The Milwaukee Film Festival dropped its 2024 lineup, and we at Milwaukee Magazine can’t wait to see a bunch of the 300+ films they’re showing this year. Here’s a guide to 11 movies we are particularly excited to see:
1. The Queen of My Dreams
2023 | SHOWING ON APRIL 19 AND 21
I’ve been wanting to see this film since a preview for it popped up on my Instagram feed and I saw Amrit Kaur was starring in it. I loved Kaur in HBO show “The Sex Lives of College Girls,” so I was instantly excited to see her in a feature film. And I was thrilled that it’s going to be the Festival Centerpiece film for the fest this year. It’s a Bollywood-inspired dramedy about the intergenerational connections between a mother and a daughter, told through real and imagined memories. – Brianna Schubert, Associate Digital Editor
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2. String Theory: The Richard Davis Story
2024 | SHOWING ON APRIL 16, 17 AND 20
As a jazz fan, this one’s a must-see for me. Richard Davis, who passed away last year, was a phenomenal bassist who graced classic albums like Eric Dolphy’s Out to Lunch! and Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks. In 1977, he moved to Wisconsin to become a professor at UW-Madison, where he founded the Richard Davis Foundation for Young Bassists to teach and foster budding talent. This documentary, directed by Milwaukee-based Michael Neelsen, offers a look into his life and enduring legacy. – Evan Musil, Art & Culture Editor
RELATED: HERE’S THE 2024 MILWAUKEE FILM FESTIVAL LINEUP
3. Thelma
2023 | SHOWING APRIL 14, 15 AND 18
I’m into two kinds of movies – sad, lonely men smoking cigarettes in their sadness and loneliness; and old folks doing wacky stuff. These are the paths I trod, and I am not ashamed of them. This movie firmly lands on path two, and I’m quite excited to see it this year. Thelma follows the titular 93-year-old grandmother who is scammed by a caller pretending to be her grandson. In response, she sets out in a dangerous mission to get the scammer back. This movie promises to be a sort of geriatric Mission: Impossible – this is the kind of unpredictable energy modern cinema has been lacking. – Archer Parquette, Managing Editor
4. The Taste of Things
2023 | SHOWING APRIL 14, 17 AND 19
This subtitled French film set in the 1880s is about the relationship between a chef and his personal cook. They’re lovers – of course – and he keeps asking her to marry him but she keeps saying no. Something changes when he decides to cook for her. And something about that makes me hope for a feminist angle to the film, which stars one of my favorite French actresses Juliette Binoche. Which reminds me she starred in a food film in 2000 called Chocolat co-starring Johnny Depp. In any event, I’ll be in a theater seat on one of these dates hoping for a two-hour French foodie vacation. – Ann Christenson, Dining Editor
5. I’m Your Host
2023 | APRIL 15, 21 AND 24
This film by producers Tea Krulos and Christopher Kai House about the unusual concentration of zany horror hosts on Kenosha public access television began as a MilMag story in 2021. It begins as a study of the quirks and rivalries in this extremely niche subculture before taking an unexpected and emotional turn toward the serious. Under Alicia Maria Krupsky’s direction, I’m Your Host takes a deft, earnest touch with its kinda weird subjects – a hallmark of Krulos’ award-winning work for MilMag. – Chris Drosner, Executive Editor
6. Breaking the News
2023 | SHOWING APRIL 13, 19 AND 25
“A motivated group of women and LGBTQ+ journalists band together to launch 19th* News.” Well, you already know I’ll be there. This documentary follows the group of people who started 19th* News as a way to bring diversity, allyship and societal change to the newsroom. As a journalist, I’m obviously intrigued, but I think (or I hope!) people of all backgrounds and careers will find this interesting. – BS
7. Seeking Mavis Beacon
2024 | SHOWING ON APRIL 22
This one was put on my radar by a friend who saw it at another film festival. I’ve never played any of the Mavis Beacon typing games, but I’m fascinated this film’s premise. As a Black woman, Mavis Beacon was a groundbreaking face of technology – except she never existed. She’s a fictional character, and the woman whose face bears the name disappeared from public eye. The filmmakers set out to find her, and in turn raise questions about digital identity and how we use and consume images of people of color. And with AI continuing to seep into society, I imagine these themes serve an unsettling warning. – EM
RELATED: WHAT IT TAKES TO PROGRAM THE MILWAUKEE FILM FESTIVAL
8. Lousy Carter
2023 | SHOWING APRIL 13, 17
Who is Carter? Is he lousy? These are the questions I asked when I saw this flick on the Film Festival’s program. I hope they will be answered when I see a screening of the movie. The comedy follows a slovenly literature professor – played by David Krumholtz, seen recently in Oppenheimer – who’s given six months to live. I always enjoy a little morbid humor so this one’s pretty high on my list. – AP
9. Menus-Plaisirs Les Troisgros
2023 | SHOWING APRIL 14
Just getting it out there: this film is four hours long. I would normally balk at that – I can barely sit through a 45-minute show on Hulu – but… I’m intrigued. The director, 94-year-old Frederick Wiseman, focuses on the family-run restaurant Les Troisgros, which has held three Michelin stars for 55 years – that’s over four generations. The film dives into the incredible artistry at this institution located near Lyon, France. One of the owners, Michel Troisgros, is the son of one of the founders of nouvelle cuisine. OK, sold. – AC
10. Out of the Picture
2023 | APRIL12, 13 AND 24
Art criticism is a passion for Mary Louise Schumacher, who spent nearly two decades writing about Milwaukee’s art scene and the people who comprise it for the Journal Sentinel. Her reflections on American media organizations’ relationship with art and criticism more broadly led to this documentary, a debut directorial effort for which she surveyed neraly 300 writers across the country. I’ve seen the care Schumacher puts into her work firsthand through her contributions to MilMag, and I can’t wait to finally see it manifest in this project, which MFF describes as taking on “the nature of art, modern life and how meaning gets made in the 21st century.” – CD
Note: I know I picked films by two acquaintances, but my experience last year underscored the value in being scattershot in approach to MFF. Just find something that looks like it even might be of interest, and check it out! It’s extremely satisfying to launch your rowboat into this ocean of film.
11. Cat City
2024 | SHOWING ON APRIL 18, 21 AND 24
Cat City! I’m sold. OK, beyond the title, this film seems interesting. It looks at the feral cat population in Chicago and all the love and hate that it stirs in people. The movie runs the gamut of cat caretakers, animal welfare activists, environmentalists and even birders to paint a full picture of these feline friends (or foes?) and their place in the city. And, of course, there’s plenty of cat footage to go along with it. – EM
