The annual Wisconsin Film Festival is back for its 26th year at multiple locations in Madison from April 4 to 11.
The festival will feature a handful of campus-centric films among its more than 140 films. Many have scheduled screenings at well-known campus locations, including the UW Cinematheque in Vilas Hall, The Marquee at Union South, The Chazen Museum of Art and Music Hall.
Here’s what you need to know:
Student tickets available in advance
One big change to this year's festival is a welcome opportunity for University of Wisconsin-Madison student film buffs: advanced tickets can now be purchased for free with Wiscard.
In years past, free student tickets were only available the day of a screening, leaving students left out if the screening was highly anticipated. Now, students can grab advance tickets with their Wiscard in-person at the Mitchell Theater Box Office in Vilas Hall on either March 20 or March 27 from 4-7 p.m.
Students who miss the presale can still arrive at a screening and claim a free seat with their
Wiscard, if seats are available.
Two documentaries, one short film feature UW-Madison
Two full-length documentaries featuring UW-Madison will be shown in the film festival program.
The first is “Richard Davis, Lynda Berry and the Wisconsin Idea,” a program screening Sunday, April 7 at 4:45 p.m. at Music Hall.
“String Theory: The Richard Davis Method,” follows the students of the Richard Davis Bass Conference for Young Bassists at UW-Madison and discusses the legacy of legendary bass player Richard Davis.
UW-Madison faculty member and comic book artist Lynda Berry is the focus of the second campus documentary, “A Room Alive!” The film shows Berry and her students as they explore their creativity through the creation of comic books.
A student short film, “Computer Sciences, B.S.,” will also be featured. This film follows “a computer science student struggling to find the motivation to work on a difficult assignment,” according to the film festival guide.
“Computer Sciences, B.S.” will be shown alongside a collection of short films about life in Wisconsin at the Marquee on Saturday, April 6 at 6:30 p.m.
What else is screening?
Among other notable films coming to the festival is an advance screening of “The Idea of You,” based on a novel inspired by a popular Harry Styles fanfiction. The film, which stars Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galaztine, will be shown on April 11 at Flix Brewhouse before its May 22 release on Prime Video.
A full guide to the 2024 Wisconsin Film Festival can be found here.
The Daily Cardinal Arts Desk will be covering the festival in-depth. Stay tuned for more film reviews and interviews.
Gabriella Hartlaub is an arts editor for the Daily Cardinal. She also reports state politics and life & style stories. Follow her on Twitter at @gabihartlaub.
