The Milwaukee Film Festival announced its 2012 guests, presenters and judges this morning, and it's an impressive list of esteemed and up-and-coming directors, visiting experts and local movie buffs that includes Brewers relief pitcher John Axford. In another life the team's high-drama closer might have been a filmmaker: He majored in film and frequently tweets about it; his Oscar predictions are about as good as anybody's (in 2011 he called 11 out of 13). In addition to judging the festival with Deb McClutchy, Michael Raisler and Laurel Ward, Axford will present a 2:30 p.m. screening of The Princess Bride at the Oriental Theatre on Saturday, Oct. 6. The film is expected to catch in the reel during the movie's climactic scene, almost snaggle itself beyond repair, then untangle just in time for the credits.
The complete list of film festival guests is below.
FILMMAKERS
3,2,1…Frankie Go Boom
Elliott Lewitt - Executive Producer
Saturday, Sept 29 • 9:30 PM • Oriental Theatre
An Affair of the Heart
Sylvia Carminer - Director
Melanie Lentz-Janney - Executive Producer
Friday, Sept 28 • 7 PM • Downer Theatre
Saturday, Sept 29 • 5:45 PM • Fox-Bay Cinema Grill
Andrew Bird: Fever Year
Xan Aranda - Director/Producer
Angelo Valencia - editor
Saturday, Sept 29 • 9:45 PM • Oriental Theatre
Sunday, Sept 30 • 3 PM • Oriental Theatre
As Goes Janesville
Brad Lichtenstein - Director
Saturday, Oct 6 • 5 PM • Oriental Theatre
Monday, Oct 8 • 2:15 PM • Oriental Theatre
Tuesday, Oct 9 • 7:15 PM • Downer Theatre
Thursday, Oct 11 • 8:15 PM • Fox-Bay Cinema
Beauty is Embarrassing
Neil Berkeley - DirectorWayne White - Subject
Sunday, Sept 30 • 5 PM • Oriental Theatre
Sunday, Sept 30 • 6:30 PM • Alterra Prospect (party)
Bending Towards The Light
Brad Pruitt - Director
Sunday, Oct 7 • 7:15 PM • Oriental Theatre
Monday, Oct 8 • 5 PM • Fox-Bay Cinema
Blackmail
Alloy Orchestra - Live Orchestral Accompaniment
Monday, Oct 8 • 7 PM • Oriental Theatre
Brooklyn Castle
Katie Dellamaggiore - DirectorNelson Dellamaggiore- Producer
Wednesday, Oct 10 • 5 PM • Oriental Theatre
Chilly (from the Shorts: Whodunit? program)
Dylan Kohler - Director
Monday, Oct 1 • 6 PM • Fox-Bay Cinema
Cock Gun (short film screening before Klown)
Jack Packard - Director
Saturday, Oct 6 • Midnight • Oriental Theatre
Deadweight
Adam Bartlett - Director
John Pata - Director
Saturday, Sept 29 • 7 PM • Oriental Theatre
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
Alex Gibney - Presenter
Friday, Oct 5 • 2:15 PM • Oriental Theatre
Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey
Joshua Green - Executive Producer
Sunday, Sept 30 • 7:30 PM • Oriental Theatre
The Giant Spider Invasion
Bill Rebane - Director
Mark Borchardt – Presenter
Saturday, Oct 6 • 9:30 PM • Oriental Theatre
A Girl Like Her
Ann Fessler - Director
Sally Burke – subject
Wednesday, Oct 3 • 7 PM • Downer Theatre
I Am X (part of the Kids Shorts Sized Medium program)
Elise Fachon - Director
Saturday, Sept 29 • 12:15 PM • Oriental Theatre
Sunday, Sept 30 • 11 AM • Fox-Bay Cinema
I Want My Name Back
Joshua Green - Executive Producer
Friday, Sept 28 • 9:45 PM • Oriental Theatre
Inland Empire
J. Hoberman – Presenter
Sunday, Sept 30 • 4 PM • Downer Theatre
The Jeffrey Dahmer Files
Chris James Thompson - Director
Tuesday, Oct 2 • 7 PM • Oriental Theatre
Monday, Oct 8 • 2:15 PM • Oriental Theatre
Tuesday, Oct 9 • 7:15 PM • Downer Theatre
Thursday, Oct 11 • 8:15 PM • Fox-Bay Cinema
Last Day At Lambeau
Michael Johnson - Writer
David Neelson - Producer
Michael Neelson - Director/Producer
Saturday, Sept 29 • 1 PM • Oriental Theatre
Sunday, Sept 30 • Noon • Fox-Bay Cinema
Tuesday, Oct 2 • 7 PM • Fox-Bay Cinema
Little Red
Tate Bunker - Director
Sunday, Sept 30 • 7:15 PM • Oriental Theatre
Wednesday, Oct 3 • 4:30 PM • Oriental Theatre
Wednesday, Oct 10 • 7:15 PM • Fox-Bay Cinema
Me At The Zoo
Jack Turner -Producer
Saturday, Sept 29 • 7:30 PM • Downer Theatre
Thursday, Oct 4 • 4:30 PM • Fox Bay Cinema
Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God
Alex Gibney - Director
