The Milwaukee Film Festival, announced the topics and speakers for its 2013 Panels series. This year’s line-up includes four panel discussions, one lecture built around our Passport: Germany program, and the Milwaukee debut of the Sundance Institute ShortsLab. This special workshop comes to Milwaukee for the first time, and digs into the world of short filmmaking, including how and why programmers select films and how filmmakers transition from shorts to features.
“Bringing the Sundance Institute ShortsLab to Milwaukee happened because of a trip I made to the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year,” explained Artistic & Executive Director Jonathan Jackson. “It provides an opportunity for aspiring directors to hear about all aspects of short filmmaking firsthand from the leading directors and programmers in the field.”
Scheduled to appear at the first ever ShortsLab Milwaukee are acclaimed filmmakers David Lowery (Ain’t Them Bodies Saints;Pioneer, MFF 2011), Ry Russo-Young (You Wont Miss Me, MFF 2009), and Calvin Lee Reeder (The Rambler, MFF 2013), as well as the Sundance Film Festival’s Short Film Programmer Mike Plante. ShortsLab is free to UWM students, and $100 for the general public.
In addition to the Sundance Institute ShortsLab, this year’s Panels line-up will feature two other panels for filmmakers, including the Work-In-Progress Forum and the brand new Filmmaker, Meet Entrepreneur panel, where three Milwaukee filmmakers will interview three Milwaukee entrepreneurs to find out how to apply business practices and an entrepreneurial spirit to their filmmaking.
For the general public, two panels extending from films being screened at this year’s festival include Representing Race, andMKE At Risk: Transgender Youth Awareness.
All panel events will be held in the back room at Colectivo Coffee (2211 N. Prospect Ave.) and are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted.
PANELS LINE-UP:
SUNDANCE INSTITUTE SHORTSLAB
SATURDAY, OCT. 5 | 10 AM – 3:30 PM | UWM UNION
UWM students register for FREE
General public: $100
Join us as the Sundance Institute’s acclaimed workshop comes to Milwaukee for the first time. Co-presented with the Production Club at UWM and the UWM Student Association, this all-day workshop will dig into the world of short filmmaking, including how and why programmers select films and how filmmakers transition from shorts to features.
SPEAKERS SCHEDULED TO APPEAR:
David Lowery, Ry Russo-Young, Mike Plante, Calvin Lee Reeder
REPRESENTING RACE
SATURDAY, SEPT. 28 | 3 PM
Join this panel discussing concerns and questions that arise when representing race issues on-screen in contemporary film.
MODERATOR
Dr. Donte McFadden, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
PANELISTS
Eugene Kane, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Nathaniel Kohn, Producer; Bayou Maharajah
Grace Lee | Director; American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs
T.J. McKay Martin, Director; Undefeated (MFF 2011), Academy Award Winner
PASSPORT: GERMANY
SUNDAY, SEPT. 29 | 1 PM
As part of our Passport: Germany program, this lecture will discuss current trends and concerns in German cinema.
SPEAKER Dr. Sara Hall, University of Illinois-Chicago
MKE AT RISK: TRANSGENDER YOUTH AWARENESS
SUNDAY, SEPT. 29 | 4 PM
Following the matinee screening of Valentine Road at the Oriental Theatre, this panel will consider LGBT and transgender youth awareness and advocacy in Milwaukee.
WELCOME Paul Fairchild, Cream City Foundation
MODERATOR Mitch Teich, WUWM’s Lake Effect
PANELISTS
michael munson & Loree Cook-Daniels, FORGE
Tina Owen, Alliance School
Syd Robinson, ACLU of Wisconsin
Additional panelists TBA
WORK-IN-PROGRESS FORUM
SUNDAY, OCT. 6 | 2 PM
A lively and informative sneak peek at several in-progress films from Wisconsin filmmakers.
MODERATOR Jeff Reichert, Director; Remote Area Medical; VP of Theatrical Marketing, Cinedigm, and editor; Reverse Shot
PANELISTS
Pat Buckley and Manny Marquez, Serenity Prayer
Jeff Gendelman, The Surface
Cris Siqueira, Monga*Ape Girl
Chris James Thompson, Guantánamo Lawyers
Rubin Whitmore II and Xavier Ruffin, Mad Black Men
FILMMAKER, MEET ENTREPRENEUR
SUNDAY, OCT. 6 | 4 PM
In recent years, Milwaukee has witnessed a more organized and energetic effort toward supporting local startups and the entrepreneurial spirit at large. We tasked three local filmmakers with interviewing three successful business professionals, to find out how film professionals can use the language of business to turn their artistic and technical successes into financial successes as well.
WELCOME David Sengkhammee
FILMMAKERS Susan Kerns, Brad Lichtenstein, Kurt Raether
ENTREPRENEURS Kelly Fitzsimmons, Andy Nunemaker, Michael Drescher
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