2026 Wisconsin Film Festival Film Guide

By

About the Festival

First launched in 1999, the Wisconsin Film Festival curates, promotes, and exhibits programs that showcase the art and history of world cinema. A non-profi t annual event supported by the University of Wisconsin–Madison, the Festival advances the teaching, research, and public service mission of the University by exposing the campus and the greater community to fi lms and fi lmmakers from Wisconsin and beyond. The Wisconsin Film Festival is firmly grounded in the belief that cinema is an essential art form that enriches human experience and enhances our knowledge of wide-ranging cultures. As such, we seek to create a strong sense of community by creating a diverse program of films for viewers of all ages presented with state-of-the-art projection. The Wisconsin Film Festival is the Wisconsin Idea in action.

Festival Staff

Professor Jeff Smith | Director

Mike King | Artistic Director

Ben Reiser | Director of Operations & Wisconsin’s Own Programming

Jim Healy | Director of Programming, UW Cinematheque

Terry Kerr | Big Screens, Little Folks Programming, Educational Coordinator, Volunteer Coordinator

Josh Martin | Wisconsin’s Own Programmer, Print Traffi c Coordinator

Collin Berra | Wisconsin’s Own Programmer

Adi Demapure | Wisconsin’s Own Programmer

Karin Kolb | Big Screens, Little Folks Senior Programmer

Kait Boss | Big Screens, Little Folks Programmer

Kyra Hunting | Big Screens, Little Folks Programmer

“From according to his ability, to according to his needs” - Karl

What one might do the night before an exam

Kathleen Ricci | Corporate, Campus and Community Partnerships and Grants

Christina King | Art Director

Tommy Washbush | Designer

Tracy Harris | Designer

Katrina Simyab | Marketing and PR Specialist

Jane Schroeder | Hospitality and Events Coordinator

Justin Dean | Technical Director

Michaela Holzhuter | Digital Communications

Sophie Hougland, Jamie Drewry | Financial Specialists

Kat Thompson | Box Offi ce Manager

Film Descriptions

Mike King (MK)

Jim Healy (JH)

Ben Reiser (BR)

Terry Kerr (TK)

60A winner (Narrative, 2024), or a paranormal illumination

Gobi (Indian dish)

Tom’s co-star in “Jerry Maguire”

Norse god of thunder

60A winner (Documentary, 2025; now called “Teenage Wasteland”), or a common city name

Tease (with)

Morning droplets

Lambeau Field to Packers fans

Wisconsin Film Festival honor voted on by you!

Chooses (to)

Surrounded by

Shed lots of tears

It can be slippery

Josh Martin (JM)

Colin Berra (CB)

Adi Demapur (AD)

Kyra Hunting (KH)

Karin Kolb (KK)

Matt St. John (MSJ)

Olivia Babler (OB)

Jeff Smith (JS)

Kait Boss (KB)

Projectionists

Julian Antos, Olivia Babler, Gini Connell, Sam Davisson, Sophie Gryske, Sam La Strapes, Andrew Nelson, Spencer Tye Support Staff

Boyd Hillestad, Pete Sengstock, Ken Sabbar, Julie Van Esler, Clara Schanck, Kelsey Hughes, Grace Jezuit

Special Thanks to our amazing volunteers! And thank you to support from Dane Arts with additional funds from Diane Ballweg and the Endres Mfg. Company Foundation

Word with scorched or science

Hello in Hawaii

Arrives

Love symbols

Spicy brew

Fishing sticks

The Kohl Center, for one 8 Cantaloupe, for one

Superfood berry

10 Event with a matador that was the subject of the 2025 Wisconsin Film Festival documentary “Afternoons of Solitude” 11 Strappy garment 12 Commercials 15 Borscht vegetable 21 Unagi 22 Lab vessel 26 “Bless you” precursor 27 Do over 29 Shrek, for one

Sharpen 32 Like a burning candle

Plastic Band 38 Uses needle and thread 39 Camper’s need 41 Like all prime numbers except for 2 45 Get out in front 49 Actress Thurman

50 Sign on a haunted house, maybe 53 “I call !” 54 “The ” (title of 2024 Wisconsin Film Festival Secret Screening)

55 “Gin and Juice” rapper, to fans

57 Animal with one or two humps

58 Sheds tears 59 Befuddle 61 Gvt. agency that goes door to door

cabana

Paradise

Manipulated (the system) 34 “It’s !” (Frankenstein quotation) 35 Common cocktail mixer

The O in IOU

Green morsel

TICKETS

TICKETS ON SALE SATURDAY MARCH 7 at NOON! TICKETS ON SAL

EASIEST, FASTEST

Order Online

Set up your account at WIFILMFEST.EVENTIVE.ORG

If you’ve purchased a Festival pass, Holiday 10-pack, or any 2025 tickets, you already have an account.

”All-Festival” passholders can acquire tickets for individual screenings beginning noon CST on Friday, March 6. Passholders can acquire one ticket for any and all individual screenings, as long as screenings do not overlap. Find more pass instructions at wifilmfest.eventive.org.

Tickets to the general public will be on sale beginning noon CST on Saturday, March 7. Holiday 10-packs may be redeemed at this time. Tickets are available for purchase online 24/7 through the end of the Festival.

Tickets ordered online will be sent directly to your email. Just show the QR code on your phone at the theater, or print your tickets at home.

BEFORE THE FESTIVAL

In-Person

There are no cost savings for in-person ticket purchases, and if possible, we recommend purchasing/acquiring tickets online.

BARRYMORE THEATRE

2090 Atwood Ave.

3/7 Noon – 4 pm

3/14 Noon – 3 pm

3/21 Noon – 3 pm

3/28 Noon – 3 pm

VILAS HALL

4070 Vilas Hall

821 University Ave.

3/7 Noon – 4 pm

MITCHELL THEATER

821 University Ave. @ East Campus Mall

3/11 4 – 7 pm

3/18 4 – 7 pm

3/25 4 – 7 pm

4/1 4 – 7 pm

LEOPOLD’S BOOKS BAR CAFFÈ 1301 Regent St.

3/11 5 – 8 pm

AT SHOWTIME

During the Fest

Tickets will be available during the Festival at all Festival venues. If available, Rush Tickets can be purchased only at showtime at the individual screening venue.

FREE TICKETS FOR UWMADISON STUDENTS *

Every current UW–Madison student with a valid WisCard is eligible for one free ticket to every screening at every Festival venue all Festival long—a chance to see any of our 150 films FOR FREE! Just arrive at a screening with your WisCard and, if we have a seat available, it’s yours, free! Or, visit any of our in-person box offi ces before the Festival, present your WisCard to receive one free ticket to any and all screenings in advance (as long as screenings do not overlap).

*Subject to availability. Learn more at wifi lmfest.org

For details on transportation, parking, and accessibility, visit wifilmfest.org/venues

3/18 5 – 8 pm 2026 Festival Locations

CHAZEN

MUSEUM OF ART

750 University Ave. chazen.wisc.edu

MUSIC HALL

925 Bascom Mall

UW CINEMATHEQUE 4070 Vilas Hall 821 University Ave. cinema.wisc.edu

THE MARQUEE

2nd Floor, Union South 1308 Dayton St. union.wisc.edu

BARRYMORE THEATRE 2090 Atwood Ave. barrymorelive.com

BARTELL THEATRE 113 E. Mifflin Street

FLIX BREWHOUSE 85 E Towne Way On the east side of the Mall, near Dick’s Sporting Goods. flixbrewhouse.com

Prices do not include tax or service fee ALL-FESTIVAL PASS $325

$12

CHECK WIFILMFEST.ORG FOR NEWS AND UPDATES. FESTIVAL SCHEDULE IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE.

CHILDREN UNDER 12 ADMISSION for Big Screens, Little Folks screenings only:

$6 GENERAL ADMISSION

Please note: If patrons are not in seats 10 minutes before the screening, we will resell your seats. Most lines are outdoors so please dress appropriately.

25 Cats from Qatar

SUN, APRIL 12 • 1:30 PM

BARRYMORE THEATRE

FILMMAKERS SCHEDULED TO APPEAR

Documentary • USA • 2025 • English, Urdu w/English

subtitles • 95 MIN

Director: Mye Hoang

In this heart-melting documentary, Milwaukee Cat Cafe owner, Katy McHugh travels to Qatar, which is home to some three million cats struggling to survive on the streets of Doha. Her mission is to collect as many of these cats as she can manage, and bring them back to Wisconsin for adoption in the U.S.. Along the way, Katy connects with an underground network of cat-caregivers doing their best to lend aid and comfort to a multitude of meowers abandoned by temporary workers who adopted the animals while in Qatar and then left them to fend for themselves when they returned to their home countries. Intensely cinematic, sharply detailed, and filled with scores of the most adorable felines to ever walk on (three or) four legs, 25 Cats from Qatar is an irresistible, immersive film experience for cat lovers, the cat-curious, and cat skeptics who are about to find out what they’ve been missing. “25 Cats from Qatar is one of the cutest and most heroic documentaries you’ll see this year. It’s a party in the brain for any cat person or animal lover” (Film Threat). (BR) Presented with support from UW-Madison Middle East Studies Program

Busy Bodies

Animation • USA • 2025 • 6 MIN

Director: Kate Renshaw-Lewis

Agatha’s Almanac

FRI, APRIL 10 • 4:15 PM

APRIL 11 • 6:15 PM

Algorithmic Nudes and Other Experimental Shorts from Wisconsin’s Own

SUN, APRIL 12 • 1:30 PM

CHAZEN MUSEUM OF ART

73 MIN

FILMMAKERS SCHEDULED TO APPEAR

Our annual collection of experimental shorts stretches the boundaries of what is possible to convey through this profoundly visual medium, and this year’s program is a great one. From a unique look at a street dance battle to an encounter with a Las Vegas Elvis impersonator, these eight films are built to amuse, amaze, confuse and captivate.

Bob, Paul... Byrd and Pete Go to the Movies

Experimental • USA • 2025 • 2 MIN

Director: Vincent Mollica

• Cast: Vincent Mollica

Algorithmic Nudes Grapple with Entropy

Experimental • USA • 2025 • 6 MIN

Director: David Witzling

Bodies and structures distort and meld into one another in this surreal exploration of stable diffusion animation. (AD)

Trip the Night

Experimental • USA • 2026 • 7 MIN

Director: Bill Bedford

A spectacle of light, color, and rhythm in four parts. (BR)

In Paintings, All Emotions

Experimental • USA • 2025 • 9 MIN

Director: Will VanKoughnett • Cast: April Lin

Streams of light and vibrant colors shade our view of the natural world in this 16mm short. (JM)

SUN, APRIL 12 • 4 PM

CHAZEN MUSEUM OF ART 105 MIN

FILMMAKERS SCHEDULED TO APPEAR There Yawns the Valley

Experimental • USA • 2026 • French w/English subtitles • 17 MIN

Director: Nolan F. Anderson • Cast: Patricia Giorgi, Tifaine Joulié, Tiffany Arino, Isabelle Tréhet, Laurent Laubier

Channeling the slow, minimalistic style of global art cinema, this austere, expertly composed short takes a patient look at a nun in her church, a space where disparate voices and memories routinely intermingle. (JM)

And Then I Knew ‘Twas Wind

Narrative

Director: Darius Mackenzie • Cast: Miki Murray, David Connelly, Zsolt Kormendy

Combining inkjet and screen printing techniques, this hand-drawn wonder imagines the tiny workers behind our rubber gloves. 2026 Sundance Film Festival. (MK)

Agatha’s Almanac

Documentary • Canada • 2025 • 86 MIN

Director: Amalie Atkins

Agatha Bock has escaped the 21st century. Off the grid in rural Manitoba, this proudly independent 90-year-old gets all she needs from the mouth-watering bounty of her garden. Nevermind a cell phone—she hasn’t had running water for ten years. A master of self-sufficiency, Agatha offers practical advice and off-the-cuff folk wisdom with authenticity to spare. Handcrafted with a care to match her aunt’s cultivation, director Amalie Atkins’s deeply affectionate portrait invites us to attune ourselves to another way of living, in harmony with nature and far from modern distractions. Cinematographer Rhayne Vermette (Dead Lover, WFF 2025) captures Agatha’s life in vivid 16mm, with colors so saturated it looks like the strawberries and flowers are about to pop right off the screen, all of which is only enhanced by a charmingly far-out musical score. “Agatha’s Almanac serves up a surplus of idiosyncratic charm. Bock’s garden is not only an abiding source of earthly delights but a world unto itself” (Filmmaker Magazine). “A slice of pure joy. A truly memorable character [whose] personality radiates in every frame” (POV). “One of the year’s most indelible portraits… spun with care, love, and passionate attention” (High on Films). (MK)

An amuse-bouche to get you in the mood. (BR)

Top 16

Documentary • USA • 2025 • 13 MIN

Director: Brian Lu

A uniquely off-kilter look at a street dance battle. (AD)

Know Who You Are At Every Age

Experimental • USA • 2025 • 4 MIN

Director: reverie • Cast: Mica, Jasmine Dreamlike imagery captures the essence of romance. (BR)

The Phalanx

Experimental • USA • 2025 • 14 MIN

Director: Ben Balcom

The life cycle of a utopian project as told through a series of letters, student performances, and archival material. (CB)

Learning from Learning from Las Vegas

Experimental • USA • 2025 • 18 MIN

Director: Sam Taffel, Gillian Waldo

A young couple clash and revisit key insights from the classic architectural study on their journey through Sin City in this fusion of archival material and an unconventional narrative. (JM)

In director Darius Mackenzie’s feature debut, a writer looking for inspiration for her next project takes a canoe trip with her boyfriend through the backcountry of Oregon. In this area known for its fossil record stretching back roughly sixty million years, the earth holds the imprint of worlds now gone and time seems to widen with every bend of the river. When she disappears one night, time is laid bare, with nature revealing itself for what it truly is: equally uncaring and awe-inspiring. Breathtakingly photographed on gorgeous 16mm, Mackenzie’s film patiently reveals itself with compositions that aim to let your eye wander through the frame, rather than simply directing your gaze. Filled with vibrant landscape cinematography and an eeriness that sweeps over and grabs hold of you, this meditative piece of slow cinema is one that will linger long after you’ve left the theater. Five years in the making, Mackenzie’s accomplished, awe-inspiring debut is the winner of a 2026 Golden Badger award. (AD)

BLANK CHECK PRESENTS

Babe: Pig in the City

SAT, APRIL 11 • 4:30 PM

BARRYMORE THEATRE

SCHEDULED TO APPEAR: GRIFFIN NEWMAN, BEN HOSLEY, MARIE BARDI-SALINAS, JJ BERSCH

Narrative • Australia, USA • 1998 • 96 MIN + 60 MIN BLANK CHECK LIVE SHOW

Director: George Miller • Cast: E. G. Daily, Magda Szubanski, James Cromwell

Join the crew from the essential film podcast Blank Check for a special screening of Mad Max mastermind George Miller’s cult classic of family cinema. In this much darker sequel to the surprise Oscar-nominated original, Babe the pig is stranded in a scary metropolis, far from cozy Hoggett Farm. Hiding out in an animal-friendly hotel, Babe deals with streetwise chimpanzees and hostile Bull Terriers, all while dodging animal control—it’s tough if you’re a pig alone in the city, dear ones. Boasting an astounding visual design, supreme technical mastery, and action setpieces to rival Fury Road, this now-beloved marvel nevertheless whiffed upon its original release. One of the few to recognize its genius in the moment was Roger Ebert, who hailed Pig in the City as “an unending parade of wonderments and visual delights, linked to a story that is Dickensian in its richness of character and the boldness of its villains. The movie is filled with wonders large and small: little gags at the side of the frame and big laughs in the center. It is in no way just a ‘children’s movie,’ but one that extends the imagination of everyone who sees it.” That’ll do. Following the film, Blank Check co-host Griffin Newman, producer Ben Hosley, associate producer Marie Bardi-Salinas, and researcher JJ Bersch (UW MA ’16, PhD ’22) will crack open an all-new dossier on Miller’s still-underrated gem. On their selection, the Blank Check team says: “A few months into the pandemic—and a year before our Madison-based researcher JJ joined our team—Blank Check released an episode covering Babe: Pig in the City—a “blank check” movie if there ever were one. Now, in our first-ever Midwest live show, we invite you to join us as the hometown hero walks us through the true stories behind one of the wildest sequels of the 1990s—or any other decade.” (MK)

Presented with support from UW-Madison Center for the Humanities

Blue Heron

TUE, APRIL 14 • 6:15 PM

FLIX BREWHOUSE, CINEMA 7

THU, APRIL 16 • 12:15 PM

FLIX BREWHOUSE, CINEMA 2

Narrative • Canada, Hungary • 2025 • English, Hungarian w/English subtitles • 90 MIN

Director: Sophy Romvari • Cast: Eylul Guven, Iringó Réti, Ádám Tompa

On Vancouver Island in the 1990s, a blended Hungarian family of six is looking to make a fresh start. But the increasingly erratic behavior of their oldest son is becoming dangerous, and his parents struggle in vain to get through to him. Seen through the eyes of eight-year-old Sasha, this superb memory piece is drawn from director Sophy Romvari’s own relationship with her older brother. Without a doubt one of the year’s standout debuts, The Blue Heron begins as a vivid evocation of childhood, until some elegant temporal swerves transform it into something truly special. “Masterful and transcendent” (The Daily Beast). “Astonishing. So delicately textured that it is as though you can practically reach out and touch the grass of the family’s yard… you immediately wish to see it all again” (The Wrap). “A major film, one of the best of 2025… easily the most moving film of the dozens I saw at the Toronto International Film Festival. Maybe even the entire year.” (RogerEbert.com) (MK)

