Milwaukee Community Journal

You are here: Home / Archives for MIlwaukee Film Festival

MIlwaukee Film Festival

Film Fans Turn Out in Record Numbers for 2019 Milwaukee Film Festival

By Leave a Comment

Audience award winners include documentaries on Toni Morrison, Molly Ivins

Neither rain nor snow kept audiences from turning out in droves to support the 2019 Milwaukee Film Festival, presented by Associated Bank. On Tuesday, Milwaukee Film announced a record attendance for the 15-day Festival, with 87,618 fans taking part in films, forums, education screenings, and special events. This marks a 12% increase in attendance over the 2018 Festival.

Attendance figures include 8,440 students who took part in education screenings at the Oriental Theatre.

Film audiences voted at every screening to determine the winners of three awards, and documentaries about iconic female subjects took home two of the honors. “Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am” (dir. Timothy Greenfield-Sanders) received the Allan H. (Bud) and Suzanne L. Selig Audience Award for Best Feature, while “Raise Hell: The Life and Times of Molly Ivins” (dir. Janice Engel) won honors and a $2,500 prize for the Women in Film Audience Award, presented by Live Wire Productions.

“Tree #3” (dir. Omer Ben-Shacher), which was featured in the “Kids Shorts: Size Medium” presentation, received the Selig Audience Award for Best Short.

“In just 11 years, we’ve seen the Milwaukee Film Festival transform into the largest arts event in the city – and an event that people passionately support,” said Cara Ogburn, Festival director for Milwaukee Film. “We are thrilled with the numbers, but we’re just as thrilled with the level of authentic engagement our audience has throughout this Festival. This is a true community event.”

As part of its Best of Fest series, Milwaukee Film will be showing “Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am” this Tuesday and Wednesday, Nov. 5-6, at the historic Oriental Theatre. Showtimes and tickets are available at mkefilm.org.

 

###

 

About Milwaukee Film 

Milwaukee Film is a nonprofit arts organization dedicated to entertaining, educating, and engaging our community through cinematic experiences, with a vision to make Milwaukee a center for film culture. Milwaukee Film operates the magnificent Oriental Theatre, a historic cinema palace committed to high-quality and accessible film and education programming. The 11th annual Milwaukee Film Festival was held Oct. 17-31, 2019. For more information or to become a member, visit mkefilm.org.

 

Facebook: facebook.com/MilwaukeeFilm | Twitter: @mkefilm | Instagram: @mkefilm

The Legacy of Black Business Thrives on the Big Screen

By Leave a Comment

The Milwaukee Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., in Partnership with

The 2019 Milwaukee Film Festival – Black Lens, Presents

 “Boss: The Black Experience In Business”

MILWAUKEE (October 11, 2019) — Small businesses create 65 percent of U.S. jobs and African American business owners are a significant and growing part of this number. African American leaders are also blazing trails in industries from technology to finance.

Director Stanley Nelson’s latest documentary, “Boss: The Black Experience,” celebrates the accomplishments and contributions of African-American business owners and corporate leaders, both past and present. The Milwaukee Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. joins the 2019 Milwaukee Film Festiva-l – Black Lens in presenting the film on Sunday, October 20, at 2:15 p.m. at the Oriental Theatre, located at 2230 N. Farwell Ave.

“It is such an honor to be selected to serve as a Community Partner with the 2019 Milwaukee Film Festival – Black Lens,” said Dr. Anita Sparks, President of the Milwaukee Alumnae Chapter. “When we selected this film to host, we wanted to help tell the story of African American entrepreneurs. Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. expects its membership to support African Americans in the arts and support African American businesses. This film offers the opportunity to do both as well as provide historical accounts of the contributions made by African Americans, past and present. It is a duty and privilege to support this vitally amazing documentary.”

In “Boss: The Black Experience in Business,” inspiring stories of trailblazing African American entrepreneurs of the past and present are brought to the screen along with the significant contributions of today’s business leaders. Among those highlighted are entrepreneur Madam C.J. Walker, publisher John H. Johnson, Motown CEO Berry Gordy, and business pioneer and philanthropist Reginald F. Lewis, to name a few.

Tickets for the film are $13 for regular admission and $11 for students, seniors and the military. Tickets can be purchased online at mkefilm.org or at the Oriental Theater box office. Box Office Hours are Monday through Friday, 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 12:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

As part of the Milwaukee Film Festival, now in its 10th year, Black Lens provides a singular focus on spotlighting fiction and documentary films by emerging and established Black storytellers, the Black Lens film series explores stories and topics rooted in the Black community and relevant to all in order to inspire conversation, celebration, and community.

 

Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. was founded in 1913 on the campus of Howard University to promote academic excellence; to provide scholarships; to provide support to the underserved; educate and stimulate participation in the establishment of positive public policy; and to highlight issues and provide solutions for problems in their communities. Today Delta Sigma Theta Sorority has over 250,000 initiated members and more than 900 chapters worldwide, including seven in Wisconsin. The Sorority uses its Five-Point Programmatic Thrust of economic development, educational development, international awareness and involvement, physical and mental health, and political awareness and involvement to create its national and local programs.