The Milwaukee Film Festival just dropped its 2023 lineup and we at Milwaukee Magazine are pretty excited. Here’s a guide to 10 movies we consider must-sees at the fest this year:
1. Earlybird
2022 | SHOWING ON APRIL 27 AND 30
What happens when a small theater owner is told his theater is getting shut down? He realizes he has nothing left to lose. That cues him to start putting on the shows he always wanted to – like one about cats. Suddenly, and for the first time pretty much ever, the theater has a crowd. That’s the concept for this comedy from local filmmaker Martin Kaszubowski. It’s being shown as part of the Cream City Cinema. – Alli Watters, Editor, Digital & Culture
2. A Witch Story
2022 | SHOWING ON APRIL 21 AND MAY 4
The title alone of this documentary grabbed my attention – witches have always fascinated me, both fictional and historical. This doc is about the latter two, following a woman who discovers she is related to Martha Allen Carrier, a woman hanged for witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. In that revelation, she dives into research about witch hunts and reckons with the violence women still face today. – Brianna Schubert, Associate Digital Editor
It’s time to pick your Milwaukee favorites for the year!
3. Love, Charlie: The Rise and Fall of Chef Charlie Trotter
2021 | SHOWING ON APRIL 24 AND 30
I never had the chance to visit Charlie Trotter’s eponymously named Chicago restaurant, but it seemed like in the 1990s, everybody was talking about the spot known for its haute tasting menus. Trotter himself fascinated me. Someone sent me a copy of Gourmet Cooking for Dummies, written by Trotter, and I had it on my office bookshelf for years. Trotter, who had a poli sci degree from UW-Madison, never went to culinary school. But the James Beard Award winner and PBS cooking show host became a star around the time when chefs were becoming actor famous. He could be controversial, as, for example, when he announced that he would stop selling foie gras for ethical reasons. I remember thinking how sad it was that not too long after announcing the closure of Charlie Trotter’s (one of many restaurants he owned and the most famous) and his plans to travel and go back to school, he passed away from a stroke. I’m hoping for a very illuminating documentary here. – Ann Christenson, Dining Editor
4. Mom & Dad’s Nipple Factory
2023 | SHOWING ON APRIL 20 AND 21
This documentary will be kicking off the fest. It tells the story of Eau Claire couple Randi and Brian Johnson. Randi survives breast cancer and a mastectomy, and Brian wants to help her design the perfect prosthetic nipple. They get to tinkering in their Wisconsin home, and what started as a labor of love grows into a much bigger mission of helping thousands of survivors like Randi. I’ll be packing tissues for this one. – AW
5. Black Barbie
2023 | SHOWING ON APRIL 23 AND MAY 1
This documentary looks at Black female representation through the history of Black Barbie. Barbie is a huge cultural symbol with a ton of influence throughout generations. This doc examines the importance of the representation, but also the merchandising of Black Barbie since Mattel released the doll in the 1980s. I’m especially interested to watch this perspective on Barbie ahead of the mainstream Barbie movie coming out this summer. – BS
6. Hundreds of Beavers
2022 | SHOWING ON APRIL 28 AND MAY 2
To be honest, I’m not sure I understand the concept for this movie. But I do know that it’s locally made and there’s an an army of human-sized beavers – yes, hundreds of them. Described as a “supernatural winter epic,” I expect this black-and-white, no-dialogue feature to be weird and wildly entertaining. – AW
7. Mutt
2023 | SHOWING ON APRIL 22 AND 26
Part of the Genrequeer series, this film is about a day in the life Feña, a trans man in New York City, who has to confront his past when three people from his life “jolt him in different directions.” It’s a film telling the stories and complexities of being trans and Latinx in America, and the Hollywood Reporter called it “one of the best films about post-transition adjustment.” – BS
8. What We’re Hungry for: How Food Pantries Fed Rural Wisconsin During the Pandemic
2022 | SHOWING ON APRIL 23
It’s hard to believe that many people in our country go hungry. This undeniable truth was particularly hard turn away from during the pandemic. That’s what this film is about – documenting the efforts of five local food pantries working to get food in the hands of needy folks in rural Wisconsin. Sobering – and important – viewing. – AC
9. A Disturbance in the Force
2023 | SHOWING ON MAY 4
How will you celebrate May the Fourth (be with you)? Might I suggest stopping by the Milwaukee Film Festival for their closing night documentary all about the never re-aired “Star Wars Holiday Special.” George Lucas said, “If I had the time and a sledgehammer I would track down every copy … and smash it.” But how was it made? What happened in it? Who got to see it? All this and more in this film, which features big-name actors, comedians and historians commenting on the fiasco. – AW
10. Dear Thirteen
2022 | SHOWING ON APRIL 22 AND MAY 2
Described as a “cinematic love letter to coming of age in the modern world,” this documentary follows nine 13 year olds around the world. We’ll get to see their journeys of self-discovery among the current social and political changes globally. I’m looking forward to seeing what feels familiar to my own experience of being 13 (oof) and what’s different. – BS
