Wednesday, November 13, 2024

Weyauwega Film Festival to screen 61 films

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The 14th annual Weyauwega International Film Festival at the Gerold Opera House will feature 61 films from around the world Wednesday through Saturday, Nov. 13-16.

Of that mix, there will be 25 made-in-Wisconsin films and a mix of thrillers and horror films that compose the yearly Psychofest, a tribute to Weyauwega’s connection to the Hitchcock film, “Psycho.”

The film fest will start on Wednesday, Nov. 13 and close on Saturday, Nov. 16 with an award ceremony and a reception.

One significant local film will be shown at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov 16. “Back on Track” is the story of Mike Kirk, a railroad enthusiast who restored the abandoned Waupaca train depot. Director Max Hauser chronicles the 24 years it took for Kirk to complete the project. The film explores the history of Waupaca and how railroads shaped the nation.


Wisconsin-made

The big event for Wisconsin films is the premiere of “Gold,” a documentary about the Gold Nugget, a strip club in the unincorporated town of Spread Eagle, Wisconsin. The film explores the lives of four dancers and the owner of the legendary North Woods establishment.

In another prominent film, Edward Norton and Quannah Chasing Horse narrate the documentary, “Bad River.” It’s about the Wisconsin-based Bad River Band and their ongoing fight to protect Lake Superior and the Bad River Reservation from an aging pipeline.

The documentary, “The Best of Us,” is told through the perspective of the volunteer fire department in a rural Wisconsin community.

Another documentary, “Decoupling” is by Yinan Wang, a Chinese-born, American Midwest-living filmmaker that delves into how a transnational migrant family deals with identity, nationalism and geopolitics.

The coming-of-age story, “Freedom, Wisconsin” is about a grieving young woman growing up in small-town Wisconsin. She meets a big-city writer and that relationship helps turn her life around.

Wisconsin shorts

The short film, “Good Stuff” is about a hungover college student getting served some fancy wine from his girlfriend’s wine snob of a father. “A Lost Page” is about a woman with a dead-end job who reignites her spark for writing. “Lincoln National,” is about an old Milwaukee golf course where generations of players have a shared bond for the love the game and this land.

The experimental short film, “The Inhabitants,” follows two immigrants from the late 19th century using no dialogue but cinematic images and settings. “The Inheritance,” is about a young man that loses his grandfather and has to face his poor choices in life. “Close Call with Ghosts” is about some students from the Green Bay Boys & Girls Club discovering a ghost inside the building.

“The Treachery of Images (of dogs)” is a short documentary about our relationship to dogs using various images. Another short documentary is “Paint the City 2,” a story of the making of a large scale mural in Appleton.“Pete’s Castle” is a short documentary about Pete Kelley, a man who built his own castle in Tomahawk.

Right in time for deer season, the short film, “Slug Season,” is about two brothers heading out into the woods to bag a buck and the hunt takes a dark turn. Another short film is “Spark Plug,” a story about a broken relationship and an equally broken-down car. “The Stone Carver” is a short film about a husband in mourning after his wife died.

There are 12 animation films in the festival. Three of them are made in Wisconsin. “The Mistletoe Dart,” a retelling of a Norse myth that was made with cut-paper stop-motion animation by students at Crestwood Elementary school in Madison. The second animation is “The Surgeon,” a Christmas film about an arborist and the third is an experimental animation composed of woodcut prints that come to life with natural sounds.

Weird Wisconsin

Wisconsin films also worked their way into the line-up for Psychofest which kicks off with a showing of the horror classic “Psycho.” The Wisconsin connection to this film is that Ed Gein of Plainfield was the inspiration for Norman Bates. Weyauwega resident Robert Bloch heard of Gein’s heinous crimes and penned a novel of the same name and it was the book that launched his career. The film will be introduced by Robert Bloch expert Bill Gillard.

The narrative feature film, “Happy Birthday” is a post-pandemic story of a man that lost his family to a virus and he cannot cope with the change. He lives alone in the woods and then a stranger arrives. Local actor Dan Davies is in the film.

The short film, “Swept Off” is about a woman with amnesia. A healer helps her remember her former self and something buried deep within her emerges. Another short is “Sentinel,” a story about a reporter and a missing whistleblower involve in a corporate conspiracy.

In “Nightmare,” a college student is stalked by something evil and dreams and real life blur together. In “The Key,” a CIA psychic is hired to communicate with a supernatural being.

The short film, “The Last Witch in Wisconsin” is a story of two men lured to an old house and they learn about a witch. “The Gatekeeper” is about the owners of an old building discover a secret down in the basement.

Details, tickets

Thursday, Nov. 14 is Wisconsin Day for the film festival and when all Wisconsin films will be shown. The festival schedule can be found at www.wegaarts.org.

Festival single-day passes cost $15 for Wednesday and Thursday. and $20 for Friday and Saturday. Passes for the entire festival cost $50. There are no individual tickets for individual films. Audience members can stay all day or come and return with a pass.

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