This year’s Milwaukee Film Festival offered up 220 films (91 features & 131 shorts), playing at three local theaters (the Oriental, the Downer and the Fox-Bay Cinema) over the course of 15 days.
Quite an impressive feat of programming for a festival that’s just about to wrap up its fourth year.
And there have been a record number of festival screenings that have gone to rush status (meaning advance tickets are no longer available), including tonight’s closing night film, The Sessions, starring Academy Award nominee John Hawkes (Winter’s Bone), Academy Award winner Helen Hunt (As Good As It Gets), and Academy Award nominee William H. Macy (Fargo).
A big hit with the Sundance crowd earlier this year, where it was acquired by Fox Searchlight Pictures for a reported $6 million, the film won the world-renowned independent film festival’s Audience Award (U.S. Dramatic) as well as a Special Jury Prize for Ensemble Acting for stars John Hawkes and Helen Hunt, and supporting players William H. Macy, Annika Marks and Moon Bloodgood.
The Sessions, which was titled The Surrogate at the time of its Sundance debut, was also in contention for the festival’s top prize, the Grand Jury Prize, which another Fox Searchlight acquisition, Beasts of the Southern Wild, would go onto claim. The Sessions also won the Audience Award at the recently concluded 2012 San Sebastián International Film Festival in Spain.
The year’s closing night film is based on the true story of American poet Mark O’Brien (masterfully played by Hawkes), who was confined to an iron lung, save for a few hours each day, after contracting polio as a child. At the age of 38, he reasons it’s time he finally lose his virginity, and goes about making that happen. Hunt bravely tackles the role of the sex surrogate who assists him, and Macy plays a priest whom Hawkes turns to for counsel.
The film, written and directed by Ben Lewin, who was stricken with polio as a child himself, has garnered glowing reviews since it’s Sundance debut and is being positioned as a serious awards contender, particularly for the performances of its leading players (Hawkes and Hunt) and for supporting player Macy.
Some of you might recall O’Brien’s life was the subject of an excellent 1996 documentary short, Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O’Brien, directed by Jessica Yu, which won the Oscar for Best Documentary, Short Subjects.
The Sessions screens tonight at 7 p.m. at the historic Oriental Theatre, located at 2230 N. Farwell Ave. The film is rated R for strong sexuality including graphic nudity and frank dialogue, and runs 98 minutes.
Since all advanced tickets have sold out, rush tickets may be available 15 minutes before the start of the screening for $10 each (cash only, no discounts) on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Check the festival’s website for further details.