The Blue Trail

TUE, APRIL 14 • 6 PM

FLIX BREWHOUSE, CINEMA 8

WED, APRIL 15 • 4 PM

FLIX BREWHOUSE, CINEMA 8

Narrative • Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Netherlands • 2025 • Portuguese w/English subtitles • 86 MIN

Director: Gabriel Mascaro • Cast: Denise Weinberg, Rodrigo Santoro, Miriam Socarrás

This wonderfully original parable is set in an alternate future Brazil where seniors are sent to live in isolated colonies by the government. Self-sufficient 77-year-old Tereza isn’t having it, so when the “wrinkle wagon” comes to collect her, she slips the leash. She pays a shady riverboat captain to ferry her away on the Amazon, a journey that opens her up to all manner of fresh experiences. Tereza’s unexpected rebirth is at times enchanting, at times dangerous, and refreshingly unfamiliar—for us as filmgoers as much as her. “Movies about dystopian near futures are a dime a dozen, but it’s hard to recall one that sweeps you up in the defiant joy of liberation like The Blue Trail. A gorgeous aquatic road movie that turns the Amazon into a magical escape from exile to freedom. What’s remarkable about The Blue Trail and makes it such a delight is that despite all the oppression in the air, it’s a movie filled with hope and faith in human resilience at any age. The closing image will make your heart soar. And no, it’s not the one you were expecting” (The Hollywood Reporter). “Filled with indelible encounters and images… the greatest South American houseboat movie since Fitzcarraldo. It’s almost like flying” (Variety). Silver Bear, Berlin Film Festival. (MK)

Presented with support from UW-Madison Latin American, Caribbean and Iberian Studies Program and UW-Madison Department of Spanish and Portuguese

Boorman and the Devil

SUN, APRIL 12 • 1:45 PM

UW CINEMATHEQUE

MON, APRIL 13 • 3 PM

FLIX BREWHOUSE, CINEMA 7

SCHEDULED TO APPEAR: DAVID KITTREDGE

Documentary • USA, France • 2025 • 112 MIN

Director: David Kittredge

There’s plenty of documentaries celebrating the canon of classic movies, but not many like this entertaining deep dive into the making of one of Hollywood’s most infamous flops: 1977’s Exorcist II: The Heretic. Now, nearly 50 years later, that film’s director John Boorman gamely recounts a production so troubled that many worried it was actually cursed. After the record-breaking box office of the original Exorcist, Paramount granted auteurist hotshot Boorman (still riding the massive success of Deliverance) free reign on its followup. Boorman took full advantage, imagining a lunatic sequel that was a baroque riposte to its predecessor. Behind the scenes, the production was beset by disasters as overwhelming as the plague of locusts that make up the film’s signature sequence. And yet… seeing the jaw-dropping in-camera special effects Boorman conjured on set, there is no denying that Heretic contains flashes of technical brilliance. In addition to being a wild ride through Hollywood hell, Boorman and the Devil serves as a partial reclamation of the damned sequel, as participants like Linda Blair and admirers like Joe Dante and Mike Flanagan wrestle with their conflicted feelings about the end result. Decide for yourself at our companion 35mm screening of Exorcist II: The Heretic, following our Sunday screening of the documentary. (MK)

Bouchra

FRI, APRIL 10 • 6:30 PM

MUSIC HALL

TUE, APRIL 14 • 8:45 PM

FLIX BREWHOUSE, CINEMA 7

Narrative • Morocco, USA, Italy • 2025 • Arabic, English, French w/English subtitles • 83 MIN

An immigrant story like no other, Bouchra blends 3D animation, documentary, and anthropomorphism to depict a queer Moroccan finding her way in Manhattan. Aspiring filmmaker (and coyote) Bouchra can’t seem to get past a bad case of writer’s block. Preoccupied with how her sexuality has strained her close relationship with her mother in Casablanca, she pours her anxieties onto the page, spurring a creative breakthrough that she wishes her life could catch up with. The characters may be coyotes, lizards, and cows, but co-directors Orian Barki and Meriem Bennani use documentary tactics to imbue them with disarming honesty and specificity. They incorporate real-life phone calls, letters, and conversations into the story, granting Bouchra an air of spontaneity, ambiguity, and authenticity that sets it apart from most animation. Bouchra beautifully carries on the style, humor, and spirit of Barki and Bennani’s viral sensation of the lockdown era, 2 Lizards, while ramping up the animation quality to create a visual world worthy of their unique characters. (MK)

Calle Málaga

SUN, APRIL 12 • 4:15 PM

BARRYMORE THEATRE

Narrative • Morocco, France, Spain, Germany, Belgium • 2025 • Arabic, Spanish w/English subtitles • 116 MIN

Director: Maryam Touzani • Cast: Carmen Maura, Marta Etura, Ahmed Boulane

Perched on her balcony overlooking the lively Tangier street she’s called home for decades, María Ángeles is loving her golden years. So when her daughter abruptly drops the news that she’s selling María Ángeles’s beloved apartment out from under her, it’s a punch to the gut. And not one she’s about to take lying down. Refusing to accompany her daughter back to Madrid, María Ángeles quickly escapes the senior home she’s been installed in, breaks back into her old apartment, and starts buying back all her favorite furniture from the grouchy antique dealer. To make ends meet, she schemes with her young neighbors to start hosting parties to watch soccer games in her living room, serving tapas and beer. Soon she’s having even more fun than when she was living there legally—and maybe that antiques dealer isn’t such a bad guy, after all. Winner of festival audience awards around the world, this vibrant charmer is a sterling vehicle for the great Carmen Maura, the unforgettable star of many of Pedro Almodóvar’s all-time classics, including Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Volver, and What Have I Done to Deserve This? (MK)

Celtic Utopia

SAT, APRIL 11 • 1:45 PM | BARRYMORE THEATRE

Documentary • Sweden, Ireland • 2025 • 90 MIN

Director: Dennis Harvey, Lars Lovén

It is said that the winners write the history books and the losers write the songs. If that’s true then Ireland surely has its fair share of lovable losers, and in this rollicking new tune-filled documentary, we get to meet our fair share of them. Celtic Utopia tells the story of a new Ireland and its vibrant music scene, but also that of a post-colonial society wrestling with its heritage. The Irish folk music renaissance sees artists coming from punk, hip-hop, and beyond, rediscovering an ancient tradition and taking it in unexpected directions. In Celtic Utopia, these scruffy, scrappy artists take us on a ballad tour around the island, telling stories and singing songs that try to make sense of their past, while also attempting to heal their wounds. Archival footage ties the present moment to Ireland’s troubled past, and the film creates a rich portrait of an island coming to terms with its first 100 years of partial independence. People ask: where have all the protest songs and protest singers gone? Celtic Utopia provides the answer: Erin and punk go bragh!! “It’s surprisingly charming and jovial yet there’s a sincere emotional vein running throughout” (Film Carnage) “While many documentaries aim to slim down narratives and present them in bite size form, Harvey and Lovén welcome the complexities of post-colonial Ireland and the way that these musicians are exploring them through their work. A deserving winner of Locarno’s Critic’s Week strand, the multifaceted strengths of this documentary sing out” (Eye for Film). (BR)

The Christophers

MON, APRIL 13 • 8:30 PM | FLIX BREWHOUSE, CINEMA 8

Narrative • United Kingdom • 2025 • 100 MIN

Director: Steven Soderbergh

• Cast: Michaela Coel, Ian McKellen, Jessica Gunning

Steven Soderbergh follows up Black Bag with another delectably witty London crime story, this one set in the world of art forgery. Out of the blue one day, talented but struggling artist Lori is given an unethical but lucrative opportunity. The grown, money-hungry children of a renowned painter want Lori to steal a famously abandoned series of portraits from the attic where their dad’s squirreled them away, and surreptitiously complete them. Upon the aging art star’s presumably imminent demise, these “lost” works will be discovered and sold, with Lori’s take in the millions. Under the guise of his new assistant, Lori agrees to enter the cloistered world of the vain has-been known as Julian Sklar, played with crochety brilliance by Ian McKellen. Though now reduced to churning out Cameos for fans rather than the artistic masterpieces of his youth, Julien is still no easy mark, and Lori begins to second guess who’s scheming who here. Regular Soderbergh collaborator Ed Solomon’s screenplay delights in the acidic repartee between generations of artists, while playfully exploring the concepts of authenticity and personal legacy. (MK)

The Currents

SUN, APRIL 12 • 11 AM

CHAZEN MUSEUM OF ART

WED, APRIL 15 • 12:30 PM

FLIX BREWHOUSE, CINEMA 7

Narrative • Argentina, Switzerland • 2025

Spanish

w/English subtitles • 104 MIN

Director: Milagros Mumenthaler • Cast: Isabel Aimé González Sola, Esteban Bigliardi, Claudia Sánchez

By all appearances, fashion designer Lina has it good: a cool job she is acclaimed for, a cute five-year-old kid, an enviable Buenos Aires apartment, and a successful husband (Esteban Bigliardi, memorably of The Delinquents). But something inside her is slipping. While in Switzerland to receive an award, she enters a dangerous, fugue-like state, which she is unable to shake upon returning home. Adrift and

alienated from her family, colleagues, and self, Lina struggles to keep up her facade. Together, writer/director Milagros Mumenthaler and star Isabel Aimé González Sola have crafted an entrancing portrait of a woman quietly at the end of her rope. Beautifully crafted in every detail, The Currents has earned near-unanimous critical comparison to the films of Lucrecia Martel and Todd Haynes’s Safe. “A transfixing existential mystery. The elegance and, especially, empathy with which Mumenthaler captures the gaping chasm between how we present and who we are give the film a voluptuous pull all its own.

A work of impressive, at times thrilling, assurance from start to finish” (The Hollywood Reporter). (MK)

Presented with support from UW-Madison Latin American, Caribbean and Iberian Studies Program and UW-Madison Department of Spanish and Portuguese

CYCLE

SUN, APRIL 12 • 1:30 PM

MUSIC HALL

FILMMAKERS SCHEDULED TO APPEAR

Documentary • USA • 2025 • 95 MIN

Director: Laura Dyan Kezman, William Howell

On a summer night in June 2019, Ty’rese West, a young Black teenager and resident of Racine, Wisconsin, was biking home. When Eric Giese, a white policeman from neighboring Mount Pleasant, attempted to pull him over, Ty’rese was shot and killed by the officer. Impassioned and meticulous in its account of this tragedy, Laura Dyan Kezman and William Howell’s probing documentary

delves into the circumstances surrounding West’s death. Punctuated by critical input from West’s family, friends, and legal experts, the film scrutinizes the details of the case: the evidence that doesn’t add up, unexpected new developments, and, perhaps most crucially, the disturbing overall trend of police violence that pervades the area. Kezman and Howell deftly demonstrate how West’s heartbreaking death is stark example of of the systemic injustices still plaguing communities across America today, the cycles of racism and violence that continue to self-perpetuate. Through a horrifying story from close to home, Cycle sheds further light on the dark truths of

life in contemporary America, attempting to understand these patterns of violence and how we might continue to work to dismantle them. (CB)

Presented with support from Isthmus

Daughter Rite

SAT, APRIL 11 • 11 AM

CHAZEN MUSEUM OF ART

SCHEDULED TO APPEAR: MICHELLE CITRON

Daughter Rite

16MM

A groundbreaking feminist film, Daughter Rite is a searing exploration of the relationships between mothers and daughters. With a diaristic style at the border of documentary and avant-garde cinema, writer/ director/editor Citron focuses on daughters trying to understand their mothers’ betrayals, failures, and expressions of love. In one thread, childhood home movie footage accompanies the voiceover of a woman who grapples with her mother’s emotional distance and impulsive decisions after a divorce. These segments of the film are interspersed with verité-style scenes of two sisters returning to their family home, piecing together a complex portrait of their mother across a series of conversations and interviews. Through its acclaimed experimental structure and style, Daughter Rite raises questions about not only mother-daughter relationships but also viewers’ assumptions about documentary filmmaking. (MSJ)

Presented with support from the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research

The Leftovers

Documentary • USA • 2014 • 23 MIN

Director: Michelle Citron

Composed of scattered snapshots merged with digital paintings, The Leftovers uncovers the story of Norma and Virginia, a lesbian couple who lived together for decades in Chicago. Through the perspective of a neighbor who encountered them near the end of their lives, Citron’s experimental documentary reconstructs a personal history that would otherwise be lost. (MSJ)

Dead Mountaineer’s Hotel

FRI, APRIL 10 • 4 PM

UW CINEMATHEQUE

MON, APRIL 13 • 6:15 PM

FLIX BREWHOUSE, CINEMA 2

Narrative • Finland • 1979 • Estonian w/English subtitles • 84 MIN

Director: Grigori Kromanov • Cast: Uldis Pūcītis, Jüri Järvet, Lembit Peterson

High in a snow-choked mountain pass, the isolated Dead Mountaineer’s Hotel becomes the setting for an investigation that Inspector Glebsky will never shake. Summoned by an anonymous call, Glebsky arrives expecting routine police work but instead finds a neon-lit shrine to a fallen climber, a St. Bernard that seems to guard old secrets, and a gallery of unnervingly eccentric guests whose identities never quite add up. When an avalanche seals the hotel off from the outside world and a baffling locked-room death shatters the uneasy calm, the line between crime, coincidence, and something far stranger begins to blur. With its icy atmosphere, hypnotic electronic score, and dreamlike shifts in tone, Dead Mountaineer’s Hotel unfolds as a genre-bending mystery where every clue deepens the enigma and nothing—least of all the otherworldly chill in the air—can be taken at face value. This genuinely odd and mesmerizing Soviet-Estonian production was filmed in Kazakhstan and features a screenplay by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky, who also provided the novel basis and script for Andrei Tarkovsky’s Stalker, released the same year as Dead Mountaineer’s Hotel. This new 4K restoration has led to the movie being screened for the first time in many parts of North America, earning comparisons to other classics like Blade Runner, John Carpenter’s The Thing, The Shining, and Fassbinder’s World on a Wire (JH)

Presented with support from UW-Madison Department of German, Nordic, and Slavic

Deaf

SAT, APRIL 11 • 11 AM | BARTELL THEATRE

MON, APRIL 13 • 12:45 PM | FLIX BREWHOUSE, CINEMA 2

Narrative • Spain • 2025 • Spanish w/English subtitles • 100 MIN

Director: Eva Libertad • Cast: Miriam Garlo, Álvaro Cervantes, Elena Irureta

Like any couple expecting their first child, Ángela and Héctor are a mix of giddy and nervous: playfully arguing over baby names, diligently purchasing all the supplies. But there is an additional layer to their relationship: Ángela is deaf and Héctor is not. They won’t know whether their child will be able to hear until a few months after its birth, causing Ángela to reckon with her anxieties about her ability to become a parent in a world of sounds that she cannot access. This tough, tender, and very moving portrait brims with insights into the complexities of a very particular human experience. The film’s authenticity is rooted in a deep emotional connection behind the scenes: star Miriam Garlo is the real-life sister of director Eva Libertad, and their collaborative project began when Miriam shared her fears about becoming a deaf mother with Eva. Named one of the 10 best films of 2025 by esteemed directors Pedro Almodovar and Pascal Plante (Red Rooms, WFF 2024). Nominated for seven Goya Awards (the Spanish Oscar equivalent), including Best Film, New Director, New Actress, and Adapted Screenplay. Audience Award, 2025 Berlin Film Festival. (MK) Presented with support from UW-Madison Latin American, Caribbean and Iberian Studies Program, UWMadison Department of Spanish and Portuguese, Arts for All Wisconsin, and the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research

Do You Love Me

FRI, APRIL 10 • 1:45 PM | UW CINEMATHEQUE WED, APRIL 15 • 8:45 PM | FLIX BREWHOUSE, CINEMA 7 97 MIN

Faux Bijoux

Narrative • Lebanon, France • 2026 • Arabic, Finnish w/English subtitles • 22 MIN

Director: Jessy Moussallem • Cast: Maria Shmouri, Akram Nayef, Samer El Sayyed Mireille, a young Lebanese mother, brings her son Johnny along with her to a tense, secretive “audition.” (JH)

Do You Love Me

Documentary • Lebanon • 2025 • French, Arabic w/English subtitles • 75 MIN

Director: Lana Daher

Do You Love Me is an exciting, sometimes jolting, and surprisingly tender excavation of Beirut’s past and present, crafted entirely from 70 years of archival footage—news documentaries, home videos, TV variety shows, action movies, and musicals. Thoughtfully telling the story of a city with fragments of film and photographs, Lebanese filmmaker Lana Daher has delivered what The Guardian calls “a playful and personal journey through Lebanon’s audiovisual memory” and “an ode to the collective courage of Lebanese people.” Born during Lebanon’s 15-year long civil war, Daher returns to images of joy, destruction, intimacy, and loss to ask how a country without a shared history remembers itself. “Beirut is home. It is a city suspended in the in-between: between violence and endurance, fragility and renewal,” Daher has said, and she has used these forgotten images and footage to reinvent the City Film and create, for posterity, a place to remember, and feel, her Beirut. 2025 Venice Film Festival, 2026 SXSW Film Festival. (JH)

