Starting in 2016, Milwaukee’s Twisted Dreams Film Festival filled a niche in Milwaukee’s expanding milieu of cinematic events. Their focus is on horror, that once marginalized genre that has come to occupy a central place in pop culture. Twisted Dreams’ cofounders and codirectors, Christopher House and Steve Milek, met while working dead end jobs and discovered their mutual appreciation for macabre movies. The festival began modestly in the Underground Collaborative beneath Grand Avenue, moved uptown to the Times Cinema and now, given the viral horror loose in the world, has gone virtual.
The 2020 Twisted Dreams Film Festival runs October 1-4 and will include “twisted Wisconsin shorts,” spook show shorts, animation and comedy shorts. Among the featured events are Q&As with film makers including director Michael Fausti (2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 3). For tickets and more information, visit twisteddreamsff.com.
The co-directors answered questions about their event.
When did you decide you had to go virtual with this year’s festival? What was the thinking leading to the decision?
House: We held out as long as we could, really. We believe the best way to experience a festival is in person and we really held out hope. We pushed our April date to June hoping this madness would end but, here we are. A lot of other festivals were going virtual and having really good turnouts so, after much debate we decided it was the only real option.
Tell me a little about the process of choosing films for the festival?
Milek: The selection process is one of the hardest parts of the festival and requires making some difficult decisions. We have a lot of great films that are submitted but only a finite time to screen them. This means some good films are not going to make it.
There are many factors that go into deciding which ones make it in. Quality and originality are probably the two biggest ones. While we want movies that are going to look great, sometimes if a movie tells an original or creative story, that is enough to give it a bump into the festival. With only two of us watching all the films, it can start to feel like a chore but when you get a good one it feels all worth it. As we move forward, we are going to look at expanding our team of screeners to keep us from getting too overwhelmed.
Is Twisted Dreams the only festival of its kind in Wisconsin? Does Chicago have a comparable event?
Milek: We are not the only horror festival in Wisconsin. There is one in Oshkosh, Eau Claire and Lake Geneva. There have been a few in Madison but I believe the latest one has taken a break. There are also a few in Chicago. But we have tried to differentiate ourselves. Last year we had Joe Bob Briggs. This year we were bringing in Lloyd Kaufman. We also have a Spook Show that incorporates a magic show with some of the most outrageous films we had submitted. We are hoping after the pandemic we can get back to putting on a show like no one has ever seen.
In some ways, has going virtual benefitted you? Would Michael Fausti have traveled to Milwaukee for a Q&A or is it more likely he would respond to a virtual presence at the festival?
House: Exactly, that’s the biggest advantage a virtual festival has. We can do Q&A and panel discussions with people from all over the world. I’d say most of our filmmakers are interested in a Q&A for their films and we just recorded one with a filmmaker in Spain. We are going to have a ton of discussions with filmmakers that would never have had the opportunity to attend the festival. Which is great but, has us nervous at the same time since the technology is so new to us.
Is The Slashening a world premiere?
House: We have the world premiere of the final cut of the film, yes. A work print was screened at another festival, but we have the final cut. We also have the film maker on board for a Q&A. As well as a round table discussion with Lloyd Kaufman. Slashening: The Final Beginning will be available Sunday October 4 at 6 p.m. followed by a filmmaker Q&A. Free but limited tickets will be available for the Lloyd Kaufman round table on Saturday October 3.
Does the horror genre have anything to tell us about the current world situation?
Milek: I think it can. This year we have had a lot of films submitted that I would consider “Technological Horror.” H0us3 is a great example of how technology can turn into something we fear. In the film a bunch of friends in the tech business discuss how the internet makes it easy to steal people’s personal information and how information will become the currency of the future. We also have a number of shorts that delve into technology like Swipe, Second Hearing and the comedy Monsters in Your Pocket. I think these movies reflect our ever-increasing dependence on technology and makes us question how much information is available online. Obviously, the world has changed so radically this year that the films haven’t had time to really reflect that. While there have been a few “Zoom” horror films, I expect horror films in the future to delve into the psyche of what has happened.
Could you categorize horror fans as Republican, Democratic, Independent or is it impossible to link an interest in the genre with any one political point of view?
Milek: The interesting thing we found is that horror fans have a variety of beliefs. But I also believe that horror films can challenge us no matter what our beliefs are. The best horror films can wrap a political commentary in a fun story and if you want to look for it you can find it but if you're just there for the horror you can sit back and enjoy the ride. I also believe that everyone has their own horror stories to tell and it’s important to hear from all people. This is why I think it’s important to have storytellers from people of color and the LGBTQ community. I’m hoping as we grow, we start to get more diverse submissions.
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