The eighth-annual Wisconsin Film Festival begins this weekend, spanning four days full of a variety of films. The films come from numerous locales, ranging from local to worldwide. One hundred and sixty-seven have been collected to show at this festival.
The festival tends to attract its share of cinematic personalities. This year, Chicago Sun-Times critic Roger Ebert will be in attendance.
I'm very proud of our film selection this year,\ said Meg Hamel, the festival's new director.
The first festival took place in 1999. Since then, it has become ""an institution,"" according to Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, a member of the city's Festival Advisory Board. The festival includes 10 theater screens in institutions around Madison, and Verveer cited the festival's expansion to Hilldale as a sign of its success.
Foreign and experimental films, Wisconsin-made documentaries and locally-produced student short films are among a handful brought to Madison every year because they are films people might otherwise never see, Hamel said.
Many productions that are too small or from foreign countries never get distributed to commercial theaters.
A small group of programmers look at approximately 1,000 films and then decide which to include in the festival.
The festival takes films from mail-ins, known directors, countries recognized for producing good films and films previously viewed at other festivals.
""I keep my eye on what developments are happening in cinema each year,"" Hamel said.
Show places are a different matter, according to Hamel. ""We choose these spaces because they have the capacity to hold an audience and they have a layout that will allow us to have a screen and some sort of projection system,"" she said.
As one of the chosen spaces, Hilldale is embracing its first year as part of the festival, and customers are not the only ones happy about it.
""I'm happy that we're doing it; I think it's a great benefit for Hilldale Theater, for the film festival and for all the film lovers in Madison,"" General Manager Craig Hussin said.
The festival presents an opportunity to show these films to Hilldale's audience and is the reason Hussin believes patrons are happy they are participating, and why Hilldale anticipates being very busy.
""We have everything in place so that it should run as smoothly as possible and be the most enjoyable experience for anybody that comes,"" he said.
Judging from ticket sales, Hamel said he predicts festival turnouts will be fantastic. Verveer added that the festival is a great thing for Madison's economy and for Madison as a city, bringing in people from all over, including nationally-known film critics.
""Anyone who's interested in coming to the film festival this weekend will enjoy themselves because there are going to be so many good films to choose from,"" Hamel said.
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