Early Summer

SAT, APRIL 11 • 5:30 PM UW CINEMATHEQUE

35MM • Narrative • Japan • 1951 • Japanese w/English subtitles • 125 MIN

Director: Yasujirō Ozu • Cast: Setsuko Hara, Chishū Ryū, Chikage Awashima

Koichi seeks a suitable mate for his 28-year-old professional sister Noriko (Setsuko Hara), knowing that she is getting past traditional marrying age. Koichi knows that Noriko marrying will mean her leaving their extended family household, and that the loss of her salary will mean their elderly parents will be forced to move out of the home too. With his deceptively simple visual approach and a typically honest and wise screenplay written with his regular collaborator Kogo Noda, director Yasujirō Ozu examines in a profound fashion the dissolving traditional Japanese family unit and its waning influence on the most important decisions in the lives of the younger generation. Ozu’s certifiable masterpiece is one of the filmmaker’s most-discussed features in the new documentary, The Ozu Diaries, also screening at this year’s WFF. “Ozu’s characteristic blend of tones—humor, melancholy, yearning, resignation, serenity—here achieves perhaps its greatest richness” (David Bordwell). (JH)

Sponsored with support from Kristin Thompson in honor of David Bordwell

Erupcja

FRI, APRIL 10 • 8:45 PM | THE MARQUEE AT UNION SOUTH

WED, APRIL 15 • 9 PM | FLIX BREWHOUSE, CINEMA 2

Narrative • USA, Poland • 2025 • English, Polish w/English subtitles • 71 MIN

Director: Pete Ohs • Cast: Charli xcx, Lena Góra, Will Madden

Displaying a sly, natural screen presence in her dramatic movie debut, Charli xcx sheds her pop persona to inhabit Bethany, a restless British traveler unraveling in Europe under the pressure of impending domesticity. Bethany abandons her boyfriend Rob (Will Madden) in Warsaw and gravitates toward Nel (Lena Góra), a Polish florist. A woman who reads volcanic eruptions and other coincidences as permission to upend her life, Bethany oscillates between self-sabotage and self-discovery. Director Pete Ohs favors a breezy, fluid, collaborative style, delivering a story that was shaped scene by scene with the principal actors, who are all credited with the screenplay. A delightful hangout movie that has evoked comparisons with Richard Linkater’s Before trilogy and the early films of Andrew Bujalski, like Funny Ha Ha, Erupcja (Polish for “eruption”) is driven by the chemistry between Bethany and Nel. Their chaste yet fevered connection unfolds in whispered verses, nocturnal wanderings, and moments of suspended possibility instead of bombastic histrionics. A story that treats desire not as gossipy scandal but as seismic destiny, Erupcja is “a work of novelistic amplitude. Charli xcx may not have much movie experience, but she dominates the action with classical canniness, her energetic yet poised performance showing keen awareness that movie acting favors minimal strain” (Richard Brody, The New Yorker). (JH) Presented with support from the UW-Madison Center for Russia, East Europe, and Central Asia

Everybody to Kenmure Street

WED, APRIL 15 • 1 PM | FLIX BREWHOUSE, CINEMA 8 THU, APRIL 16 • 5:30 PM | FLIX BREWHOUSE, CINEMA 2

Documentary • UK • 2026 • 98 MIN

Director: Felipe Bustos Sierra

On a spring morning in Glasgow in 2021—the first day of Eid—UK immigration officers removed two Sikh men from their home and detained them in their van. But before they could pull away, a quick-thinking neighbor dove beneath the vehicle, preventing it from leaving and kicking off a massive eight-hour standoff between the immigration officers and the community who rallied against them. In a flash, hundreds of everyday Glaswegians had filled the street, surrounding the van in peaceful resistance. Thousands of hours of footage were taken that day, lending this riveting documentary an astonishing array of vantage points from which to reconstruct the scene. We hear from all the key players, but among the film’s most effective gambits is to selectively use performers (Emma Thompson and Kate Dickie, both superb) to reenact the testimonies of the man under the van and the nurse who attended to him, in order to protect their identities. A shot of hope in trying times, Everybody to Kenmure Street is “a vital and inspiring portrait of spontaneous collective action” (Indiewire). “A powerful testimony to a community’s ability to take control of their part of the story and give it a happy ending” (Screen Daily). Winner of a Special Jury Award for Civil Resistance at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. (MK)

Exorcist II: The Heretic

SUN, APRIL 12 • 4:45 PM UW CINEMATHEQUE

35MM • Narrative • USA • 1977 • 118 MIN

Director: John Boorman • Cast: Richard Burton, Linda Blair, Louise Fletcher, Max von Sydow, James Earl Jones, Ned Beatty, Paul Henried

Four years after the events of The Exorcist, Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair) becomes the focus of a Vatican investigation led by Father Philip Lamont (Richard Burton) into the death of Father Merrin (Max von Sydow). Through experimental dream-sharing and visionary journeys linking New York, Rome, and Africa, Regan and Lamont explore the unseen dimensions of Merrin’s battle, confronting the possibility that evil operates as a force woven into the fabric of human will and collective belief. When past and present converge at the Georgetown site of Regan’s ordeal and Merrin’s death, Lamont must decide whether to inherit Merrin’s burden, while Regan stands at the threshold between destructive influence and transcendent insight. Empowered with full creative control, director John Boorman (Deliverance, Excalibur) largely eschews the projectile vomiting and other shock tactics of William Friedkin’s 1973 blockbuster, preferring to reframe the legacy of The Exorcist as a metaphysical inquiry into memory, faith, and psychic interconnectedness. Far from a horror movie and barely even a sequel, Exorcist II: The Heretic was resoundingly rejected by fright film fans, a fact that made it one of Warner Bros biggest box office failures of the 1970s. Discussion of the film’s near disastrous production history and release (the subject of a new documentary, Boorman and the Devil, also showing at this year’s WFF) still overshadows those who have spoken in defense of Boorman’s film maudit, including filmmakers Martin Scorsese and Joe Dante, and critics like Positif’s Michel Ciment and UW-Madison alum Joe McBride who has called The Heretic “a masterpiece.” While it undeniably has its share of silly, risible moments and bizarre dialogue, the movie is also loaded with unforgettable, dreamlike imagery and brilliant production design, all of which is enhanced by one of composer Ennio Morricone’s most evocative scores, With this screening of Boorman’s uncut original release version on an archival 35mm print, you now have the opportunity to see the movie for yourself and make your own evaluation. (JH)

Presented with support from the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research

The Furious

THU, APRIL 16 • 8:15 PM FLIX BREWHOUSE, CINEMA 2

Narrative • Hong Kong, China • 2025 • Mandarin, Thai w/English subtitles • 114 MIN

Director: Kenji Tanigaki • Cast: Xie Miao, Yang Enyou, Joe Taslim

Square off with the action movie of the year. The premise is elemental: a dad pursues his kidnapped daughter into the criminal underworld. But you’re here for the fighting, and that’s where this unrelenting, full-throttle shredder excels, topping itself again and again and again until it crescendos in a battle royale for the ages. Hong Kong’s premiere stunt choreographer, Kenji Tanigaki takes the reins and doubles down on his award-winning work on Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In, expertly staging bravura melees where everything is a weapon and no one is safe. Both a throwback to and culmination of the glory days of Hong Kong cinema, The Furious delivers the knock-out blow to this year’s Fest. “One of the most buzzed films of the Toronto Film Festival was Kenji Tanigaki’s The Furious, a truly bonkers showcase of incredible stunt and fight choreography that drew comparisons to The Raid. Tanigaki has conceived, choreographed, and executed some of the most impressive fight scenes in years” (RogerEbert.com). “Holy hell. Let me just say it right up front: The Furious is the best action movie of 2025, hands down. Nothing is going to top this. Full-on, go-totally-wild awesome. it’s pure action cinema magic” (First Showing) (MK)

The Golden Spurtle

SAT, APRIL 11 • 11:30 AM

BARRYMORE THEATRE

Documentary • United Kingdom, Australia • 2025 • 75 MIN

Director: Constantine Costi • Cast: Toby Wilson, Ian Bishop, Charlie Miller

Dig into the most delightful documentary of the year. Every fall in the picturesque Scottish highlands, chefs from across the globe convene for the most significant contest in the history of breakfast: The World Porridge Making Championship. The dish may be basic, the ingredients simple, but as every past winner of the coveted Golden Spurtle knows, it’s all in the technique. We meet an array of aspiring Spurtlers, each with a secret recipe up their sleeve and somehow even more charming than the last. Most charming of all is Charlie Miller, the lovable Scot who has masterminded this competition for the past three decades, and has reluctantly decided this year’s will be his last. What could have been a standard contest doc is wonderfully elevated by documentarian Constantine Costi’s artistic eye: the lush highlands are filmed on lovely 16mm, the interviews are framed with witty precision, and every frame exudes warmth and care for its subject matter, no matter how trifling. Indeed, part of the appeal of the whole venture is how amiably low-stakes it is, but at the same time, the specificity of the contest is a reminder that if something is to be done, it is worth doing well. Sure to put a smile on your face (and perhaps a growl in your stomach), this documentary is also guaranteed to influence the direction in which you stir whatever you have on the stove. (MK)

Grinde-house Double Feature

11

128 MIN

SCHEDULED TO APPEAR: RITA BELDA

This retrospective program salutes one of Wisconsin’s own, the prolific and versatile Hollywood director Nick Grinde (1894-1979). Born here in Madison to Norwegian immigrants, Grinde graduated in 1915 from UW-Madison, where he participated in a significant number of theatrical productions. A journalist for The Madison Democrat and later an advertising executive at Chicago’s J. Walter Thompson agency, Grinde made his way to Hollywood in 1925. There, he began as an assistant director at MGM and by 1928, he became a full-fledged director of features and short subjects. By the 1930s and 1940s, Grinde was directing an astonishing average of three feature films per year! Established as a competent journeyman, Grinde made movies at MGM, RKO, and Warner Bros, but his most significant, enduring work was produced at Columbia Pictures. This double feature of an early 30s romantic melodrama and a pulpy early 40s thriller offers just a sampling of the adaptable, resourceful talents of Grinde that were put to work at Columbia. Shopworn will be shown in an archival 35mm print and Before I Hang will be shown from a recently completed 4K DCP restoration. Both features are film preservation projects overseen by Sun Prairie, Wis. native Rita Belda, Vice President at Sony Pictures, who will join us in person for the screenings!

Shopworn

35MM • Narrative • USA • 1932 • 66 MIN

Director: Nicholas Grinde • Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Regis Toomey, Zasu Pitts, Clara Blandick Luminous leading lady Barbara Stanwyck stars as the orphaned waitress Kitty Lane. Kitty falls hard for privileged medical student Dave Livingston (Regis Toomey), igniting a romance that scandalizes his icy, high-society mother (Clara Blandick, The Wizard of Oz’s Auntie Em) who believes love should never cross class lines. Determined to protect her family name, the formidable matron wages a ruthless campaign of bribes, false charges, and social sabotage to tear the couple apart. At the time of Shopworn’s production at Columbia Pictures, Barbara Stanwyck had been working steadily with Columbia’s top director Frank Capra on a series of romantic melodramas. While Shopworn retains Capra’s marvelous screenwriters, Jo Swerling and Robert Riskin, and cinematographer Joseph Walker, this classic tale of class conflict remained the only teaming of Stanwyck and the versatile, prolific Nick Grinde. (JH)

Before I Hang

Narrative • USA • 1940 • 62 MIN

Director: Nick Grinde • Cast: Boris Karloff, Evelyn Keyes, Bruce Bennett, Edward Van Sloan

The great Boris Karloff stars as Dr. John Garth, an aging scientist condemned to hang for a mercy killing. Garth injects himself with an experimental anti-aging serum moments before his execution—only to have his sentence commuted. Now youthful, Garth discovers his miracle cure is spiked with a killer’s bloodlust, turning the ageless genius into a strangling madman who stalks his friends and family. Produced under the title, The Wizard of Death, this effective noir-tinged B-movie was the third and last of three “mad doctor” shockers (after The Man They Could Not Hang and The Man with Nine Lives) that teamed Karloff with Wisconsin-born director Nick Grinde. (JH)

Hen

FRI, APRIL 10 • 8:30 PM

MUSIC HALL

TUE, APRIL 14 • 8:30 PM

FLIX BREWHOUSE, CINEMA 8

Narrative • Greece, Germany, Hungary • 2025 • Greek w/English subtitles • 96 MIN

Director: György Pálfi • Cast: Ioannis Kokiasmenos, Maria Diakopanagioti, Argyris Pantazaras

A plucky chicken escapes the factory farm and embarks on surprising adventures across Greece in this picaresque dark comedy. After dodging foxes and traffic— yes, the chicken crosses the road—like an action star, our dark-plumed hero finds refuge in the courtyard of a run-down tavern. As she dreams of hatching a family of her own, it becomes apparent that something shady is going on in the background, and before you know it, the hen is mixed up in the migrant crisis. One of cinema’s most unique visionaries, Hungarian virtuoso György Pálfi has crafted films in which the dialogue is rendered exclusively in hiccups (Hukkle), a grossout satire to beat all body horror (Taxidermia), and an anthology film weirder than those two combined (Free Fall, WFF 2015). Now, with the help of eight trained birds and no CGI, he performs the miracle of turning fowl into a compelling lead character. Hen joins EO and Au Hasard Balthazar in the pantheon of great European films about the experience of animals in a world no longer designed for them. (MK)

How Dare You?

SUN, APRIL 12 • 4 PM |THE MARQUEE AT UNION SOUTH

Narrative • Japan • 2025 • Japanese w/English subtitles • 96 MIN

Director: Mipo O • Cast: Tetta Shimada, Yu Aoi, Ruri, Yota Mimoto, Shunsuke Kazama

RECOMMENDED AGE 10+

Ten-year-old fourth grader Yushi is drawn into the world of eco-activism when he develops a crush on his smart and passionate classmate, Kokoa. She is inspired by Greta Thurnberg’s famous UN speech challenging adults to justify their destruction of the world that their children will inherit. “How dare you?” asks Thunberg… and Kokoa. Yushi finds his neglected library card, checks out books about ecological issues and does his best to impress Kokoa. But she seems taken with the class troublemaker, athletic Haruto, and enlists both of them in a series of actions meant to open adult eyes to their wasteful and destructive ways. Director Mipo O envisioned “an unlikely children’s movie that sparks conversations across generations. This film sheds light on environmental issues from a child’s viewpoint while also exploring the profound interactions between children and their mothers.” How Dare You? is also a sweet and wily comedy, an observant reflection on the struggles of infatuation, friendship, and parenting, full of delightful performances and thoughtful moments that will engage both young viewers and adults. (TK)

Presented with support from UW-Madison Center for East Asian Studies

I Accidently Wrote a Book

SAT, APRIL 11 • 7 PM | THE MARQUEE AT UNION SOUTH

Narrative • Hungary • 2025 • Hungarian w/English subtitles • 98 MIN

Director: Nóra Lakos • Cast: Villő Demeter, László Mátray, Bonca Hárs, Kati Zsurzs, Vivien Rujder

RECOMMENDED AGE 10+.

Nina loves to make up stories. She wants to be a writer. Her bohemian neighbor, Lidia, an experienced author and her mentor, explains, “In novels, people are characters who come to life.” Nina’s mother, who died when Nina was very young, was camera shy. There are no photos of her. Nina doesn’t remember much about her and longs to know more. “If I learn about my mom,” reasons Nina, “she will come to life!” Nina’s mission is complicated when a new love comes into her father’s life and Nina struggles with her first relationship with a boy. Suddenly, her life seems full of new experiences and confusing emotions. Will she find the mother she longs for? Can writing help her understand loss, love, and the acceptance of a new blended family? Is her life the novel she is seeking? Nominated for the European Young Audience Award in 2026, the film won Best Film at the 2025 Montreal International Children’s Film Festival and three awards at the International Film Festival for Children and Young Audiences. Director Nóra Lakos wants to encourage young people to face their fears and challenges. “Sometimes it’s easier to write something down than to say it out loud. I Accidentally Wrote a Book celebrates the transformative power of writing.” (TK)

Presented with support from UW-Madison Center for Russia, East Europe, and Central Asia

I Only Rest in the Storm

MON, APRIL 13 • 6:30 PM | FLIX BREWHOUSE, CINEMA 7

TUE, APRIL 14 • 1:30 PM | FLIX BREWHOUSE, CINEMA 7

Narrative • Portugal, Brazil, France, Romania • 2025 • Portuguese w/English subtitles • 217 MIN

Director: Pedro Pinho • Cast: Sérgio Coragem, Cleo Diára, Jonathan Guilherme

A well-intentioned but naïve European do-gooder attempts to navigate West African politics in this epic exploration of contemporary globalism. Civil engineer Sergio arrives in Guinea-Bissau to assess the environmental impact of a planned road that will bridge the remote jungle and the city. Far from his Lisbon home, he lets off steam partying with his captivating neighbor Diára (Cleo Diára, winner of a Best Actress prize at Cannes), who introduces him to the area’s queer nightlife, yet seems to view him as suspiciously as everyone else. Making the most of an expansive running time that permits it to consider numerous ideas and bounce them against one another, I Only Rest in the Storm is as provocative and unruly as the neo-colonial Africa it depicts. Its immersive length proves rewarding and involving, open to the possibilities of cinema and life, with 35mm cinematography, surprising sexual frankness, and a clear-eyed view of the world economy. Named one of 2025’s best films by Cahiers du Cinema and Les Inrockuptibles, and one of the year’s best undistributed films by Film Comment (MK)

Presented with support from UW-Madison Gender and Sexuality Campus Center

I Want Your Sex

THU, APRIL 16 • 6 PM | FLIX BREWHOUSE, CINEMA 8

Narrative • USA • 2026 • 90 MIN

Director: Gregg Araki • Cast: Olivia Wilde, Cooper Hoffman, Charli xcx

An artist seduces her assistant in this sexy satire from cult favorite Gregg Araki. A never-better Olivia Wilde stars as Erika Tracy, a vampy provocateur with the attitude and wardrobe of a dominatrix, but not much of an idea for her next gallery show. Inspiration strikes with the arrival of her new assistant Elliot (Cooper Hoffman), who she instantly sizes up as a perfect boy toy. Locked in her office, the two are quickly entangled in BDSM headgames that leave Elliot intoxicated and confused—whatever it is, it’s certainly better than what he has with his frigid girlfriend Minerva (Charli xcx, amusingly against type). Here, in a movie that could be the kinky evil twin of this year’s WFF opener Poetic License, Hoffman once again proves himself a natural comic actor. “Hilarious. It’s a breath of fresh air, a fun time that’s also a witty commentary on shifting sexual mores. As wonderful as Wilde is in what’s easily one of her best roles, the equally fearless Hoffman matches her every step of the way. As always with Araki, the production and costume design is an embarrassment of eye candy. Strap it on and enjoy the ride” (The Hollywood Reporter). 2026 Sundance Film Festival. (MK)

Immigrant Stories: Wisconsin’s Own Documentaries

SAT, APRIL 11 • 4 PM

MUSIC HALL

73 MIN

FILMMAKERS SCHEDULED TO APPEAR

Join us for these four fascinating stories of immigrants right here in America’s heartland.

