Thoughts on the Wisconsin Film Festival

Originally published in Greater Milwaukee Today Newspapers on April 8, 2004 (http://www.gmtoday.com/timeout/reviews.asp)
by: Steven Snyder

Something was different this year at the sixth annual Wisconsin Film Festival, a peculiarity that even Chicago Tribune film critic Michael Wilmington noted prior to the fest’s screening of Christoffer Boe’s “Reconstruction” last Saturday afternoon.

The crowds were bigger as one toured downtown Madison during the four-day festival, the participants more eager to strike up a conversation about the documentary, short program or feature film they had just seen. As a critic, seeing such sights and hearing such conversations is the most exciting aspect of attending such festivals. I often wonder whether anyone still cares about seeing good movies, and if films such as the mind-bending “Reconstruction” can still capture an audience’s imagination.

But following the screening, I heard audience members eagerly debating the film and its ambiguous ending. I spoke with strangers about the film, not in passing but rather in heated, passionate discussions. While at a nearby coffee shop, I heard patrons debating not only the film I had just seen, but other projects that had left them exhilarated. And even more moving, I saw these individuals reach across their table and engage strangers in discussion.

My three favorite moments of the fest included a screening of short films from Midwest students, including a darling short film called “Night and Day In The World,” from director Tim Zwettler, which reduces the day of a love struck couple to the moments when they are together, apart and that euphoric moment of reunion after the loneliness of the daily routine.

The line for “Stone Reader,” Mark Moskowitz’s documentary about his quest to find the brilliant, but forgotten author of an obscure 1970’s novel, went around an entire downtown block, as hundreds of moviegoers awaited the opening of the doors at the Orpheum Theater on State Street. Of course, those in line discussed other films they had seen that day.

And “Planete Kino,” a collection of short films made by filmmakers under extreme situations, was as hilarious, exciting and unpredictable as any movie going experience I have witnessed in years. In most instances, “Kino” filmmakers are given an assignment, a limited budget, and 48 hours to complete a work. The imagination, humor and inventiveness of these submissions earned a rousing applause from a packed house in the campus union on Saturday evening.

I leave the fest wondering why such exuberance must be confined to only four days a year. Wilmington remembers Madison in the ‘60’s and ‘70’s as the nation’s third best film community. But with the death of film societies, the aura of cinematic energy has somewhat faded from Madison, as well as other college towns. In his closing remarks, Wilmington hoped that the success of this year’s film festival pointed to a rejuvenation of the city, and state, as a movie hotbed.

Amen to that.

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