If you thought my Wisconsin Film Festival preview from last week was too brief, Madison Film Forum’s Jim Kreul suggests “drafting” your choices wisely:
This mock draft has a few ground rules. I’m going to pretend that I could go to whatever film I want, regardless of ticket availability or how many tickets I can afford. I’m also going to assume the persona of someone who, um, works. I’m going to take off Thursday through Sunday, but Monday through Friday my persona will get off work at 5:00 pm. (In real life I get off work at 6:00 or 6:30 pm, so I’m going to have to figure some things out). My persona will have seen several Festival preview screeners, however, which will influence Festival week selections. But my persona will not have seen most of those screeners yet, so the preference will simply be based on what I have access to, not based on which film is better than the other.
The Isthmus’ Phil Davis on director Marc Kornblatt and the inspiration for his new film, Dostoevksy Behind Bars, is a Wisconsin’s Own selection in this year’s Wisconsin Film Festival:
Kornblatt, a fourth-grade teacher at Lincoln Elementary, is no rookie, either. Through his production company Refugee Films, he has directed a number of works, including Old Country Lullaby, Because It’s Small, While It Lasts and Street Pulse, which was shown at the 2013 Wisconsin Film Festival.
Tired of self-indulgent political documentaries? So is Arts Extract’s Scott Gordon, who sounds off on Wisconsin Rising:
To Mayfield’s credit, ‘Wisconsin Rising’ does ponder the nuances of the protests and failed attempt to recall Walker, particularly later on in the film, analyzing the trade-offs between electoral strategies and direct, workplace-based action and the rifts between labor activists and Democratic Party leaders, and Wisconsin’s history in pioneering public unions and unemployment insurance. It includes brief interviews with Walker and some of his supporters. Yet too often it falls into a rhythm of protest clips and lefty talking heads. And Mayfield *does* use those lefty talking heads voraciously, featuring interviews with Dennis Kucinich, Jim Hightower, Kelda Helen Roys, Robert McChesney, Ruth Coniff—come on, leave some for the hacky Wisconsin-protest documentaries of the future!