Warren King: King of Cardboard

Documentary • USA • 2025 • Mandarin w/English

subtitles • 16 MIN

Director: Curtis Chin • Cast: Warren King

Once an engineer, Warren King uses his background to create stunning cardboard sculptures that explore his heritage and culture. (CB)

Zastava Brothers

Documentary • USA • 2025 • Serbo-Croatian, Bosnian w/English subtitles • 22 MIN

Director: Pep Stojanovic • Cast: Sasha Ubovic, Alen Rizvanovic, Pep Stojanovic, Boris Strbac, Chedomir Gurbaj

Ever heard of the Yugo, the infamous Yugoslavian car made by Zastava Automobiles? While some have called the Yugo the worst car ever made, this short doc follows a group of immigrant men in the Midwest who meet and form a bond over their love for these much-maligned machines. (AD)

Thick & Sweet

Documentary • USA • 2026 • Mandarin w/English

subtitles • 15 MIN

Director: Yinan Wang

Connecting themes of memory, place, and prejudice in an impressive assemblage of found footage and home video clips, this experimental documentary charts the rise and fall of a Milwaukee Chinese restaurant. (CB)

Breakaway: The Refugee World Cup

Documentary • USA • 2025 • English, Khmer, Swahili w/English subtitles • 20 MIN

Director: Jake Siam Solomon • Cast: Eh Kler, Songolo Saidi

In this heartwarming documentary, viewers meet two refugees: Songolo Saidi, from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, living in Wisconsin, and Eh Kler, from Myanmar, now living in the Chicago area. Their shared love of soccer brings them together at the Refugee World Cup, giving them a sense of belonging and community that grounds them in their new homes. (CB)

The Kidnapping of Arabella

SUN, APRIL 12 • 11 AM

MUSIC HALL

MON, APRIL 13 • 3:30 PM

FLIX BREWHOUSE, CINEMA 2

Narrative • Italy • 2025 • Italian w/English subtitles • 107 MIN

Director: Carolina Cavalli • Cast: Benedetta Porcaroli, Chris Pine, Lucrezia Guglielmino

Eight-year-old Arabella is a handful. Desperate to escape a reading being given by her pretentious author-dad (a hilarious Chris Pine, speaking fluent Italian) she meets Holly, an unstable twenty-eight-year old who has just been fired from her dead-end job at a skating rink. Convincing Holly that she is a younger version of herself, Arabella talks her way into a road trip with the ostensible mission of rewriting Holly’s tragic childhood. An absurdist comedy that remains surprisingly and movingly grounded in its lead characters’ emotional landscapes as they will their way through an impressively seedy series of Italian locales, Arabella offers sly nods to the Coen brothers, Aki Kaurismäki, and Paper Moon, all while heralding the singularly unique style and vision of writer-director Carolina Cavalli. Arabella is Cavalli’s second feature—following 2022’s similarly droll and disarming Amanda—and with it, she further establishes herself as a distinctive and vibrant filmmaking voice. (BR)

Presented with support from UW-Madison Department of French and Italian

Kontinental ‘25

FRI, APRIL 10 • 6 PM

BARTELL THEATRE

TUE, APRIL 14 • 2:30 PM

FLIX BREWHOUSE, CINEMA 1

Narrative • Romania, Brazil, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Luxembourg • 2025 • Hungarian, German, Latin, Romanian w/English subtitles • 109 MIN

Director: Radu Jude • Cast: Eszter Tompa, Gabriel Spahiu, Adonis Tanța

In the Romanian city of Cluj, Orsolya (Eszter Tompa), a bailiff of Hungarian descent, supervises the eviction of a homeless man who has been squatting in an abandoned basement. When he commits suicide, Orsolya spirals into a guilt-filled existential crisis. As she recounts her story again and again in a series of encounters with family, friends, an ex-student and a priest, writer-director Radu Jude (Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World, WFF ‘24) crafts a singular portrait of the state of things in today’s “civilized” society. By turns philosophical, spiritual, darkly comic, and deeply moving, the film unfolds in a series of stunning long-takes that paint a vividly bleak, achingly profound picture of where we stand as a culture, not only in current day Romania, but right here in the USA. Jude’s film arrives to meet the moment as a timely and caustic vision of what it means to be a humanist in our increasingly dystopian world. (BR)

Presented with support from UW-Madison Center for Russia, East Europe, and Central Asia

The Last Critic

FRI, APRIL 10 • 3:30 PM

CHAZEN MUSEUM OF ART

SAT, APRIL 11 • 6:30 PM

CHAZEN MUSEUM OF ART

SCHEDULED TO APPEAR: PRODUCERS PAUL LOVELACE AND BEN WU

Documentary • USA • 2026 • 82 MIN

Director: Matty Wishnow

The Last Critic spotlights Robert Christgau—the self-proclaimed Dean of American Rock Critics—who at 83 is still grading new releases in his legendary Consumer Guide, more than half a century after helping invent modern rock criticism. From his early dispatches at The Village Voice to his bestselling Substack columns today, Christgau’s punchy, letter-graded capsules have canonized icons and provoked feuds in equal measure. He championed everyone from The Ramones and Public Enemy to Aretha Franklin, Sleater-Kinney, and Prince—while never hesitating to skewer sacred cows (he once wrote, “Another thing that interests me about the Eagles is that I hate them”). For record collectors, rock obsessives, and anyone who still believes albums matter, this lively, incisive documentary traces the evolution of pop music through the sharp ears and sharper pen of its most influential critic. Both beloved and loathed, Christgau remains fiercely committed to listening to everything (well, almost everything). In an era of algorithms and disappearing print, The Last Critic asks whether Christgau is simply a survivor—or truly the last of his kind. (JH)

Presented with support from Jeff Smith and Isthmus

The Last One for the Road

WED, APRIL 15 • 6:15 PM

FLIX BREWHOUSE, CINEMA 2

THU, APRIL 16 • 2:45 PM

FLIX BREWHOUSE, CINEMA 2

Director: Francesco Sossai • Cast: Filippo Scotti, Sergio Romano, Pierpaolo Capovilla

It’s the end of Italy as they know it and Carlobianchi and Doriano feel fine. Well, maybe not fine, but in their past, present and future state of inebriation, they aren’t feeling, much of anything at all. Passed out in a car one night in Veneto, the two old friends wake up and decide to drive to the Venice airport (at least they think it’s the Venice airport) to pick up another old friend, Genio, who has been out of the country for decades. Genio has been exiled in

Argentina after getting caught stealing and selling sunglasses from the factory where the three friends used to work. As it happens, Carlo and Dori were in on the scheme as well, but Genio took the fall for all of them, and so Carlo and Dori are feeling slightly indebted as they make the decision to pick him up. But first, as always, there is one more drink to be had. Winding their way through a myriad of Americanized dive bars all featuring troubadours of questionable talent, they befriend Giulio, a lovesick young architecture student, and take him under their besotted wings for a woozy, boozy road trip. Filled with memorable characters and moments that zig when you think they will zag, Francesco Sossai’s drunken, droll road comedy carries echoes of Il Sorpasso, Sideways, and The Last Detail as it charts an entertaining, decidedly non-linear course through the plains of northern Italy. (BR)

Presented with support from UW-Madison Department of French and Italian

Last Shot

SAT, APRIL 11 • 4:15 PM

THE MARQUEE AT UNION SOUTH

SCHEDULED TO APPEAR: TODD M. FRIEDMAN, ANDY PALMER, DYLAN FRIEDMAN

Narrative • USA • 2026 • 103 MIN

Director: Andy Palmer • Cast: Dylan Friedman, Jaime Pressly, Michael Rapaport

Last Shot tells the story of 12-year-old Caden Isaacs, a talented basketball player coping with family tragedy. Co-produced and scripted by UW alum, Todd M. Friedman, the film features some familiar faces in its cast: Michael Rapaport; former Saturday Night Live legend, Larraine Newman; and Jaime Pressley,

so memorable as Joy in the NBC sitcom, My Name is Earl. Former NBA all-star Baron Davis also appears as Caden’s coach. Yet, from the first frame to the last, Last Shot is carried by its young star, Dylan Friedman. The film includes familiar sports tropes: “the athletic prodigy,” the “tough but fair coach,” the “serious injury,” the “underdog” story, and the “athlete’s personal redemption.” Yet, the narrative spins these genre conventions in unusual directions, often veering into the territory of dramatic realism. Basketball may furnish the subject matter for Last Shot, but at the end of the day, the film’s story turns on difficult family issues, making it a poignant tale about kinship, love, grief, loss, and healing. (JS)

Late Fame

SUN, APRIL 12 • 6:30 PM

THE MARQUEE AT UNION SOUTH

MON, APRIL 13 • 2:45 PM

FLIX BREWHOUSE, CINEMA 8

Narrative • USA • 2025 • 96 MIN

Director: Kent Jones • Cast: Willem Dafoe, Greta Lee, Edmund Donovan

Wisconsin’s own Willem Dafoe stars as Ed Saxberger, a post office factotum who is suddenly “rediscovered” when a group of fervent young artists begin hailing his long-ignored book of poetry as a work of genius. Drawn into their downtown coterie—and into the orbit of the mercurial actress Gloria (Greta Lee)—the increasingly unsettled Ed must decide whether this late-in-life adoration is revelation, delusion, or something in between. Late Fame was adapted from a late 19th century novella by Viennese writer Arthur Schnitzler, whose Traumnovelle was later modernized into Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut Working from a screenplay by Samy Burch (May December), director Kent Jones has said he envisioned “the New York of now and the New York of a now vanished past, one delicately layered over the other.” This sense of overlapping eras, including the contrast of old Vienna and present-day Manhattan, gives Jones’ movie its wistful, intimate charge. This is a funny and tender study of what it means to be an artist, the fragile need for recognition, and the sometimes painful ache of time slipping away. (JH)

Presented with support from UW-Madison Center for the Humanities

A Life Illuminated

SUN, APRIL 12 • 11 AM

BARRYMORE THEATRE

Documentary • USA • 2025 • 90 MIN

Director: Tasha Van Zandt

Go deep with this enthralling nature documentary, which fills the screen with jaw-dropping natural phenomena never seen before. A legend in her field, marine biologist Dr. Edie Widder has long been at the forefront of deep-sea research—in 2012, she was famously the first person to photograph a live giant squid in its habitat. For years, she has witnessed astounding displays of bioluminescence while on submersible dives, comparing this animal-generated lightshow to “the fourth of July.” But underwater cameras were never up to the task of capturing the full effect—until now. Descending 3,300 feet below the surface, Widder pursues the glowing mysteries of life on Earth. Thanks to incredible archival footage covering Widder’s trailblazing career as a woman in marine biology, this inspirational documentary doubles as a fascinating history of how technological breakthroughs have aided the evolution of undersea research. “Magical. Shot in exquisite 4K, which truly demands the big screen experience, A Life Illuminated takes audiences to profound depths of human discovery as Dr. Widder lets us experience the world anew through her research. This spectacular adventure reminds one of how small we are in the ocean of life, and all we can do is marvel at the complexity of the world before our eyes” (POV). (MK)

Presented with support from UW-Madison Center for the Humanities and the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery

Living the Land

MON, APRIL 13 • 5:30 PM

FLIX BREWHOUSE, CINEMA 8

TUE, APRIL 14 • 2:45 PM

FLIX BREWHOUSE, CINEMA 8

Narrative • China • 2025 • Mandarin w/English subtitles • 132 MIN

Director: Huo Meng • Cast: Wang Shang, Zhang Chuwen, Zhang Yanrong

Director Huo Meng’s Living the Land is a lyrical and immersive portrait of rural China at a moment when centuries of agrarian tradition begin to fracture under the force of modernization. Set in 1991, the story follows ten-year-old Chuang—the third child in his family and born in the era

Love It/Leave It: Tom

Palazzolo’s America

SUN, APRIL 12 • 11 AM

BARTELL THEATRE

89 MIN

Tom Palazzolo’s experimental documentaries have so embodied the spirit of Chicago that critic Roger Ebert dubbed him “Chicago’s filmmaker laureate.”

Writing for the Sun-Times in 1977, Ebert described “[Palazzolo] doesn’t do straight documentary, and he doesn’t like to be objective; each film is also an essay on how Palazzolo feels about his subject. And because he’s fascinated by the foibles of human nature, by the way people can’t help revealing themselves, his work provides a real feeling for its subjects.” In these five films from the collection of Chicago Film Archives, Palazzolo sharply, tenderly, and very humorously captures so much of what is beautiful, ugly, and fascinating about America. (OB)

Ricky

and Rocky

Documentary • USA • 1972 • 15 MIN

Director: Tom Palazzolo, Jeff Kreines

of China’s One-Child Policy—whose very existence quietly reflects the tension between state control, familial duty, and the deeply rooted desire for the continuance of life as it has been. As economic reforms draw villagers toward distant cities and machines edge out manual labor, Chuang remains behind on ancestral land that has sustained generations, even as that way of life starts to erode. Through the intimate cycles of births, marriages, funerals, and seasonal harvests, the film reveals how collectivist policies and rapid industrial change collide with traditions shaped over three thousand years, placing particular strain on women. Shot across all four seasons in patient long takes and intricately composed tableaus, Living the Land is an invitation to witness a vanishing way of life and to reflect on what is lost and what has endured. “Though it’s gently paced and narratively diffuse, Living the Land is never dull, thanks to a wealth of incident and the complexity of relationships in Huo’s extended family portrait” (Guy Lodge, Variety). Winner, Best Director (Huo Meng), 2025 Berlin Film Festival. (JH)

Presented with support from UW-Madison Center for East Asian Studies

“Palazzolo and Kreines bring compassion and wit to their film on a lower middle class backyard wedding shower; cinema verité can be a treacherous form, lending itself to facile and often cruel distortion... They respect the well-meaning spirit of the occasion and the genuine gratitude of the honored young couple, yet let us see the rich humor in social gatherings” (Kevin Thomas, The Los Angeles Times).

Love It/Leave It

Experimental • USA • 1970 • 14 MIN

Director: Tom Palazzolo

Scenes from the annual Naked City contest in Roselawn, Indiana are feverishly intercut with footage of auto shows, clowns, riot police, wrestlers, parades, drag performers, and anti-war demonstrators at the 1968 Democratic National Convention, coalescing in a portrait of Midwest Americana that is captivating in its contradictions.

Enjoy Yourself (It’s Later Than You Think)

Documentary • USA • 1974 • 21 MIN

Director: Tom Palazzolo, Jeff Kreines, Bernie Caputo

A warmhearted look at a senior citizen picnic replete with octogenarian hula dancers, a shoe kicking contest, and raucous kazooing. “Enjoy Yourself is a lovely funny documentary about an old folks day in the park... the movie smiles about human nature” (Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times).

Marquette Park II

Documentary • USA • 1978 • 35 MIN

Director: Tom Palazzolo, Mark Rance

Bumbling neo-Nazis struggle with the logistics of their planned rally on Chicago’s far south side while protesters, cops and the media prepare for a confrontation. Undeniably funny and disturbingly relevant. “[The film’s] high points (which are many) show the real value of documentary” (B. Ruby Rich, Chicago Reader).

