Every year, the Wisconsin Film Festival committee aggregates indie flicks that span time and space. From the quirky flicks about Wisconsin’s amusement parks to “sparkling” Argentine short films, the festival encapsulates a vast array of themes and locations.
The flicks are chosen from festivals around the world and play in seven temporary theaters in Madison. University of Wisconsin’s Art Institute in conjunction with the Department of Communication Arts will present the festival the 17th annual festival April 9-16.
Twenty percent of the films in this festival are in the Wisconsin’s Own category. That means either a significant amount of the film (at least 1/3) is shot in Wisconsin or one of the major positions for the film (director, producer, etc.) are from or attended school in Wisconsin, according to the Wisconsin Film Festival website.
During the festival there will only be eight days to choose from the 150 films. The amount of movies is daunting, so we compiled a list of the top movie in various made-up categories to make the collection a little more manageable.
Something That Doesn’t Try Too Hard to be Sentimental
A favorite at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, “Me Earl and the Dying Girl” stars Olivia Cooke (“Bates Motel”) as a student with cancer and RJ Cyler (“Second Chances”) and Thomas Mann (“The Heyday of the Insensitive Bastards”) as her film-loving classmates who befriend her. Nick Offerman (“Parks and Recreation) and Connie Britton (“Nashville”) also have important roles. At Sundance, it won both the Grand Jury Prize and the Best U.S. Drama Audience Award.
The film is an adaption of Jesse Andrews’ 2013 book by the same name.
Although there are similarities in subject matter, this film does not suffer from the sickening sentimentality and bad writing of “The Fault in Our Stars.” Actually, Director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon’s (“American Horror Story”) film has been celebrated as quirky and heartfelt, according to the New York Times.
Attendees of the Wisconsin Film Festival should expect both humor and sentimentality that are strongly present but not awkward and forced.
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 100%
IMDB Rating: 8/10
Festival Timeslot: Tuesday, April 14, 9:15 p.m., Sundance Cinema 6
Most WTF Movie
A 1975 horror film called “The Astrologer” is one of the most insane movies of the Wisconsin Film Festival, festival coordinator Benjamin Reiser said. And with one look at the trailer, it’s easy to see why. Analyzing the trailer, the first scary thing one notices in the oh-so-very-’70s hair, dress and soundtrack and then the Technicolor hallucinations. Finally, one notices the lead character’s occupation as a fortuneteller, a final harbinger of the bizarre things to come.
The Film Festival’s booklet describes Craig Denney’s (debut film) movie as a “demented opus” and as “semi-autobiographical.” There is also “diamond smuggling in Africa,” “other languages without subtitles” and “the most delirious, whacked-out filmmaking you’ve ever seen.”
Attendees of the festival should expect to leave the theater feeling strange, amused and a little scared, but ultimately dumbfounded.
https://vimeo.com/110431621
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: N/A
IMDB Rating: 4.4/10
Festival Timeslot: Monday, April 13, 9:00 p.m., Sundance Cinema 1
The Academy Darling
Abderrahmane Sissako’s (“ Je vous souhaite la pluie”) “Timbuktu” gained some clout because it was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at year’s Academy Awards. It is “the most universally acclaimed African film of the decade,” according to the Wisconsin Film Festival booklet.
“Timbuktu” centers around a cattle herder and his family, who live under occupation of religious fundamentalists in Mali. The story is not true but based off real events. Major themes include religious fanaticism and resistance against that. Attendees of the film will probably leave wanting to discuss these issues and how people treat one another.
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 99%
IMDB Rating: 7.4/10
Festival Timeslot: Sunday, April 12, 10:00 a.m., Capitol Theater; Monday, April 13, 1:30 p.m., Sundance Cinema 6.
The Oddest Hodgepodge of Footage
Anyone who has ever revisited old home videos — those VHS tapes tucked in dusty corners of your house— might find amusement in “Found Footage Festival’s Salute to Weirdos.” Part of the Wisconsin’s Own category, this compilation of home videos includes video clips from thrift stores and garage sales.
Hosts of the show will provide live commentary and give updates on the subjects of the videos, according to the festival booklet.
Attendees of the festival should leave this show entertained and feeling proud that they just watched a more artsy “America’s Funniest Videos.”
Festival Timeslot: Friday April 10, 9:30 p.m., Capitol Theater.
The Golden Badger
This category is actually a real award the festival has already given to three movies from the Wisconsin’s Own category. Anybody can submit their film to this category, and this year one of the three winners is “Searcher,” a five-minute homage to silent films created by a high school senior.
“Clarence,” a movie about a World War II veteran going back to college at age 85, is another winner. Clarence must navigate modern college life, receive the credits he needs to graduate and overcome various other obstacles. The plans for his future are put in jeopardy when complications related to an earlier battle with cancer get in his way.
The third recipient of the Golden Badger is “Little America,” another short. “Little America” is a six-minute tour of Marshall, Wisconsin’s Little Amerricka Amusement Park. The heartfelt short tells the story of one small town (population: 4,000) and its beloved amusement park.
Festival Timeslot, “Clarence”: Wednesday, April 15, 7:00 p.m., Sundance Cinema 1; Thursday, April 16, 1:00 p.m., Sundance Cinema 5.
Festival Timeslot, “Searcher”: Saturday, April 11, 11:00 a.m., Madison Museum of Contemporary Art.
Festival Timeslot, “Little America”: Friday, April 10, 6:30 p.m., Madison Museum of Contemporary Art; Sunday, April 12, 8:30 p.m., UW Chazen Museum of Art.
