 35mm prints to Blu-Ray copies of films, which are controlled by student projectionists.
They don’t just program either. Committee members also host the events, give announcements, seat the audience, clean the theater after everyone leaves, work as projectionists and paper the campus with the multi-colored fliers we all know so well.
“Committee members work really hard, but they form such a bond. They meet people along the way with similar tastes and make lasting friendships,” WUD Film President Bess Donoghue said.
Besides weekly showings, the organization also puts on two large film festivals every year, one in the spring and one in the fall. This weekend, the group is putting on the third annual Reel Love Film Festival, which includes a wide range of films that feature LGBTQ protagonists. These films include a documentary on the drag queen icon Divine and a sing-along showing of the musical “Hairspray.”
The group also collaborates with different sections of the Wisconsin Union Directorate, which has nine different committees, including art, publications, political science, distinguished lecture series, music, Hoofers, global connections, society and politics and performing arts.
The University of Wisconsin campus also features the Cinematheque, which is programmed by the communication arts department and headed by Director of Programming Jim Healy. They show films in Vilas Hall, but also work with WUD Film to do one Monday showing a month at the Marquee. The Cinemateque generally shows classic, foreign, cult and avant-garde films that often go unseen and are hard to find.
The student organization has plenty of opportunities for students, even for those who aren’t communication arts majors. Being part of the club comes with many responsibilities, but it also comes with many perks. Every year, a group of WUD Film members goes to Utah to visit the Sundance Film Festival for three to five days, seeing up to six films per day. They then come back and choose some of these films to show in The Marquee or feature in an indie series. There are also connections with other festivals and events around the city, including the Polish Film Festival and the rooftop series outside Fresco on the roof of the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art.
“The film culture is great, here in Madison,” Donoghue said. “We hope people in Madison are taking advantage of these opportunities, because they’re endless.”