Hey Girls

Experimental • USA • 1990 • 4 MIN

Director: Tom Palazzolo, Heather McAdams

Cartoonist Heather McAdams offers hilarious tips for warding off cat-callers in this short made with Palazzolo’s students at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Lucky Lu

SAT, APRIL 11 • 9 PM

CHAZEN MUSEUM OF ART

WED, APRIL 15 • 12:15 PM FLIX BREWHOUSE, CINEMA 2

Narrative • USA • 2025 • Mandarin w/English subtitles • 103 MIN

Director: Lloyd Lee Choi

Cast: Chang Chen, Fala Chen Carabelle Manna Wei

After five years of hustling in New York’s gig economy, Lu has finally scraped together enough cash to rent a small apartment, enabling him to bring his wife and daughter over from China. But when they’re already on the plane, it all goes sideways—his e-bike is stolen and his security deposit goes missing. Suddenly without a place to live and deprived of his means of making money as a delivery man, Lu has 48 hours to get things back on track, before they’re all on the street. With his back against the wall, Lu scrambles through a hectic Chinatown, begging, borrowing, and stealing before the clock runs out. Star Chang Chen, familiar to cinephiles since his immortal debut in Edward Yang’s A Brighter Summer Day, adds another superb performance to his long list in classics of Asian cinema, including Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Wong Kar-wai’s Happy Together, and Hou Hsiao-hsien’s The Assassin. Shot on gritty 16mm, Lloyd Lee Choi’s gripping debut feature is a neorealist marvel in the tradition of Bicycle Thieves and Take Out. (MK)

Presented with support from UW-Madison Asian American Studies Program

Lumière, Le Cinema!

FRI, APRIL 10 • 11:15 AM

UW CINEMATHEQUE

WED, APRIL 15 • 3:15 PM

FLIX BREWHOUSE, CINEMA 7

Documentary • France • 2025 • French w/English

subtitles • 106 MIN

Director: Thierry Frémaux

Auguste and Louis Lumière—pioneers of the cinematograph and architects of projected motion pictures—did not merely refine a machine; they helped inaugurate the art form that would define the next century of visual culture… and beyond.

Commemorating the 130th anniversary of the brothers’ first public screening, Lumière, Le Cinema! resurrects more than one hundred of their 50-second films in ravishing restorations that feel astonishingly alive when projected on the big screen. Compiled and narrated by Thierry Frémaux—the longtime head of the Cannes Film Festival and director of the Institut Lumière—the film becomes both a love letter to cinema’s birth and a gentle inquiry into how history is shaped, remembered, and occasionally misremembered. From the immortal bustle of Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory to the not-so-subtle antics of L’Arroseur arrosé (The Sprinkler Sprinkled), these “actualities” unfold like dispatches from another century. Traveling from Lyon to New York to Algeria, the Lumières captured workers, soldiers, artisans, and acrobats with an eye that already contained the DNA of every genre to come—comedy, spectacle, documentary, even fiction. For cinephiles or seekers of a virtual time machine, prepare for an almost spiritual séance with cinema’s origins. (JH)

Presented with support from UW-Madison Department of French and Italian

Maddie’s Secret

FRI, APRIL 10 • 8:30 PM | BARRYMORE THEATRE

Narrative • USA • 2025 • 98 MIN

Director: John Early • Cast: John Early, Kate Berlant, Conner O’Malley

Comedian John Early makes a singular directorial debut with this cracked spoof of after-school specials and influencer culture. Early stars in drag as Maddie, a sweet-natured home chef who becomes a foodie star when one of her recipes suddenly goes viral. Her dream has come true! But the overnight success stresses Maddie out, resurrecting old demons that threaten to ruin everything. Early expertly walks a tonal tightrope of treating Maddie’s strife with sincerity while keeping the absurd jokes flying—this is a film equally indebted to classic melodrama and Wet Hot American Summer. Early’s performance is absolutely committed, and he proves himself equally adept behind the camera, nailing the heightened, movie-of-the-week style. The supporting cast is stacked with faves from the contemporary comedy scene, including hilarious turns from Kate Berlant, Conner O’Malley, and Vanessa Bayer. “Insanely funny… this generation’s answer to Cry-Baby” (The Wrap). “As funny as it is heartbreaking… before you know it, you’re crying both because of the film’s razor sharp humor and its deeply felt story. Simply incredible” (Screen Rant). (MK)

Magnificent Bodyguards 3-D

TUE, APRIL 14 • 8:45 PM FLIX BREWHOUSE, CINEMA 1

Narrative • Hong Kong • 1978 • 104 MIN

Director: Lo Wei • Cast: Jackie Chan, James Tien Chun, Bruce Leung Siu-Lung

You may have seen the great Jackie Chan leap across the screen, but now you have the chance to witness him leap out of the screen in 3-D! The pulse-pounding adventure of Magnificent Bodyguards is set in the lawless wilds of ancient China where the Lord Ting Chung (Chan) is hired

to escort a seemingly dying man through the deadly Stormy Hills. Our hero’s noble mission spirals into treachery, honor turns to vengeance, and every step becomes a fight for survival. Directed by Lo Wei, the filmmaker who gave Bruce Lee his first starring vehicles, The Big Boss and Fist of Fury, this high-flying martial arts spectacle was produced and released in 1978 between Jackie Chan’s two breakthrough vehicles, Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow and Drunken Master. Working from original film materials in very poor condition, the team at the 3-D Film Archive have done an astounding job restoring Magnificent Bodyguards, bringing back clarity, contrast, and brightness to the images and remarkable depth to the in-your-face 3-D effects. A dubbed-in-English version, as shown originally in U.S. cinemas, will be screened. Special thanks to Richard Elliott and James Blower at 88 Films and Fortune Star Media. (JH)

Man on the Roof

FRI, APRIL 10 • 6 PM

UW CINEMATHEQUE

TUE, ARIL 14 • 12:15 PM

FLIX BREWHOUSE, CINEMA 8

Narrative • Sweden • 1976 • Swedish w/English subtitles • 108 MIN

Director: Bo Widerberg • Cast: Carl-Gustaf Lindstedt, Sven Wollter, Thomas Hellberg

A decorated Stockholm policeman is savagely murdered in his hospital bed, jolting the force into a relentless manhunt for the killer. Veteran detective Martin Beck—brought to life by Carl-Gustaf Lindstedt—and his weary colleagues begin peeling back the layers of the victim’s life, only to uncover a legacy of brutality the department preferred to ignore. Then the case erupts into terrifying public violence when a gunman takes to the rooftops, turning the heart of Stockholm into a battlefield. While Hollywood was releasing gritty 1970s gems like Taxi Driver, Three Days of the Condor, and Two-Minute Warning, Sweden’s celebrated filmmaker Bo Widerberg (Elvira Madigan, Raven’s End), delivered his own contribution to the thriller genre that fuses documentary-like police procedural realism with explosive suspense. This landmark of Scandinavian noir, now restored in a new 4K DCP, remains to-date the best screen adaptation of the Martin Beck novels written by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö. (JH)

FRIDAY,

FILM GUIDE AT A GLANCE

FILM GUIDE AT A GLANCE

APRIL 10

FRIDAY, APRIL 10

SATURDAY, APRIL 11

SATURDAY, APRIL 11

SUNDAY, APRIL 12

THURSDAY, APRIL 9

9

WEDNESDAY,

Mira

SAT, APRIL 11 • 11:45 AM THE MARQUEE AT UNION SOUTH

• Denmark

RECOMMENDED AGE

Twelve-year-old Mira finds herself caught between a teenage future that feels inevitable and the worry that growing up means leaving the things she cares about behind. Mira’s days are spent with her best friends Naja and Louis. They create whimsical art, and that creativity spills over into the film’s use of playful doodles to capture Mira’s inner world. But when a new girl arrives, Mira’s life is upended, New schoolmate Beate is popular on social media and at school, and Naja is quickly drawn into her circle. Mira decides it is time to put away childish things and join the other girls in their new focus on love… if only Mira knew how love was meant to feel. How can she prevent losing her best friend without losing herself in the process? Danish director Marie Limkilde’s first feature offers a charming coming of age story that authentically and compassionately captures the unique challenges of finding oneself in the age of social media. Based on a bestselling book series, Mira artfully weaves together the moments of family, friendship, conflict, and self-discovery that are part of the painful and creative process of growing up. (KH)

Presented with support from UW-Madison Department of German, Nordic, and Slavic

Mixed Bag - Wisconsin’s Own Short Films

SAT, APRIL 11 • 1:45 PM THE MARQUEE AT UNION SOUTH • 85 MIN

FILMMAKERS SCHEDULED TO APPEAR

Sample the best of this past year’s Wisconsin filmmaking with these nine shorts that cover just about every genre, from the frat-bro comedy of Before We Go to the Golden Badger-winning hybrid, Shaggy’s Big Break, and from the cinematic wonderland of Fred’s Basement Bijou to the epic “oner” that is Picture of Love Before We Go

Narrative • USA • 2026 • 3 MIN

Director: Will Reiland • Cast: Sam Elhindi & Will Reiland & Zac Krause & Kam Marhavill

For growing boys of a certain age, prepping for a night on the town can get a bit... involved. (BR)

Shaggy’s

Big Break

Narrative • USA • 2026 • 8 MIN

Director: Maya Castronovo • Cast: Billy Ray Hagen, Craig Bosshard

As Shaggy tries to talk his boss into giving him a few weeks off, the line between reality and script becomes very blurry. A Golden Badger winner from WFF veteran, Maya Castronovo. (CB)

Fred’s Basement Bijou

Documentary • USA • 2026 • 14 MIN

Director: Michael Vollmann

A Wisconsin man turns his basement into a full-fledged movie palace, pipe organ included. (BR)

Escape

Narrative • USA • 2025 • 5 MIN

Director: Jasmine Russ • Cast: Jared Logan, Kara Klenk

When a married man goes to meet a potential lover at a bar, he quickly finds out he already knows her quite well. Ringing any bells? (CB)

Placeholder

Narrative • USA • 2026 • 12 MIN

Director: Jesse McLean • Cast: Kathy McLean

Amid the breakup of a marriage and a pandemic, loneliness sparks a new form of escapism. (AD)

Appenzellertag

Documentary • USA • 2025 • 6 MIN

Director: Steve Donovan • Cast: Matt Streiff

In New Glarus, a tasty beverage is shared. Come join the party. (BR)

Cahoots

Narrative • USA • 2025 • 13 MIN

Director: Jasmine Russ • Cast: Mark Rolston, Titus Welliver, Gregory Scott Cummins, Abby Brammell, Jon Daly

A group of conmen gather to play poker and discuss a prospective score, but the game quickly becomes hostile when accusations of cheating start flying. (CB)

Picture of Love

Narrative • USA • 2025 • 12 MIN

Director: Max Rumble • Cast: Max Rumble, Olivia Hewitt

In this unpredictable, reality-bending comic tale, a single long take presents the continually thwarted filming of a romantic climax, all while the film’s director/star struggles to manage his set and negotiate his relationship with a co-star. (JM)

Money from Home 3-D

TUE, APRIL 14 • 5:30 PM FLIX BREWHOUSE, CINEMA 1

SCHEDULED TO APPEAR: BOB FURMANEK, JACK THEAKSTON, GREG KINTZ

Narrative • USA • 1953 • 100 MIN

The Spanish Lesson

Narrative • USA • 2025 • English, Spanish w/English subtitles • 12 MIN

Director: Simone Stadler • Cast: Rebecca Jimenez, Joe Barros, Mariette Booth, Hudson Paul

A Spanish tutoring session with a young client is interrupted by an irate stranger, but what starts off as a confrontation leads to an unexpected communion over loss and language. (AD)

Presented with support from UW-Madison Division of the Arts

Director: George Marshall • Cast: Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Marjie Millar, Pat Crowley, Sheldon Leonard

The legendary screen comedy team of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis star in this adaptation of a Damon Runyon story. Money from Home was Martin & Lewis’ 10th movie together, their first in Technicolor, and their only foray into 3-D! The story centers on slick gambler Honey Talk Nelson (Martin) and his guileless cousin Virgil Yokum (Lewis), an accident prone veterinary intern. Virgil’s loyalty is tested when Honey ropes his cousin into a scheme to fix a high-stakes horse race and settle a dangerous debt. As Honey pressures the animal-loving Virgil to impersonate a jockey, the daffy duo get deeper into a world of gangsters, disguises, and double-crosses. A movie musical cousin to Guys and Dolls, Money from Home has been lovingly restored to the original release’s 3-D and Technicolor formats by the estimable team known as the 3-D Film Archive. The restoration process—involving multiple original camera negatives to faithfully capture the original three-strip Technicolor process and left-eye, right-eye 3-D technology—took years to complete and the results are stunning! Bob Furmanek, Jack Theakston, and Greg Kintz from the 3-D Film Archive will be on hand to discuss their spectacular act of film preservation following the screening. (JH)

Mumbo Jumbo

SUN, APRIL 12 • 1:30 PM THE MARQUEE AT UNION SOUTH

Narrative • Denmark • 2026 • 82 MIN

Director: Karsten Kiilerich, Stine Marie Buhl • Cast: Victor Spanning, Peter Frödin, Annevig Schelde Ebbe, Kirsten Lehfeldt, Lars Mikkelsen, Peter Zhelder, Cecilie Stenspil, Simon Stenspil

RECOMMENDED AGE 4+.

Mumbo is a happy little hippo in a whimsical woodland world—except he feels too small to do anything important. In a magical twist of fate (and a lesson in being careful of what you wish for), Mumbo accidentally turns himself JUMBO! Enormous and out of place, Mumbo takes off on a quest to find the mysterious witch, Baba Yaga, who might just have the spell to shrink him back down to size. With his loyal friends by his side, Mumbo treks through enchanted forests filled with strange beings and singing beavers, unexpected dangers, and adventure at every turn. From Oscar-nominated director Karsten Kiilerich (When Life Departs), this animated adventure adapts Jakob Martin Strid’s bestselling book, blending gentle humor with folkloric magic to remind us that feeling small is sometimes the first step in finding out how big your courage truly is. (KB) Presented with support from UW-Madison Department of German, Nordic, and Slavic

My Father’s Shadow

SAT, APRIL 11 • 1:30 PM

BARTELL THEATRE

SUN, APRIL 12 • 1:15 PM

BARTELL THEATRE

Narrative • Nigeria, United Kingdom • 2025 • English, Yoruba w/English subtitles • 93 MIN

Director: Akinola Davies Jr. • Cast: Ṣ ọpẹ́ Dìrísù, Efon Wini, Godwin Egbo

On a fateful day in 1993, two young brothers are unexpectedly whisked into the bustle of Lagos by their estranged father. As their dad Florian chases down a long-overdue payment, Remi and Akin try to keep up, wide-eyed with awe at both the urban chaos and this rare up-close look at their mysterious idol who navigates the city so confidently. Meanwhile, the country is on edge as Nigeria’s first election in a decade promises the possibility of democracy—if the military dictatorship will accept the results. This very personal film is enhanced with fraternal verisimilitude: director Akinola Davies Jr. co-wrote the semi-autobiographical script with his brother Wale, and the two sons are played by real-life brothers. Shot on vivid 16mm with a transporting sense of time and place, My Father’s Shadow has earned critical comparisons to Aftersun. Nominated for 12 British Independent Film Awards, and winner of Outstanding Lead Performance and Breakthrough Director at the Gotham Awards. (MK)

Presented with support from UW-Madison African Cultural Studies

My Undesirable Friends: Part I - Last Air in Moscow

FRI, APRIL 10 • 11 AM

BARTELL THEATRE

THU, APRIL 16 • 1:30 PM

FLIX BREWHOUSE, CINEMA 7

Documentary • Russia, USA • 2024 • Russian w/ English subtitles • 324 MIN + 2 INTERMISSIONS

Director: Julia Loktev

Experience the frontlines of Russian journalism with this invaluable documentary epic, which has been hailed as one of the year’s best films in The New York Times, The New Yorker, and many other publications. In 2021, the Russian government began branding journalists as “foreign agents,” and required them to run disclaimers before their reporting. Undeterred, the inspiring young women behind the country’s last remaining independent news channel soldier on, in the face of tremendous personal risk. After the invasion of Ukraine, they must choose whether to remain or flee to exile. As intimate as it is sprawling, this David-and-Goliath saga showcases the full lives of these intrepid women, in all their comradery, gallows humor, and despair at what their country has become. “A stunning accomplishment. This is one of the most engrossing movies, fiction or nonfiction, that I’ve seen all year. Five-and-a-half hours may sound like a commitment, but once this movie has begun, you won’t want to leave” (Justin Chang, NPR). “One of the year’s most towering achievements. I’m trying to avoid hyperbole, but I don’t know how else to say this: It is perhaps the most essential investment of time you can make in a movie theater this year. And yet it is not just ‘important’ or consequential—it is brilliant, riveting, vital, devastating” (Alissa Wilkinson, The New York Times). (MK)

Nadja

FRI, APRIL 10 • 8:30 PM

UW CINEMATHEQUE

MON, APRIL 13 • 8:45 PM

FLIX BREWHOUSE, CINEMA 2

Narrative • USA • 1995 • 93 MIN

Director: Michael Almereyda • Cast: Elina Löwensohn, Suzy Amis, Galaxy Craze, Peter Fonda, David Lynch, Jared Harris

