Wisconsin Film Festival: Feasting on C’tek’s table scraps

voodoo macbeth cinematheque

On Saturday afternoon, moments before Chimes at Midnight was projected in front of a Capitol theater filled with Orson Welles enthusiasts, Wisconsin Film Festival director (and Cinematheque skipper) Jim Healy dropped a few nuggets regarding future screenings by way of the Kenosha native.

They’re not all films outright either. Among Healy’s hints were The Trial, the director’s little-seen Franz Kafka meta-adaptation, and recordings from “Voodoo MacBeth,” Welles’ 1936 Caribbean-centric production of Shakespeare’s play while working under President Roosevelt’s Federal Theatre Project.

Having wrapped part one of an Orson Welles centennial tribute in February, the Cinematheque extended their celebration with a dedicated program at this year’s festival, including Too Much Johnson and Chuck Workman’s Magician, a semi-thorough biography in brief. There’s been no announcement yet on whether staffers will wise up and include Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, Chuck Jones’ animated Kipling adaptation in which Welles provides both narration services and the voice of a dastardly snake. Again: that’s no announcement yet.