Presented by Milwaukee’s Independent Film Society, Milwaukee’s International Short Film Festival took place at the Avalon Atmospheric Theater from Sept. 8-9.
The festival is one of the longest running film festivals in Milwaukee, with 49 local and international films screening over the course of two days. The festival is divided into five blocks, which includes “Voices Heard” dedicated to highlighting local filmmakers of color.
The theme for this year is “Legacy,” to honor the festival’s legacy — three legacy films were screened, meaning they have been shown at previous festivals. This includes “Phantom Limb” directed by Mark G.E. which debuted at the first festival ever in 1995.
The festival opened with comedy/drama “Big Bang,” written and directed by Brazilian filmmaker Carlos Segundo.
Short mystery film “X’ed Out” has won awards all over the world, taking home “Best Drama in London.” The film was also selected as a semi-finalist in Vancouver and Toronto.
“X’ed Out“ is a mystery/drama that follows the death of a man, and the search for what caused it. The police are quick to frame it on the main character’s sister, but in reality, it had been an overdose. The film relayed a strong message about opioids, prescription drug use and addiction. Director and writer Melody Herr said it meant more to her to have it be shown in Milwaukee where it was “born and bred.”
“I really enjoy seeing the independent filmmaking community come together. These films take so much community to make, they don’t happen in a vacuum. For me as a writer/director, especially after the pandemic to get this on the screen and have everyone who worked on it be able to come and see it, to me that’s what I’m most excited for tonight,” Herr said.
After the screening, the directors lined up and answered questions about what their films were about and what went into making them.
“Volume 22” directed by Mizuleyka H McCarthy, was an emotional slice of life film compiled from 22 untitled VHS tapes her mom gave her from childhood that she then turned into a film.
“Only a couple of the tapes had writing on them, so it was basically me reproducing and looking through a bunch of archival film and seeing what was there. I did end up with about three hours of things that I liked, but now it’s seven minutes,” McCarthy said.
The festival drew in many local filmmakers and their friends, family and fans who came out to support the local filmmaking community. It is because of that, the Milwaukee Film Festival legacy lives on.
This story was written by Sofía Cortés. She can be reached at [email protected].