New York–based vampire Nadja (Elina Löwensohn) navigates the city alone after Dr. Van Helsing (Peter Fonda) has driven a stake through her father’s heart. Soon, Nadja reconnects with her twin brother Edgar (Jared Harris), and then she becomes involved with Jim (Martin Donovan) and his wife Lucy (Galaxy Craze), seducing them both and drawing them into her weird family web. Moving between Manhattan and Transylvania, Van Helsing pursues the undead siblings as long-buried family secrets and hidden identities are brought out into the dreaded light. Encouraged by producer Mary Sweeney and Executive Producer David Lynch to create something genre-based, experimental filmmaker Michael Almereyda chose to adapt André Breton’s surrealist 1928 novel Nadja, and merge it with the plot of the 1936 Universal horror movie, Dracula’s Daughter Shot on 35mm black and white film, with hallucinatory interludes filmed with a Pixelvision camera from Fisher Price toys, Almereyda’s one-of-a-kind bloodsucker movie has been restored to its original length, three minutes longer than the original U.S. release version. David Lynch, who generously agreed to finance the production after initial investors dropped out, appears in a memorable role as a morgue attendant. (JH)

Presented with support from the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research

Night of the Living Dead

SUN, APRIL 12 • 7:30 PM

CHAZEN MUSEUM OF ART

SCHEDULED TO APPEAR: DANIEL KRAUS

35MM • Narrative • USA • 1968 • 96 MIN

Director: George A. Romero • Cast: Judith O’Dea, Duane Jones, Marilyn Eastman “They’re coming to get you, Barbra…” When the dead awake to feast on the living, a group of bewildered survivors lock themselves in a rural farmhouse—a refuge that becomes a trap as they are surrounded by ghouls. Inarguably one of the most influential independent movies of all time, George A. Romero’s immortal nightmare spawned not only five official sequels, but, thanks in part to a baked-in copyright snafu, an onslaught of innumerable remakes, riffs, and ripoffs that continue to rise up like the undead. Our restored 35mm screening of the original classic will be followed by a conversation with author Daniel Kraus, whose superb new book Partially Devoured is the definitive statement on all things Dead. Encompassing a close read of the film, the deepest of dives into every facet of its making and tangent of its legacy, as well as a moving personal history, Partially Devoured makes Kraus’s lifelong passion for Dead as infectious as a zombie bite. “The ultimate autopsy of one of pop culture’s master texts… a lovely tribute to the grubby adventure of low-budget filmmaking and the delicate miracle that is the artistic process.” (Colson Whitehead on Partially Devoured). Kraus’s acclaimed literary career includes collaborating with Guillermo del Toro on The Shape of Water and posthumously completing novels by George A. Romero. His most recent novel, Angel Down, was named one of the Top Ten Books of 2025 in The New York Times. Copies of Partially Devoured will be available at our screening for purchase from Leopold’s Books. (MK)

Normal

SAT, APRIL 11 • 8:15 PM

BARRYMORE THEATRE

SCHEDULED TO APPEAR: DEREK KOLSTAD

Narrative • USA • 2025 • 90 MIN

Director: Ben Wheatley • Cast: Bob Odenkirk, Henry Winkler, Lena Headey Bob Odenkirk stars as an Upper Midwest sheriff in the latest action extravaganza from John Wick creator (and Madison native) Derek Kolstad. Normal, Minnesota is a sleepy, snowy town where the current biggest public disturbance is a loose moose… well, sleepy aside from the fact that every one of its 1,890 residents is mysteriously armed to the teeth. Interim sheriff Ulysses is an understanding sort who’s still getting his bearings in town when, while responding to a bank alarm call, he makes a shocking discovery: Normal is a yakuza stronghold, and everyone is in on it. Now everyone’s bullets, explosives, and blades are trained on Ulysses, with professionals already on the way over from Japan to clean up this mess if the mayor (Henry Winkler) can’t. Reteaming with Nobody star Odenkirk (who shares a story credit here), writer/producer Kolstad delivers an inspired, darkly funny shoot-em-up that will have you ducking, wincing, and laughing along. Edgewood High grad turned Hollywood conquering hero Kolstad returns to Madison to present our screening. “A damned good time at the cinema. The action melee is dazzling… Wheatley and Kolstad pay off every set-up and make sure every Chekov’s gun is fired, literally and figuratively. All the details are worked out like a beautifully rendered novella” (The Playlist). 2026 SXSW Film Festival. (MK)

Presented with support from Michele Smith

Nosferatu - live score by Circuit des Yeux

WED, APRIL 15 • 8 PM

UW CINEMATHEQUE

Narrative • Germany • 1922 • 86 MIN

Director: F. W. Murnau • Cast: Max Schreck, Gustav von Wangenheim, Greta Schröder

Horror cinema’s foundational text, this iconic classic of silent-era expressionism will be taken to a new, otherworldly realm with a hypnotic and haunting original live score by acclaimed musician Circuit des Yeux, accompanied by Alan Sparhawk of Duluth indie legends Low. F.W. Murnau’s infamously unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula stars an unforgettable Max Schreck as Count Orlok, a ghoulish vampire who lures his victims to his shadowy Transylvanian castle. Authorized or not, Murnau’s spooky masterpiece remains the definitive Dracula over a hundred years (and at least as many versions) later. Circuit des Yeux’s recent albums have landed on numerous best-of-year lists, including The Wire and NPR. Her latest, Halo on the Inside, was released last year on Matador Records and received effusive praise from Pitchfork and The New York Times. “An artist who feels increasingly, thrillingly peerless” (Bandcamp Daily). (MK) Presented with support from Strictly Discs and the UW–Madison Department of German, Nordic, and Slavic

Obsession

FRI, APRIL 10 • 6:15 PM

THE MARQUEE AT UNION SOUTH

Narrative • USA • 2025 • 108 MIN

Director: Curry Barker

Cast: Michael Johnston, Inde Navarrette, Cooper Tomlinson Bear just cannot get out of the friend zone. After a lifetime of pining for his beautiful, platonic pal Nikki, Bear happens upon a novelty toy that promises to grant a single wish. Of course, he wishes Nikki would love him more than anything. Uh oh. Obsession follows this cursed monkey’s paw-style premise straight to hell, with ruthless determination and violence. Be careful what you wish for, indeed. After getting his start on YouTube, writer/ director Curry Barker joins the ranks of fellow former sketch comedians Zach Cregger and Jordan Peele in the new horror pantheon. “Obsession is consistently f-ed up, and I mean that as a compliment. So many horror movies threaten to get weird and gnarly, only to pull their punches right when shit gets real. Barker pulls nothing, getting darker, creepier, and bloodier with each passing scene in this study of extreme dependence” (RogerEbert.com). “One of the best horror films of 2025. Obsession should keep everyone awake long after they get home from seeing it” (Indiewire). 2026 SXSW Film Festival. (MK)

Orphan

SUN, APRIL 12 • 7:30 PM | UW CINEMATHEQUE

MON, APRIL 13 • 11:45 AM | FLIX BREWHOUSE, CINEMA 8

Narrative • Hungary • 2025 • Hungarian w/English subtitles • 132 MIN

Director: László Nemes • Cast: Bojtorján Barabas, Grégory Gadebois, Andrea Waskovics

The latest feature from László Nemes, the Academy Award–winning director of Son of Saul, Orphan is a searing, hypnotic journey into a shadowy and bruised Budapest eleven years after the end of WWII. Nemes’ film follows twelve-year-old Andor, whose fragile sense of identity begins to fracture when a stranger appears claiming to be his long-lost father. Drawing on a story from his own family history, Nemes crafted the screenplay over two years with longtime collaborator Clara Royer, shaping an intimate drama against a tumultuous period of history. Shot on 35mm film and reuniting Nemes with Son of Saul cinematographer Mátyás Erdély, Orphan’s tactile imagery and meticulously composed frames immerse us in a world where memory, myth, and political terror collide. Deeply personal and driven by powerful visual storytelling, this is a haunting meditation on fathers and sons set in a society still trembling from war. (JH)

Presented with support from UW-Madison Mosse/Weinstein Center for Jewish Studies and Kristin Thompson in honor of David Bordwell

The Ozu Diaries

SAT, APRIL 11 • 2 PM | UW CINEMATHEQUE

SCHEDULED TO APPEAR: DANIEL RAIM

Documentary • USA • 2025 • Japanese, French, English, Mandarin w/English subtitles • 137 MIN

Director: Daniel Raim

In evaluating the cinematic legacy of the great Yasujirō Ozu, David Bordwell wrote that the filmmaker’s body of work “remains significant not only for its extraordinary richness and emotional power but also because it suggests the extent to which a filmmaker working in popular mass-production filmmaking can cultivate a highly individual approach to film form and style.” Drawing from Ozu’s private diaries, wartime notebooks, letters, interviews, photographs, and never-before-seen home movies, The Ozu Diaries seeks to encounter the man behind the masterpieces in his own words. Academy Award nominated director Daniel Raim details how Ozu was able to transform personal loss and the disruption of WWII into enduring works such as Tokyo Story, Good Morning, and Early Summer (also showing at this year’s WFF). Through reflections by some collaborators, and admirers like Wim Wenders, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Tsai Ming-liang, and Luc Dardenne, the documentary illuminates how Ozu’s cinema emerged from a profound human crisis yet radiated tenderness, humor, and formal playfulness. Raim provides us with the opportunity to sit with Ozu across time—confronting his pain, contradictions, and singular way of seeing—while revealing the quiet resilience that shaped one of cinema’s most enduring artists. (JH)

Presented with support from Kristin Thompson in honor of David Bordwell

Poetic License

THU, APRIL 9 • 7 PM | BARRYMORE THEATRE

Narrative • USA • 2025 • 117 MIN

Director: Maude Apatow • Cast: Andrew Barth Feldman, Cooper Hoffman, Leslie Mann

A fresh and endearing spin on the campus comedy, this perfectly cast treat sees two college pals become enamored with the middle-aged mom auditing their poetry class. A career-best Leslie Mann stars as Liz, newly arrived in a sleepy university town because of her husband’s professorship and unsure what to do with herself. Brilliantly played by Cooper Hoffman and Andrew Barth Feldman, Ari and Sam are as different as two best friends can be—Ari is a free spirit, Sam a nervous nerd—but one thing they have in common is a major crush on this warm, charming woman who seems just as rudderless as them. As Liz obliviously gets too close to the boys, she threatens to upend their friendship… and her marriage. Among its many virtues, Maude Apatow’s winning directorial debut is flush with dead-on jokes about university life–some of which will especially land for Madisonians. “Utterly delightful… has all the makings of a sleeper hit as well as a new coming-of-age classic” (Indiewire). “Supremely intelligent and raucously amusing... Poetic License is evidence of the emergence of a major triple-threat talent. This is the kind of ensemble where you can imagine every one of them, a la American Graffiti, being remembered for their collective early work in this engaging sleeper of a comedy that quite frankly caught me by surprise with so many LOL moments, building to true unbridled hilarity by the time it ends” (Deadline). 2026 SXSW Film Festival. (MK)

Presented with support from Linda Tuchman-Ginsberg and Alan Ginsberg

$12 FILM ADMISSION

Admission includes preshow Golden Badger Awards Presentation and Poetic License film screening at 7pm.

$40 * OPENING NIGHT RECEPTION + FILM

Admission includes access to the Opening Night Reception at 5pm in the Barrymore Lobby before the preshow Golden Badger Awards Presentation and the film screening of Poetic License at 7pm.

* All-Festival Passholders and Holiday Ten Pack holders can purchase this option for $28 while tickets are available

Public Access

SAT, APRIL 11 • 6:30 PM

MUSIC HALL

SUN, APRIL 12 • 4:15 PM

MUSIC HALL

Documentary • USA • 2026 • 107 MIN

Director: David Shadrack Smith

Travel back to the wild west of cable television with this funky survey of Manhattan’s public access channels. This crucial early step in the democratization of media granted everyday New Yorkers an outlet to make TV shows about anything they wanted… and did they ever. Amid all the oddballs taking over the airwaves were invaluable scene dispatches like TV Party and Rockers TV, which attracted everyone from up-and-coming locals like Blondie and Basquiat to global hitmakers Bob Marley, Mick Jagger, and Keith Richards. Even more radical was The Emerald City, which celebrated the city’s gay culture while also dispensing essential facts during the AIDS epidemic. Its evil twin was Al Goldstein’s lascivious Midnight Blue, a sexually explicit program that pushed the boundaries of what could be shown on TV. Public access’s status as a proto-YouTube cannot be denied, especially with shows like Squirt TV, which actually made the leap to MTV (sadly, Madison public access station WYOU’s Warholian charcoal grill show Cooking With Bob never got the equivalent bump up to The Food Network). David Shadrack Smith’s brisk documentary treats us to all of the above and more, making the case that public access was a socially vital phenomenon that just happened to be wildly entertaining. 2026 Sundance Film Festival. (MK)

Power Ballad

THU, APRIL 16 • 8:30 PM FLIX BREWHOUSE, CINEMA 8

Narrative • USA • 2026 • 98 MIN

Director: John Carney • Cast: Paul Rudd, Nick Jonas, Naoimh Whelton

When Rick (Paul Rudd), a past-his-prime wedding singer, meets fading boy-band star Danny (Nick Jonas) during a gig, the two bond over music and a late-night jam session. But when Danny turns one of Rick’s songs into the hit that reignites his career, Rick sets out to reclaim the recognition he believes he deserveseven if it means risking everything he cares about. From writer-director John Carney (Sing Street, Once), Power Ballad is a feel-good story about music, self-respect, friendship, and the price of ambition.

Lionsgate presents, in association with 30WEST + Fís Éireann / Screen Ireland, a Likely Story / Distressed Films production, in association with Treasure Entertainment.

Remake

SAT, APRIL 11 • 1:15 PM

CHAZEN MUSEUM OF ART

MON, APRIL 13 • 12 PM FLIX BREWHOUSE, CINEMA 7

Documentary • USA • 2025 • 114 MIN

Director: Ross McElwee

The godfather of first-person cinema, pioneering documentarian Ross McElwee was turning the camera on his own life long before the advent of the selfie. His 1986 masterpiece Sherman’s March is a droll self-portrait whose seismic influence can be traced through the past 40 years, right up to How To with John Wilson. That film’s legacy plays a role in McElwee’s exceptional new documentary, when a Hollywood producer options an ill-advised fictional remake. But as any Sherman’s

March fan knows, McElwee films are rarely about what they’re supposed to be about, and Remake is no different: this is a heartbreakingly frank portrait of a parent mourning his child. In 2016, McElwee’s troubled son Adrian overdosed on opioids at 27. Having basically raised Adrian with a camera in his hand, McElwee draws on his vast archive to retrace their relationship. Working with master editor Joe Bini (who has edited many of Werner Herzog’s greatest documentaries, as well as fiction features by Lynne Ramsay and Andrea Arnold), McElwee cuts between eras to create moments and connections that are overwhelmingly moving. The result is a profound exploration of grief, and a summation of everything that has made McElwee’s cinematic voice so unique and essential. (MK)

Romería

SAT, APRIL 11 • 8:30 PM

BARTELL THEATRE

WED, APRIL 15 • 6 PM

FLIX BREWHOUSE, CINEMA 7

Narrative • Spain, Germany • 2025 • Catalan, Spanish, French, Galician w/English subtitles • 114 MIN

Director: Carla Simón • Cast: Llúcia Garcia, Mitch, Tristán Ulloa

On the impossibly sunny Atlantic coast of Spain of 2004, 18-year-old Marina is about to meet her extended family for the very first time. Having lost her parents at a young age, Marina is officially in Vigo to close some bureaucratic loops required for a film school scholarship. Camcorder in hand, she is thrust into an unfamiliar world of wealthy cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents, who welcome her with varying degrees of wariness. Exploring the same picturesque sea, cliffs, and beaches where her parents fell in love, Marina gains a deeper understanding of herself—and also exposes some buried familial strife. Told with sensitivity and grace, Carla Simón’s autobiographical feature adapts her real-life mother’s letters and journal entries, and elegantly weaves multiple film formats as the film dips into rapturous flashbacks of her parents’ doomed romance in the 1980s. Nominated for six Goya Awards (the Spanish Oscar equivalent), including Best Director, Adapted Screenplay, New Actress, and New Actor. (MK)

Presented with support from UW-Madison Latin American, Caribbean and Iberian Studies Program and UW-Madison Department of Spanish and Portuguese

Sholay

WED, APRIL 15 • 6:30 PM

FLIX BREWHOUSE, CINEMA 8

THU, APRIL 16 • 1:15 PM

FLIX BREWHOUSE, CINEMA 8

Narrative • India • 1975 • Hindi w/English subtitles • 204 MIN + INTERMISSION

Director: Ramesh Sippy • Cast: Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjeev Kumar, Amjad Khan, Hema Malini

The film restoration event of the decade is here! Few movies deserve the big screen more than Sholay, Ramesh Sippy’s thunderous 1975 epic that redefined the scale of popular Indian cinema. Conceived as the greatest action-adventure India had ever seen, it turned out to have mass appeal for a great many other international audiences with its combination of the mythic sweep of Sergio Leone’s spaghetti westerns, the moral grandeur of Akira Kurosawa’s samurai sagas, the gonzo violence of Jimmy Wang Yu’s OneArmed Boxer kung fu classics, and the outlaw buddy formula of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The story is deceptively simple: a former police officer recruits two small-time crooks, Jai (Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan) and Veeru (Dharmendra), to defend his terrorized village from the sadistic bandit Gabbar Singh, played by the unforgettable Amjad Khan. What unfolds is a sprawling saga of friendship, revenge, romance, and sacrifice, punctuated by bravura fight sequences and colorful, exuberant musical numbers by R. D. Burman. Restored in 4K by the Film Heritage Foundation and Sippy Films in 2025 to Sippy’s original vision—including its long-lost original ending and two other once deleted scenes—Sholay regains the scale, sound, and splendor that made it a record-shattering phenomenon. To experience its vast landscapes, thunderous action, and rousing songs in a cinema is to encounter not just a classic, but the full, blazing force of Bollywood mythmaking. What a movie! (JH)

Presented with support from UW-Madison Center for South Asia

Short and Sweet

SUN, APRIL 12 • 11 AM

THE MARQUEE AT UNION SOUTH RECOMMENDED AGE 8 - 11 • 91 MIN

Stories of finding your place and your way take many forms in these beautiful animated and live action films from around the world.