Arthur Budzinski – SubjectGary Smith - Subject
Friday, Oct 5 • 7 PM • Oriental TheatreThe Milwaukee Show
Tate Bunker - Studies In Space
Brooke Duckart - Cat Waco
Jon Elliott - The Evilest of Sorcerers
Ericka Frederick - Walking Peace
Erik Ljung - Sing (For Trouble)
Blyth Renate Meier - So I Could Fly Away
Steven Miosku - Gears
Giorgi Mrevlishvili - Reflection (Anarekli)
Brian McGuire - She Leaves The City
Nathaniel Schardin- The Vampire Formerly Known As Dracula
Sean Williamson - Sing (For Trouble)Thursday, Oct 4 • 7PM • Oriental Theatre
No God No Master
Terry Green - Director
(plus local cast & crew)Sunday, Oct 7 • 7:30PM • Oriental Theatre
Tuesday, Oct 9 • 7:15 PM • Fox-Bay Cinema
The Princess Bride
John Axford – Presenter
Saturday, Oct 6 • 2:30 PM • Oriental Theatre
Remote Area Medical (from the Shorts: Quiet Riots program)
Jeff Reichert - Director
Farihah Zaman - Director
Saturday, Sept 29 • 7:15 PM • Fox-Bay Cinema
Sans Soleil
J. Hoberman - Presenter
Saturday, Sept 29 • 4:45 PM • Oriental Theatre
Sleepover
Laj P. Waghray - Director
Sunday, Oct 7 • 4:15 PM • Fox-Bay Cinema
Wednesday, Oct 10 • 7:45 PM • Oriental Theatre
Taxi to the Darkside
Alex Gibney - Director
Thursday, Oct 4 • 6:45 PM • Oriental Theatre
Tchoupitoulas
Bill Ross IV - Director
Turner Ross - Director
Saturday, Oct 6 • 9:30 PM • Oriental TheatreWe’re Not Broke
Victoria Louise Bruce - Director/Producer
Karin Lynne Hayes, Director/Producer
Saturday, Sept 29 • 4 PM • Oriental Theatre
Sunday, Sept 30 • 7:30 PM • Fox-Bay Cinema
PANELISTS
Access and Ethics in Documentary Filmmaking
Saturday, Oct 6 • 1 PM • Kenilworth Square East 640
• Janet Fitch - New Moon Productions
• Bill Ross IV - Director, Tchoupitoulas
• Turner Ross - Director, Tchoupitoulas
• Maureen Ryan - Hands On Productions, MeaMaxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God
Chinese Cinema in a Transnational Frame
Saturday, Sept 29 • 1 PM • Kenilworth Square East 640
• Jennifer Feeley - Assistant Professor, Universityof Iowa
• Dr. Jian Xu - Associate Professor, UW-Milwaukee
Dahmer, Milwaukee
Sunday, Oct 7 • 5 PM • Kenilworth Square East 640
• Dr. Joe Austin - Associate Professor of History,UW-Milwaukee
• James E. Causey - Columnist, Milwaukee JournalSentinel
• Dr. Pat Kennedy - Former homicide detective, MilwaukeePolice Department; key interrogator in the
Dahmer investigation
• Chris James Thompson - Director, The JeffreyDahmer Files
Film Distro 101
Saturday, Sept 29 • 3 PM • Kenilworth Square East 640
• Xan Aranda - director/producer, Andrew Bird:Fever Year
• Victoria Louise Bruce - Director/Producer, We’reNot Broke
• Andrew Carlin - Head of Theatrical Salesand Acquisitions, Music Box Films
• Silke Cole - Film Distribution Consultant
• Karin Lynne Hayes - Director/Producer, We’re NotBroke
• Karen Roberts - CEO KLR Entertainment; formerSenior VP Acquisitions, Entertainment Studios
Financing Your Film
Sunday, Oct 7 • 2 PM • Kenilworth Square East 640
• ldi Toth Davy - Managing Director, AltadenaFilms• Mark Foote - Flexible Films LLC
• Michael Raisler - Creative Director/ExecutiveProducer, Cinereach
• Erin Sorensen – president, Third StageConsulting, Inc.
MKE At Risk: After-School Programs
Wednesday, Oct 10 • 7:30 PM • Kenilworth Square East 640
• Alan Borsuk - Senior Fellow in Law and PublicPolicy, Marquette University Law School
State of Cinema in the 21st Century: Film After Film
Sunday, Sept 30 • 1 PM • Downer Theatre
• Keynote Speaker: J. Hoberman - Author, Film Critic
Three A-holes Talk About Web Videos
Saturday, Oct 6 • 7 PM • Y-Not III Tavern
• Jay Bauman - Red Letter Media
• Kara Mulrooney - Gal Friday Films
• Jack Packard - Funny Or Die• MikeStoklasa - Red Letter Media
JUDGES
Cream City Cinema
John Axford - Milwaukee BrewersDeb McClutchy -Oscilloscope Pictures
Michael Raisler -Creative Director, Cinereach; Executive producer, Beasts of the SouthernWild
Laurel Ward - VP ofDevelopment, Ocean Pictures
Competition Program
Ildi Toth Davy – Altadena PicturesDavid Heuring - Cinematographer
Brad Wilke - Programmer, Seattle International Film Festival