Small Town Wisconsin
The Sarajevo Film Festival had planned to present the world premiere of Milwaukee native Niels Mueller’s latest film, Small Town Wisconsin. In response to the global pandemic, Mueller’s film, along with other carefully selected films from around the world, will be shown on outdoor screens set up in town squares around the historic city. “When I screened my first film, The Assassination of Richard Nixon in Sarajevo in 2005,” Mueller says, “there were 3,000 people in the bleachers. It was a surreal experience.” This time around will be different.
Independent filmmakers count on film festivals to help raise the profile of films. The Sarajevo Film Festival organizers haven’t missed a beat. “I just finished a second day of press,” Mueller says. “We’re getting great notices and I’m starting to hear from friends in Europe and the States who are seeing them.”
At the core of Small Town Wisconsin, we witness a father and son story which touches on issues of relatable importance—divorce, alcoholism and uncertainty. The central character, Wayne Stobierski, has planned an epic weekend with his young son. The plan is to take him on a road trip downstate to see the bright, big city lights of Milwaukee, and take him to a professional baseball game.
During test screenings, Mueller explains that the most important note he’s received is the audience’s ability to relate to the material. “We’ve been asked how we achieved such authenticity,” Mueller said. “People are interested in how we put together a cast who disappeared so completely into their roles, how we were able to actually shoot a film with such depth and insight in Wisconsin.”
The authenticity did not come easily. While shopping the project, Mueller told financiers that it was imperative to cast the right actors as it was such a character-driven script. That’s a descriptor that can be overused but in this instance of this film, it’s accurate. “We achieved the realness of the film through deliberate and painstaking work,” Mueller says. “I implored potential investors that the only way I could cast a film about Wisconsin appropriately was to have fresh faces, and most importantly to find actors that already had the character residing inside of them.”
It was Mueller’s belief that name recognition of his actors was not necessary to fulfill a solid script. This is an idea many Hollywood producers would not be willing to consider. Mueller wanted to stay away from actors that were too familiar. One face people will recognize is Kristen Johnston, who is from Milwaukee. Johnston is best known from the television show “Third Rock from the Sun.” Mueller said Johnston immediately connected with the script.
David Sullivan (Wayne) did not grow up in Wisconsin, but Mueller was confident he could capture a Wisconsin accent. “We hired a dialect coach to teach David how to pronounce words like “Oil” like a Wisconsinite,” Mueller said. “He had to become familiar with names like Mequon, Oconomowoc, words we grew up with in Wisconsin but don’t flow off the tongue of someone who was born somewhere else.”
Others in the cast have Wisconsin in their blood as well. Tanya Fischer (“Life on Mars,” “Coppers”) is from West Bend. Bill Heck (“Ballad of Buster Scruggs,” “The Alienist”) spent every summer in Minocqua driving up from the flatlands of Illinois.
Mueller was thrilled he was able to assemble most of his production crew from the Milwaukee area. His producer Scott Foley is from Marinette. Producer Josh Rosenberg is from Green Bay. Jason Naczek is the scriptwriter and is from Wauwatosa, just outside of Milwaukee. It truly is a small-town production.
“On one level, the film is a love letter to Wisconsin,” Mueller explained. “We shot during the summer because it was right for the story - but also because all of us wanted to show off the state. We’re proud the film has played to great laughter as well as tears,” Mueller said. “We are equally proud of the comedy and the drama and the response we’ve gotten on both these fronts from our test audiences in Los Angeles and Milwaukee.”
Even COVID-19 will be unable to quell people’s love of film. This is the first time people all around the globe will be able to attend the Sarajevo Film Festival from wherever they are—be it Sarajevo or Milwaukee. Mueller’s film premiered on Aug. 17, and audiences will be able to view the film on the festival website from Aug. 17-24.
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