The Milwaukee Film Festival unveils its 2024 lineup. Here are some of the highlights.
Old friends, new robots and a touch of Bollywood will be in the center ring at the 2024 Milwaukee Film Festival.
The festival, operated by nonprofit Milwaukee Film, unveiled its complete lineup Wednesday.
The 2024 film festival, which runs April 11-25, will include 131 feature films — many of them showing two or three times during the festival's 15-day run — along with 169 short films showing in 21 shorts programs.
The festival's opening-night movie — screening at 6 p.m. April 11 at the festival's flagship site, the Oriental Theatre — is "Shari & Lamb Chop," a documentary about puppeteer Shari Lewis, her sock-puppet alter ego Lamb Chop and their influence on generations of children. Director Lisa D'Apolito is scheduled to be on hand for opening night, Milwaukee Film Artistic Director Cara Ogburn said at a festival press preview this week.
Other spotlight movies at the 2024 Milwaukee Film Festival
Among the film festival's other spotlight presentations:
"The Queen of My Dreams," the festival's centerpiece film, follows a young woman who, after her father dies on a trip home to Pakistan, goes back and forth between her time growing up in Canada and her mother's coming of age three decades earlier in Pakistan. Director Fawzia Mirza is also expected to be at the festival.
Closing night film "Robot Dreams" — one of a dozen movies announced previously for this year's festival, and one of this year's Oscar nominees for best animated feature — is a big-hearted, dialogue-free story of a lonely dog who fills the void by building a robot companion.
"Thelma," in which Oscar-nominated actor June Squibb plays a 93-year-old grandmother who decides to get revenge after she's ripped off by a phone scammer, has been lighting up the festival circuit since its debut at the Sundance Film Festival in January.
"The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari," the 1920 German Expressionist classic, gets a rare big-screen showing with even rarer music accompaniment courtesy the Anvil Orchestra, in a screening that, per Milwaukee Film Festival tradition, is likely to sell out.
"Dr. Caligari" is the oldest movie at the 2024 film festival, but it's not the only classic being revived this time around.
The spotlight lineup also includes the festival's annual dance-party-style screening of the Talking Heads concert documentary "Stop Making Sense" and a showing of the Kevin Bacon jukebox musical "Footloose" — both movies marking their 40th anniversary. And the festival's kids-friendly lineup includes a revival screening of Robert Rodriguez's 2001 preteen action movie "Spy Kids."
The Downer Theatre will reopen for the Milwaukee Film Festival — and stay open afterward
But the biggest revival at the 2024 Milwaukee Film Festival isn't a movie. It's a theater.
This month, Milwaukee Film announced it was taking over the Downer Theatre and reopening it April 12 as part of the film festival. In addition to the Downer and the Oriental, the festival will have screenings at the Avalon Theater and the Times Cinema; the latter dropped regular film programming in February in favor of special events, including the film festival and other screening series.
After the film festival wraps up, the Downer, which closed in September, will return to regular film programming, Milwaukee Film said.
Other highlights in the Milwaukee Film Festival lineup
Other highlights in the 2024 Milwaukee Film Festival lineup released Wednesday include:
"Copa '71": This documentary unearths a forgotten moment in world sport, when women's soccer teams from around the world met in 1971 in an unofficial Women's World Cup tournament — a pivotal event that the soccer establishment worked to keep buried for a half-century.
"All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt": Writer-director Raven Jackson racked up more than a dozen nominations on the film festival circuit for this debut feature film tracing a woman's life in rural Mississippi.
"One Way Ticket: The Story of Greg Lutzka": Milwaukee native Lutzka went from a skatepark on the city's south side to reaching fame at the X Games and joining the professional skateboarding circuit. This documentary follows his not-always-smooth journey.
"Angels of Dirt": This documentary tells the story of another Wisconsin sports legend you might not be familiar with — Charlotte Kainz, a West Allis native and flat-track motorcycle racer.
"Tótem": Mexico's submission for best international feature at this year's Academy Awards follows a Mexican household as it prepares for the patriarch's birthday party, as seen through the eyes of his 7-year-old son.
"Remembering Gene Wilder": This documentary valentine to the beloved actor and Milwaukee native returns to his hometown for two screenings at the festival.
For a complete film guide and schedule, go to mkefilm.org/mff.
How to buy tickets for the Milwaukee Film Festival
Tickets for the opening-night movie, which includes admission to the festival's opening-night party, are $20; $18 for seniors 60 and older, students, educators and military members; and $17 for Milwaukee Film members.
Premium screenings have the same prices as the opening-night screening. Tickets for the rest of the festival's offerings are $15; $14 for seniors 60 and older, students, educators and military members; $13 for Milwaukee Film members; and $8 for kids 12 and younger.
An all-access pass, which gets you into everything, costs $625, $525 for Milwaukee Film members.
Milwaukee Film members can get tickets starting April 1 at mkefilm.org or by calling 414-755-1965; the general public can start buying tickets April 3. Tickets will be available at the Oriental Theatre box office starting April 5 and throughout the festival, and at the other participating theaters starting April 12.
RELATED: What's new in MIlwaukee movie theaters
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: 2024 Milwaukee Film Festival: Here are some of the lineup's highlights
