Milwaukee International Short Film Fest
It’s not the 25th Annual Milwaukee International Short Film Festival (MISFF), Ross Bigley quickly points out. But this year’s event is the 25th time the festival of shorts has occurred. “For the first six or seven years it was not annual—I did it whenever I felt like it,” says the festival’s founder and director.
Have other things changed since MISFF began? “Oh, yes! It couldn’t help but change over the years because society has changed and the way people make things has changed,” he says. The first MISFF was held at Beanhead, a coffeeshop on Martin Luther King Drive. Since then, it has migrated from the Times Cinema to the Milwaukee Art Museum and the Fox Bay, hitting three sides of town before heading south to the Avalon in Bayview. In the ‘90s when Bigley began the festival, most submissions were on VHS tapes. Now they arrive via the internet in digital formats.
Bigley describes the first wave of MISFF filmmakers as “all young white men.” Besotted by Quentin Tarantino, many submitted crime caper productions starring local actors in black suits. “In the last 10 years, more women and more people of color have taken up the camera,” he continues. “They are telling different stories and their viewpoints have broadened our audience.”
Bigley insists on programming half of the festival with female-made films. “They are half of the population. It’s one way to make it more balanced,” he explains. “When I put a program block together, I try to see what’s unique and interesting—something entertaining but with something you can take away as well.”
MISFF 2023 consists of 49 films. Most are by Milwaukee filmmakers and most clock in at under 15 minutes. “Making a short film involves condensing ideas for a fulfilling experience. You can say as much in 7 minutes as in 90. It takes a lot of skill to present ideas in such brief amounts of time.”
Reflecting back over 25 festivals, the 2023 MISFF will include three films from past years including one from the first festival, Mark G.E.’s The Phantom Limb. The Milwaukee Short Film Festival takes place Sept. 8-9 at the Avalon Atmospheric Theater, 2473 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. For more information, visit milwaukeeindependentfilmsociety.org.
Tickets will be on sale shortly from the Avalon Theater.
