NEWS/ EVENTS

At the turn of the 20th Century, there were 100,000 elephants in Thailand. Today, there are less than 5,000.

Where are they going? Who is working to save them? And what can you do to help?

Come see this important film co-sponsored by The Eisner Museum and WUWM 89.7 on Tuesday Jan 26th. Reception sponsored by Rishi Tea @ 7PM

Film @ 7:30PM

The 11th Annual Milwaukee Short Film Festival is done for the year, here's how it played out.

BEST FILM: Mannen Med Kulorna by Hans Montelius

HONORARY MENTION: E Finita La Commedia by Jean-Julien Collette

BEST DIRECTOR: Stephen Keep Mills for Liminal

BEST ACTOR: Cedric Eeckhout from E Finita La Commedia

BEST WISCONSIN FILM: How To Not Kill Everyone by Kathy Fischer and Drew Foerster

AUDIENCE FAVORITE: Open your Eyes by Susan Cohen.

We thank all who support and sponsor us, that is what keeps us going. And we want to thank our judges who donated their time to help us out, and Tim Lonsdale, one of our judges who flew in to take part in the festivities.

See you all next September

Best Film Winner Hans Montelius of "Mannem Med Kulorna" with one of the actors of the film, Lukas Loughran.

Ross, thanks for takin' care of me and the fellas when we were down there! A film fest IN the Milwaukee Art Museum!! I'm still in awe!! We had a great time, good seein' you guys again!

Craig Anthony Knitt

Director of Happy Boy/One of Those Days

Ross, the art museum was a great venue and that was probably the cleanest, crispest projection I have seen of The Wintress yet. Congrats on a great, well run festival....

Bill Elverman

Director of The Wintress

Good to meet you! And congrats on your film festival. Today was a bit of a whirlwind, but I am so happy I was able to be a part of the festival. Well done!

Charise Studesville

Director of The Hands

I've been asked over the years to judge other festivals and have turned every single one of them down, except for this one. Having been a judge for three years and having had the opportunity to fly in and be a part of it during this past weekend, I must say their reputation exceeds them. The Milwaukee Short Film Festival is very professionally run; a smooth operation. I had a blast being a part of it. I enjoyed judging the films, which were of high quality and very entertaining. It's great to see that Milwaukee finally has a world class film festival in the Milwaukee Short Film Festival. I'm honored to be a part of this festival.

Timothy J. Lonsdale

Judge, 1st AD on Eli Stone, Pushing Daises, Charmed and TBS's My Boys, Directors Guild of America member.

Hi Ross,

I'm thrilled to receive the news above about Open Your Eyes was the audience favorite! Sorry I wasn't able to attend, but it was great to get all of your updates during the festival and to read that the audience attendance was up from last year.

I hope I will have the opportunity to attend your festival in the future.

Congrats on a fantastic festival this year! Here's to your festivals continued success in the coming years!!!

Kind regards,

Susan Cohen

Director of Open Your Eyes

Hey Ross, Sounds like a great lineup of films this weekend. As always, I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to show my work at your festival. I'm bummed I can't be in attendance, but i hope for a great turnout.

Eric Gerber

Director of Vagrant

We are extremely happy to have won the honor of Best Film. I've told the crew and on behalf of all of them I want to express my deepest thanks forthis honor!

Thank you,

Hans Montelius

"Mannen Med Kulorna"

Had a great time at the Milwaukee Short Film Festival this year. Got to host, got to have a movie in the fest, and got to see some fine movies.

John Van Slyke

Host, Director of Sinking Ships

. . All of the films Fri. night were amazing!

Michele Lail

I'm very happy to tell you that my latest video project entitled "Shiva Street" has been accepted into the Milwaukee Independent Film Society's Short Film Festival.

Vito Valenti

Ross, thanks so much for including me. I loved watching and having the filmmakers open my eyes to their vision, talent, skill. As you will see I'm a bit of a purist. (Blame a Professor Mayer at Lawrence U).

David Streit

Judge, film producer, Master Lecturer AFI

Thanks for including me in this project! I had a great time watching the films and struggling to weigh them against each other (very tough!). Anyway, this was a lot of fun. Can't wait to see the final results.

Elizabeth Pollock Bruch

Judge, Student Academy Award winner for Indiana Aria

There's a quote Shakespeare has in As You Like It, where one woman is trying to console another for not getting the man she wants and she says: "You are not for all markets", meaning she has to seek her requital elsewhere. When I was a full-time actor, I immediately claimed that line almost as an anthem to console myself for the steady diet of rejection which is as "par for the course" for actors as it is for filmmakers who experience un-requitals from festivals who constantly "select" others than them (others than they?). No, we are not for all markets and we are not meant to be, but thank god there is someone out there--some Man in the Blue Moon--who takes us in, sees our worth. Someone willing to bring us out of the cold and put us up on their screen. So, Ross, I want to thank you for picking LIMINAL, for introducing it to your audience, and for keeping the film alive. Thanks for this festival.

Stephen Mills

Winner for Best Director

I think that the beauty of such an experience is to watch films I wouldn't ordinarily watch. Good to shake up the old brain and sensibility. The film festival is a wonderful gift to those who have the good fortune of taking it in. All the best and thanks for your message.

Susan M Bence

Sunday Night WUWM Volunteer

"had a good time on sunday night; movies were good. I liked the belgian one best; goodwriting, good acting. glad the event was a success."

Erik N. Ebarp

Founder of Vanity Theatre

Far and away the best film fest in Milwaukee!

Wayne Clingman

Founder, It Came From Lake Michigan Film Festival

It was great meeting you last night. Appreciate your efforts in putting together a great event. It was wonderful to meet additional people as well.

Timothy Dyer