The Wisconsin Film Festival will take place in person April 7 to April 14 for the first time since 2019, according to the WFF website.

The festival was cancelled in 2020 and switched to a virtual format in the spring 2021, which wasn’t nearly the same, University of Wisconsin Professor Kelley Conway said in an interview with The Badger Herald.

Of the nearly 150 films that will be shown at the festival each this year, 47 of them are part of the “Wisconsin’s Own” category, which comprises films created by, produced by or starring Wisconsinites, or films that were shot in Wisconsin, Conway said.

“Anaïs in Love” on April 7, and “Cow” on April 9 are must-sees,” Conway said. “We mainly show films you cannot see anywhere else.”

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“The Best Years of Our Lives,” a restored film from 1946 about soldiers who have returned home after World War II, features Fredric March, a UW alumnus who won an Oscar for Best Actor for his role in the film.

In 2018, word surfaced that March had been a member of a campus organization called the Klu Klux Klan. Though the group was not affiliated with the KKK, March’s name was removed from a student performance space at Memorial Union, Chancellor Rebecca Blank’s letter to the editor in The New York Times said.

Since then, various organizations, most notably the NAACP, have called for March’s name to be restored, according to a New York Times article.

“Showing the film at this year’s festival has everything to do with showcasing the art rather than the man behind it,” Conway said. “The Fredric March thing for us is secondary. He happens to have a role in the film. We’re interested in showing a really powerful movie without making a political statement.”

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Seven venues around Madison — four on campus — will host the film festival, according to the website. Locations at UW include Shannon Hall at Memorial Union, The Marquee Cinema at Union South and the UW Cinematheque at Vilas Hall.

In the greater Madison area, there will also be showings at AMC Madison 6 at Hilldale Mall.

Tickets are $12 for non-students, and donations to the film festival are encouraged. UW students will be able to participate in the film festival for free this year at any venue with a valid student ID, according to the festival’s website.