The Day I Licked a Pebble

Animation • France • 2025 • 7 MIN

Director: Flavie Eliézer, Chloé Bernuchon, Goli Atefi , Maud Kolasa, Nathan Jauze, Marie Pijollet

This animated adventure follows three siblings through the lens of a video camcorder as they go on a hunt for snacks through the woods and countryside. Turns out, nothing fuels the imagination on a hot summer day quite like boredom, older sibling mischief, and the promise of pastries. (KB)

Float

Director: Lydia Matata • Cast: Adalya J Rono, Beatrice Kamuyu, Melvin Alusa, Prince Mwangi Kariithi, Faith Kibathi

Fourteen-year-old champion swimmer Wendo enters swimming practice wrapped in self-doubt. Her body has changed, and between her younger brother’s teasing and her coach’s thinly veiled comments about her weight, Wendo’s confidence sinks. But an unexpected friendship with an older Muslim woman learning to swim at Wendo’s pool offers her new insight into how beautiful and powerful her body truly is. (KB)

Timun Mas

Animation • USA • 2025 • 11 MIN

Director: Crestwood 4th and 5th Graders • Cast: Marion M, Estelle L, Archer W

A Javanese folk tale of a lonely widow’s bargain with a magical ogre is brought to life by the woodcuts, voices, and the imaginations of Madison’s Crestwood Elementary fourth and fifth graders. (TK)

I Caught a Shark

Animation • France • 2025 • 3 MIN

Director: Emma Gueirouard • Cast: Lily Jouve, Xavier Janssen

A young girl is fishing when she tumbles into the ocean depths. In a dream-like

sequence, she “meets” a shark that changes how she sees the world and her place in it. Using childlike animation techniques—collages, stamps, cut paper—this poetic short challenges our prejudices about the natural world with wonder and whimsy. (KB)

Pow!

Animation • USA • 2025 • 9 MIN

Director: Joey Clift • Cast: Rainy Fields, Angela Startz, Jim Ruel

Video game versus family traditions! The conflict comes to a head when a battery runs low at the Powwow! (TK)

Eureka

Animation • Germany • 2025 • 10 MIN

Director: Kris Borghs • Cast: Gert-Jan Beyens, Kris Borghs

A helpful duo of alien creatures travel the universe visiting planets and giving inspiration to their inhabitants to help improve their lives. All is well, until they come to one particular planet where each innovation leads to something unexpected with increasingly disastrous consequences. (KH)

A Serious Thought

Animation • Estonia • 2025 • 16 MIN

Director: Jonas Taul

One night, a little boy goes to bed but can’t sleep. Instead, he thinks. And a very serious thought strikes him: his relative insignificance in the expanse of the cosmos. Rendered in stunning stop-motion animation, this visually striking film is a bedtime story for the modern age. (KB)

Catfish

Animation • USA • 2024 • 7 MIN

Director: Aurélie Galibois, Aurélie Martin, Camille Naud, Cristina Ganusciac, Hee Young Park, Vedushi Sinha

Elise has to leave her suburban childhood home behind. In her new apartment, her orange cat Roger suddenly turns into a goldfish. While her parents insist that everything is fine, Elise is horrified. In this tender and imaginative story, change appears first as loss, but reveals that it may not be as frightening as it seems. (KK)

América

2025 • Quechua, Spanish w/English subtitles • 16

MIN

Director: Javier Arias-Stella • Cast: Flor Santa Cruz Conchori, Amiel Cayo, Harold Aucca Cruz, Alberick García, Eric Otero

América, a 10-year-old girl living in the Peruvian Andes, has to tend the llamas before she walks many miles to school. She is often late and may fail the year! Her solution is smart, innovative, and empowering. (TK)

Shorter and Sweeter

SAT, APRIL 11 • 10 AM | THE MARQUEE AT UNION SOUTH

Dreams and longing inspire these whimsical, magical animated tales of worlds both large and small.

RECOMMENDED AGE 4 - 11 • 66 MIN

Once Upon a Time in Dragonville

Animation • France • 2025 • 9 MIN

Director: Marika Herz • Cast: Loïc Burkhardt, Arsène Gautry, Salomé Kabulova, Baptiste Barthélémy, Christophe Gautry

Samson, an outsider among his fellow dragons in Dragonville, dreams of being able to fly. One day his pursuit of flying forces him to enter Humanville, where dragons are forbidden. There he meets a little boy named Simon, and together they change both their worlds. This charming paper cut out animation celebrates the power of friendship and hope. (KH)

Bats & Bugs

Animation • Belgium • 2026 • 11 MIN

Director: Lena von Döhren

When a streetlamp lights up the jungle night, insects swarm in dazzling circles. For a hungry bat family, this is the time to swoop in for dinner. A heartwarming Lena von Döhren (WFF 2015, 2017) short about courage, friendship, and finding your own way, even if you’re the odd bat out. (KK)

Sketches on Ice

Animation • France • 2025 • 4 MIN • Director: Marion Auvin

Homework and clarinet practice feel far less exciting after building a marvelous snowman. Yet as music fills the room and pencil meets paper, something outside begins to move. Through simple, lively sketches, and carried by Pierre Oberkampf’s playful music, the snowman comes to life. Imagination and music quietly transform an ordinary winter afternoon. (KK)

It’s Mine

Animation • Japan • 2025 • 3 MIN • Director: Nijitaro • Cast: Nijitaro

When pancakes are on the menu, the Mojappi, a trio of lovable troublemakers, will stop at nothing to get a bite! But will their “pancake plot” work, or will they learn that sharing is the sweetest treat? (KK)

Full Nest

Animation • Germany, Croatia • 2025 • 6 MIN • Director: Elena Walf

Squirrel’s talent for creating a cozy nest saves the day when the nearby forest floods.(TK)

Dreaming of Flight

Germany, Croatia • 2025 • 5 MIN • Director: Elena Walf

A hen is supposed to lay eggs. But you can’t stop a chicken with a dream! (TK)

Itadakimasu - Let’s Eat

Animation • Japan • 2025 • 5 MIN • Director: Mari Miyazawa

Konigiri-kun, the little rice ball, returns in this charming space station adventure celebrating itadakimasu, the Japanese tradition of expressing gratitude before a meal. Fest alum Mari Miyazawa’s delightful short reminds us that eating with friends is the best nourishment. (KK)

A Strange Toad

Animation • Italy • 2025 • 7 MIN

Director: Claudia Giorgini • Cast: Katy Maw

There is one toad in the pond that is not quite like the others. He’s absorbed with peculiar projects, bothered by things that others don’t notice, and sometimes he just doesn’t make sense to the other toads. One day, the residents of the pond discover more of Toad’s world and begin to understand a whole new side of him and his place in the pond. (KH)

On the Mat Outside the Door

Animated • Germany • 2025 • 5 MIN

Director: Antje Heyn • Cast: Alexis Krüger, Jacob Branigan

Rat, an uninvited houseguest, whistles along to the radio, splashes in the bathtub, and fills every corner with its noisy presence. Antje Heyn’s (WFF 2025) animated adaptation of Nadia Budde’s book captures the irritation of disrupted routines while gently revealing how sharing space with others can open the door to unexpected connection. (KK)

Snow Bear

Animation • USA • 2025 • 11 MIN • Director: Aaron Blaise

It’s not easy making friends–especially when you’re a lone polar bear living in the arctic. Created by Oscar-nominated animator, Aaron Blaise (Brother Bear), this hand-drawn film with a sweeping score tugs at the heartstrings as it delivers a story of friendship and belonging with an overarching environmental theme. (KB)

Short Summer

FRI, APRIL 10 • 9 PM

CHAZEN MUSEUM OF ART

SAT, APRIL 11 • 1:30 PM

MUSIC HALL

Narrative • Germany, France, Serbia • 2025 • Russian w/English subtitles • 101 MIN

Director: Nastia Korkia • Cast: Maiia Pleshkevich, Yakov Karykhalin, Aleksandr Karpushin

Nastia Korkia’s astonishing fiction feature debut has a deceptively simple narrative setup: Katya, an independent eightyear-old, spends a summer with her grandparents in the Russian countryside. Time stands still and the “short” summer feels endless in the way that only childhood summers can. But there is tension between Katya’s grandparents, and in the background, there is a war being fought. Short Summer sometimes feels like a companion piece to Elem Klimov’s Come and See, although this film, with its endlessly intriguing static long shots and

minimalist editing, couldn’t be any further from Klimov’s in terms of tone and texture. The dense, breathtakingly lush imagery conjures an immersive, waking dream while simultaneously drawing on Korkia’s strengths as a documentarian honed on previous projects. As Katya, Maiia Pleshkevish owns the screen, landing her in the pantheon of all-time great child performances, like those in My Life as a Dog, Ponette, and the previously mentioned, Come and See. Shot in ravishingly beautiful 16mm, Short Summer is a memory-piece that will be burned in yours for the foreseeable future. “Short Summer is a beautifully composed, acutely observed piece of storytelling delicately balancing the minutiae of family life with the impact of national events.” (Screen Daily). Winner of the Lion of the Future Award, 2025 Venice Film Festival. (BR)

The Spies Among Us

FRI, APRIL 10 • 8:30 PM

BARTELL THEATRE

FILMMAKERS SCHEDULED TO ATTEND

Documentary • USA • 2025 • English, German w/ English subtitles • 91 MIN

Director: Jamie Coughlin Silverman, Gabriel Silverman

If you discovered your own family was informing on you, reporting your every move to a repressive regime, how would you respond? It may sound like the foundation for a paranoid conspiracy thriller, but this was the very real question faced by historian and former East German political prisoner Peter Keup, who learned, via access to declassified archives, that his brother was an informant for the Stasi, the country’s once-omnipresent secret police. In this suspenseful, engaging documentary, directors Jamie Coughlin Silverman and Gabriel Silverman follow Keup as his revelation launches him on a journey deep into the inner workings of the Stasi regime. From the starting point of his own heartbreaking personal experience, Keup seeks to understand both why people chose to spy on their own families and how exactly the state applied pressure to get them to do so. Through interviews with former Stasi officials, prisoners, and informants, as well as tours of various Stasi facilities (including the very prison in which he was held), Keup examines the structures that held together this surveillance state—and the lingering legacy of its totalitarian power in the decades since its collapse. (CB) Presented with support from UW-Madison Department of German, Nordic, and Slavic

Spike of Bensonhurst

SAT, APRIL 11 • 8:30 PM

UW CINEMATHEQUE

35MM • Narrative • USA • 1988 • 100 MIN

Director: Paul Morrissey • Cast: Sasha Mitchell, Ernest Borgnine, Anne DeSalvo, Talisa Soto, Sylvia Miles Bensonhurst, Brooklyn became known to millions of 1950s American TV viewers as home of Ralph and Alice Kramden, The Honeymooners. 30 years later, the tight-knit Italian-American enclave is the playground of Spike Fumo (Sasha Mitchell), an aspiring boxer who hustles through fixed fights and errands for local mob boss Baldo Cacetti (the iconic Ernest Borgnine, in what Roger Ebert called his “funniest performance in a long time”) all the while chasing Cacetti’s daughter, Angel. When his ambitions and love life anger the neighborhood power structure, Spike is pushed out of Bensonhurst and finds unlikely refuge in the Puerto Rican community of Red Hook, training with his former opponent Bandana (Rick Aviles) and starting a new romance with Bandana’s sister, India (Talisa Soto). Torn between loyalty, pride, and the pull of his home turf, Spike stakes everything on a high-profile fight that he believes could restore his standing in Bensonhurst and secure his future. A genuinely unpredictable comedy, Spike of Bensonhurst is the creation of director, screenwriter, and NYC film scene fixture Paul Morrissey. Best known for his offbeat collaborations with actor Joe Dallesandro and producer Andy Warhol (Trash, Flesh for Frankenstein), Morrissey finds a way to indulge in both broad ethnic stereotypes and moments of subtle authenticity in Spike’s daily life, surrounding him with a memorable and colorful cast of foul-mouthed Brooklyn oddballs. Long out of circulation, this gem will soon be released on blu-ray by Fun City Editions. FCE founder and UW-Madison alum Jonathan Hertzberg will be on hand to present an original 35mm print of Spike of Bensonhurst, as well as a vintage reel of 35mm trailers for movies shot in NYC during the 1970s-80s. (JH)

Steal This Story, Please!

FRI, APRIL 10 • 6 PM

BARRYMORE THEATRE

Documentary • USA • 2025 • 98 MIN

Director: Carl Deal, Tia Lessin

At a moment when press freedoms are under siege and and authoritarian movements are gaining ground, Steal This Story, Please! arrives as both warning and rallying cry. This urgent documentary follows trailblazing journalist Amy Goodman as she confronts soldiers, politicians, and corporate media in a relentless pursuit of truth. Since launching her fiercely independent program Democracy Now! which can be heard locally on WORT 89.9 FM, Goodman has consistently reported from global conflict zones while challenging the consolidation of media power and the silencing of dissenting voices on the home front. Academy Award–nominated filmmakers Tia Lessin and Carl Deal (Trouble the Water, Citizen Koch) craft a gripping, behind-the-scenes portrait of a journalist who refuses to surrender to intimidation or profit-driven news agendas. As corporate outlets capitulate and political assaults on truth intensify, Goodman’s model of “trickle-up journalism” offers a radical alternative rooted in accountability and grassroots resistance. By turns provocative, funny, and profoundly inspiring, the film asks what becomes of democracy when the press bows to power—and answers with a resounding call to action. In celebrating one woman’s audacious commitment to independent reporting, Steal This Story, Please! reminds us that a free press is not a luxury, but a lifeline. (JH)

Presented with support from WORT

Stella Dallas

SUN, APRIL 12 • 11 AM

UW CINEMATHEQUE

35MM • Narrative • USA • 1925 • 110 MIN

Director: Henry King • Cast: Belle Bennett, Ronald Colman, Alice Joyce, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Jean Hersholt

Reared in luxury, Stephen Dallas (Ronald Colman, one of cinema history’s most elegant leading men) impulsively marries Stella (the superb Belle Bennett), a spirited mill-town woman. The couple’s love fractures under the weight of class

difference, leaving Stella to raise their beloved daughter, Laurel, on her own. As Laurel comes of age and drifts toward the refined world of her father, Stella makes a heartbreaking choice that culminates in one of silent cinema’s most iconic—and devastating—portrayals of maternal sacrifice. Though it was later remade with Barbara Stanwyck (1937) and Bette Midler (1990), the screen’s first adaptation of Olive Higgins Prouty’s best-selling novel is still the very best version. Director Henry King captures the dramatic high points of the novel in a tender, excitingly

photographed fashion, but film critic and historian Pamela Hutchinson writes that the “key to its success is Frances Marion, the woman who wrote its sophisticated screenplay. Marion takes the events of the novel, which are jumbled by flashbacks to create the drama of suspense and revelation, and straightens them out into a flowing narrative that begins in a garden in spring and ends on a city street in the cold.” The gorgeous new 35mm print screening is restored by The Museum of Modern Art and The Film Foundation with support from The George Lucas Family Foundation. MoMA’s Archivist and Film Collections Manager, Katie Trainor, will be on hand to discuss the restoration. Live piano by David Drazin! (JH) Presented with support from the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research

The Stranger

SUN, APRIL 12 • 7 PM

BARRYMORE THEATRE

Narrative • France • 2025 • French w/English subtitles • 120 MIN

Director: François Ozon • Cast: Benjamin Voisin, Rebecca Marder, Pierre Lottin, Denis Lavant, Swann Arlaud

François Ozon’s new adaptation of The Stranger performs a minor miracle: it breathes new life and relevancy into Albert Camus’s existential classic. Yes, Maman is still morte. Yes, Meursault is still detached and indifferent, and yes, he still kills an Arab. But the inky, velvety black and white cinematography hypnotizes the viewer, the note-perfect period details give the film a vivid immediacy, and the performances, led by Benjamin Voison as Meursault, make the characters come alive as flesh and blood, lending the oft-discussed and debated tale an air of humanity and tragedy that unlocks this familiar text, granting it the power to once again shock and surprise. “Above all, Ozon reintroduces Algerians and their country as a dominant presence. Ozon’s reading of L’Étranger makes it clear that the invisibility of Algeria in Camus’s novel, which Meursault narrates, stands for the wilful blindness that embodies the colonial mindset… In its spare, though highly detailed period realism and Manu Dacosse’s glistening black-and-white camerawork, The Stranger is altogether Bressonian” (BFI). Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Cinematographer, 2025 Lumière Awards. (BR)

We Are The Shaggs

SAT, APRIL 11 • 3:45 PM

CHAZEN MUSEUM OF ART

SUN, APRIL 12 • 7 PM MUSIC HALL

SCHEDULED TO APPEAR: KEN KWAPIS

Documentary • USA • 2026 • 98 MIN

Director: Ken Kwapis

Betty, Dorothy, and Helen Wiggin were three rural New Hampshire youths growing up in the 1960s who were inspired to form a band... make that forced to form a band by their hard-driving, over-protective father, Austin. Eventually dubbing themselves “The Shaggs,” named after Betty’s favorite contemporary hairstyle, the girls had little choice but to practice every day and play together at weekly local dances, never really developing or evidencing much conventional musical ability with their guitars, drums, or vocals. The undeterred Austin, himself inspired by a prophetic vision that his kids would be rock stars, brought the girls to a storefront recording studio outside of Boston, a trip resulting in “Philosophy of the World” one of the

oddest sounding and most argued-over LPs in the history of vinyl records. We Are The Shaggs combines contemporary interviews with the surviving Wiggin sisters, revealing and rare home movies, cover version performances of The Shaggs’s music by established musicians, and testimonies from the band’s biggest defenders and detractors. Beginning with a fun and playful montage of random listeners discovering The Shaggs’s signature tune, “My Pal Foot Foot,” director Ken Kwapis establishes his premise: maybe these “outsider” musicians and artists were more than a “so bad they’re good” act? Veteran film and TV director Kwapis, who was instrumental in developing the entertainment juggernaut known as The Office for American television, last visited our Festival in 2024 to present a sold-out screening of his cult favorite 1996 comedy Dunston Checks In. Kwapis will be on hand for both screenings of his feature documentary debut. (JH)

Presented with support from the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research

What Does That Nature Say To You

FRI, APRIL 10 • 1 PM

CHAZEN MUSEUM OF ART

SAT, APRIL 11 • 3:45 PM

BARTELL THEATRE

Narrative • South Korea • 2025 • Korean w/English

subtitles • 109 MIN

Director: Hong Sang-soo • Cast: Ha Seong-guk, Kwon Hae-hyo, Cho Yun-hee

On a sunny afternoon in the mountains outside Seoul, Donghwa gives his girlfriend Junhee a lift back to her surprisingly picturesque childhood home. After bumping into her friendly dad in the driveway and bonding over his vintage car, Donghwa finds himself roped into staying for dinner, kicking off a low-key cringe comedy. Turns out, Junhee never mentioned Donghwa to her folks, and as he is introduced to her family, the day takes on the tenor of an extremely genial job interview. Not the best fit for Donghwa, who in his mid-thirties remains a dreamy, aspiring poet whose laid-back attitude seems at odds with his wealthy prospective in-laws—not to mention that Junhee’s mom’s poetry is way better than his. Does Donghwa really have the soul of an artist, or are his paeans to natural beauty just platitudes? Korean master Hong Sang-soo’s 33rd feature is one of his funniest, a deadpan Meet the Parents riff that culminates in one of his best-ever boozy dinner scenes (always a Hong specialty). Shot in low-res video that lends it all a hazy vibe that matches both Donghwa’s temperament and the effect of so much makgeolli. (MK)

Winter Hymns

SUN, APRIL 12 • 6:45 PM

BARTELL THEATRE

SCHEDULED TO APPEAR:

NATHAN DEMING AND COLLEEN MADDEN

Narrative • USA • 2026 • English, Hmong w/English subtitles • 160 MIN

Director: Nathan Deming • Cast: Colleen Madden, Tara Mallen, Brian Huskey, Winter Williams, Chiké Johnson

In this epic tapestry of the slow-moving, often invisible tragedies that define the contours of daily life, Golden Badger winner, Nathan Deming (February, WFF ‘24) follows Linda Vobernik (Colleen Madden), a palliative care doctor – a practitioner of the “care that doesn’t cure,” as Linda succinctly explains. Structured around a full day of difficult appointments–and limited to the space of this palliative care facility–the film finds Linda growing more fatigued as her day continues, a feeling made palpable for the viewer through Deming’s patient approach to duration. However, as the film progresses, Winter Hymns emerges as a richly multivalent experience, expertly conveying both the taxing weight of Linda’s responsibilities and the unexpected beauty of her work, the all-encompassing generosity and fortitude required to perform this type of care. Best known for her stage work with the American Player Theatre, Madden anchors the film with a nuanced and cinematic performance, sensitive to the demands of each scene and the complex realities of her character’s challenging practice. Alongside Madden, a robust supporting cast breathes life into Linda’s daily routine: Flora Coker, as a woman suffering from dementia, is a notable standout. In these confrontations with mortality, Winter Hymns discovers its own emotionally capacious wavelength, deftly weaving together the existential and the everyday. (JM)

Presented with support from Arts for All Wisconsin

Wisconsin’s Own Horror and Sci-Fi Shorts

SAT, APRIL 11 • 8:45 PM

MUSIC HALL • 85 MIN

SCHEDULED TO APPEAR - NATHAN

DEMING AND COLLEEN MADDEN

Grab a seat to hide under and join us for an evening of chills and thrills, as well as some laughs and tears, with these nine unnerving tales from Wisconsin’s own spookiest filmmakers.

ghoststory

Experimental • USA • 2026 • 6 MIN

Director: Alex Jacobs • Cast: Gabriella Ortega Ricketts, Luke Chamberlain

A ghost follows a woman home in an unnerving experiment from WFF veteran Alex Jacobs. (JM)

Sylvia’s Stone

NARRATIVE • USA • 2025 • 14 MIN

Director: Declan Franey • Cast: Helena Schatzki, Kieran Rowe

Neglected by her partner, Sylvia discovers a magical stone in the woods that harbors kaleidoscopic powers. Spectacular flashes of color and frenzied editing invigorate this disturbing, pulse-pounding thriller. (JM)

Walking at Night

Narrative • USA • 2025 • French w/English s ubtitles • 4 MIN

Director: Claudia Krogmeier • Cast: Baptiste Gendre, Aeris Ann Mc Pledd, Audrey Chapelet

A man attempts to calm himself by taking a walk at night. (AD)

Sherman Park

Narrative • USA • 2025 • 10 MIN

Director: Paulina Lule Bugembe-Kuwahara • Cast: Vee Charles, Dos Feurtado, Caleb Balton, Jake Horstmeier

A hangout in the park turns confrontational when a group of friends encounter a man who seems not quite himself, and things soon take a turn for the worse… (CB)

The Man In The Sky Won’t Let Me Sleep

Narrative • USA • 2025 • 10 MIN

Director: Laura Reich • Cast: Cyrus Palizban, Areni Agbabian, Kyle Van Vonderen, Dan Novey, Melissa Drew

Filled with allusions to oddball late night television and the classic chiller Carnival of Souls, a frightening figure looms over an insomniac in this creepy delight. (JM)

What Is That?!

Narrative • USA • 2025 • 6 MIN

Director: Jason Michael Roberts • Cast: Tyler Beveridge, Gabi Manoukian, Harrison Melony, Colin Shaw

Ever wonder what things look like from a monster’s point of view? Wonder no further. (BR)

Daniel Needs to Leave

Narrative • USA • 2025 • 11 MIN

Director: Craig A. Knitt • Cast: Daniel Wheeler, Dan Davies, Rachel Cola Engle, Eric Gulbrandsen, Thomas Thorne

Ever struggled to leave a gathering filled with overly polite Midwesterners? That frustrating everyday experience becomes a surreal nightmare in this hilarious short. (JM)

The Lingering

Narrative • USA • 2026 • 11 MIN

Director: Gabe Reiss • Cast: Taylor Nichols, Avery McClure, Miju Kim Pascual, Shannon Morrissey

An exorcist is brought in to dispel the spirit of a dead wife, but what’s really keeping her around? (BR)

Keepsake

Narrative • USA • 2025 • 13 MIN

Director: Erik Skramstad • Cast: Liann Pattison, John Neisler, Ally Piner, Mattie Liptak

With their marriage on the rocks, a husband unveils his latest creation to his wife. Featuring impressive special effects, this time-travel fable delicately captures the fallibility of nostalgia and memory. (JM)

Wisconsin’s Own Short Stories

SAT, APRIL 11 • 11 AM

MUSIC HALL • 77 MIN

FILMMAKERS SCHEDULED TO APPEAR

A well-told story is a wonderful thing, and the common denominator for these five terrific short films from Wisconsin’s own.

Jia

Narrative • USA • 2025 • 14 MIN

Director: Sam Mandich • Cast: Jean-Ashia Patrice Fordham, Linder Sutton

In the haze of a California summer, two best friends must reckon with their feelings for one another. An exquisitely subtle and brilliantly photographed Golden Badger winner. (AD)

Chinese Satellite

Narrative • USA • 2025 • English, Mandarin Chinese w/English subtitles • 25 MIN

Director: Yucheng Lian • Cast: Ningyuan Sun, Martin Berg, Blaise Rosso, Corey Holl, Michael Hillson

A mysterious spy balloon clouds the Wisconsin college experience of a Chinese international student in this unsettling drama. (AD)

The Summer of Lexi & Dawn

Narrative • USA • 2025 • 11 MIN

Director: Genevieve Diaz • Cast: Sophie Rae, Candace Tsay, Connie Chen, Brian Cohen

When their parents start a relationship together, two tweens find themselves suddenly thrust into each other’s lives. Initially skeptical, they become fast friends, at least to begin with… (CB)

Whale Math

Narrative • USA • 2025 • 9 MIN

Director: D. Andrew Hartfi eld • Cast: Tillie Mingxuan Hartfi eld, D. Andrew Hartfi eld

On a quiet sunny beach, a father and daughter discuss life, death and whales. (AD)

Golden Years

Narrative • USA • 2025 • 18 MIN

Director: Jared Meyer • Cast: Ted Koch, Sean Weil, Myrna Cabello, Duke LaFoon

The morning after a tense encounter with his neighbor’s son, recent retiree Terry (Ted Koch) hits an object – or person –while driving his boat. Suspenseful and gripping, this probing, ambiguous drama expertly navigates its potent moral dilemma. (JM)

The World According to Allee Willis

FRI, APRIL 10 • 6 PM

CHAZEN MUSEUM OF ART

SCHEDULED TO APPEAR: PRUDENCE FENTON

Documentary • USA • 2024 • 97 MIN

Director: Alexis Spraic • Cast: Allee Willis, Cyndi Lauper, Mark Mothersbaugh Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September” and “Boogie Wonderland.” The Pointer Sisters’ “Neutron Dance.” “I’ll Be There For You” by The Rembrandts. These pop hits were written by UW-Madison alum Allee Willis, a Grammy-winning songwriter whose compositions have sold 60 million records. Decked out in cartoony outfits and an asymmetrical haircut, Willis had a one-of-a-kind personality to match her talent. Perpetually ahead of her time, she saw the potential of the internet way back in the 1990s, when she pioneered an early version of online social networking. Willis was also a compulsive archivist of her own life, and the wealth of material enables this candy-colored documentary to double as a you-are-there immersion in the 1980s LA pop art scene, becoming a kind of sister documentary to Pee-wee as Himself—naturally, Paul Reubens is among the interview subjects, as well as Cyndi Lauper, Mark Mothersbaugh, and Patti LaBelle. The screening will be followed by a discussion with Willis’s partner Prudence Fenton, who has an incredible resume of her own: animation producer on Pee-wee’s Playhouse, executive producer and story editor for MTV’s influential Liquid Television, producer and co-creator of Peter Gabriel music videos, and more! (MK) Presented with support from UW-Madison Libraries

Yes

SUN, APRIL 12 • 3:45 PM

BARTELL THEATRE

WED, APRIL 15 • 2:45 PM

FLIX BREWHOUSE, CINEMA 2

Narrative • Israel, France, Cyprus, Germany • 2025 • English, Hebrew, Russian w/English subtitles • 152 MIN

Director: Nadav Lapid • Cast: Ariel Bronz, Efrat Dor, Naama Preis

This searing, unrestrained satire from Israeli firebrand Nadav Lapid is one of the year’s essential provocations. Musician Y and dancer Yasmine support their young family by performing for Tel Aviv’s elite, acceding to whatever debasement is requested of them with a manic devotion that is only equaled by their love for each other. But when Y accepts a gig to write a new Israeli anthem, it may be a bridge too far for Yasmine. Lapid’s lacerating poison pen letter to his home country pops off the screen with electric filmmaking, demented comedy, and exuberant musical sequences. “A whirling, maximalist satire at once despairing and exuberant, subtle as a cannonball in its evisceration of the ruling classes and those who obey them, it’s both absurdist comedy and serious-as-cancer polemic: as grave as any film with an extended dance break to 2000s novelty hit

“The Ketchup Song” can possibly be” (Variety). “As sincere in its satire as it is satirical in its sincerity, the deliriously provocative Yes unfolds like an Ecstasy-addled cross between Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom and the Jim Carrey comedy Yes Man” (Indiewire). (MK)

By Tom Yoshikami & Erica Hsiung Wojcik

Golden Badger Awards

JURY STATEMENT

We the jury had the pleasure of coming together for a weekend’s worth of screenings featuring films from artists with Wisconsin connections. From hard-hitting true stories of police violence to mind-melting animations to spooky campfire stories come to life, it was inspiring to see the breadth of talent and passion on display, particularly at a time when creativity and free expression feels increasingly threatened. Our task was not an easy one, but after much deliberation we ultimately chose to award this year’s Golden Badger prizes to two shorts and one feature. Taken together, they demonstrate risky storytelling choices and skillful production that kept us thinking and conversing long after the final fade out. We hope that you enjoy these selections as much as we did.

JURY:

SARA BATKIE is the author of the short story collection Better Times, which won the 2017 Prairie Schooner Prize. Her film and culture writing can be found online at Bright Wall/Dark Room, Crooked Marquee, LitHub, and Tone Madison. A graduate of the University of Iowa and New York University, she has been a Madison resident since 2022.

CRAIG BENZINE is a UW-Madison Com Arts Alum, filmmaker, musician, and video creator best known for his long-running YouTube channel WheezyWaiter. His documentary No Packers, No Life screened at the 2025 Wisconsin Film Festival.

SAWYER WEIDMAN is a filmmaker based in Chicago. He is a graduate of Columbia College Chicago where he earned his B.F.A. in Cinema and Television directing. His thesis film, Adagio won the 2025 Golden Badger Award as well as earning him a Chicago/Midwest Emmy nomination for achievement in filmmaking.

WINNERS

And Then I Knew ‘Twas Wind

Directed by Darius Mackenzie

Time is one of the more intriguing tools at a filmmaker’s disposal, and also one of the trickiest. Sloppily deployed and it will confuse or irritate the audience. But deployed indifferently and viewers might get bored. Rare is the film, particularly a debut one, that makes time itself its focus with the ambitious scope of Darius Mackenzie’s And Then I Knew ‘Twas Wind. Ostensibly the story of a young couple on a canoeing trip in a vast, isolated wilderness, this is a film as slippery as the fish that inhabit the rushing river serving as its focal point. There are some clear antecedents to what Mackenzie is doing here –the concept of ancient geological formations having an inexplicable pull on modern-day people recalls Peter Weir’s Picnic at Hanging Rock. And the remixing of Western tropes might remind viewers of Kelly Reichardt and Monte Hellman’s genre experiments. Above all, though, Wind is a uniquely arresting and tense experience, one that asks for a sustained level of engagement and attention from the viewer. The panel was united in how transfixed we were by Mackenzie’s quietly remarkable achievement. – SARA BATKIE

Jia

Directed by Sam Mandich

With one disconcerting question, our lead character is asked to reveal something true to her identity: “Who do you like?” Sam Mandich’s Jia is an expertly crafted and intimate queer coming-ofage story that resonated with the

jury for its pensive storytelling. Poetically understated, it walks with the audience as we explore the dynamics of Jia and Nina’s connection – portrayed with nuance from Jean-Ashia Patrice Fordham and Linder Sutter. Rebecca Richard’s cinematography is reminiscent of a Céline Sciamma or Sofia Coppola film with its eye for pastels and delicate framing that lets the audience linger in its quiet moments. Sound is an often neglected tool, yet Mandich understands the potential created when you take that away. As we come to understand, our characters hide their words, never revealing their true identity until it’s forced to come out. With this film, Mandich, along with her cast and crew, have cemented themselves as an emerging voice in independent filmmaking.

– SAWYER WEIDMAN

Shaggy’s Big Break

Directed by Maya Castronovo Who is Shaggy? Why are they filming him? Is this the middle of a longer film shoot? Is this a documentary or a narrative? Why can’t this jury stop thinking about it? These questions rattle in our brains as we watch Shaggy’s Big Break, feeling as if we accidentally came upon some extra footage of a longer documentary we weren’t supposed to see. But the result is one of the most authentic displays of a man trying his best. The line between truth and fiction has never been blurrier, and our questions will not be answered. But not to worry. Shaggy’s contagious excitement will guide us through it all.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

– CRAIG BENZINE

In addition to the three winners, the jury wishes to recognize the following five honorable mentions. These four shorts and one feature impressed us with their depth of attention and surprising observations about life in Wisconsin and beyond.

(listed alphabetically)

25 Cats from Qatar

Fred’s Basement Bijou

The Phalanx

There Yawns the Valley

Top 16

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