If you have a question, please take a look at the FAQ below to see if you can find your answer. If you are still having trouble, feel free to email help@mkefilm.org - we will respond as soon as we can!

THE BASICS

When should I buy tickets?

You already know the answer to this one: as soon as possible! Many of our screenings sell out, leaving sad, ticket-less people. Don’t be one of those. Buy your tickets early!

When should I arrive at screenings?

If you have a ticket, we highly recommend you arrive a minimum of 30 minutes prior to showtime to secure your seat. All ticket holders must arrive no later than 15 minutes prior to the scheduled showtime to guarantee a seat. Beginning 15 minutes before the show, any empty seats will be sold to patrons in the Standby line.

What if a screening is sold out?

If a film is listed as “Standby Only” online, there’s still hope! You can join the Standby line at the venue to buy any unclaimed seats. Standby tickets are sold on a first-come, first-served basis, so get in line early.

What are Standby tickets?

Standby tickets are last-minute tickets to screenings where all advance tickets have been sold. If available, Standby tickets are sold within 15 minutes of showtime. All Standby tickets are sold at full price and are not subject to discounts. Vouchers are not redeemable for Standby tickets.

Can I purchase same-day tickets?

Absolutely! Same-day tickets are available at all box office locations, online, and over the phone, up until each film’s showtime or until a film goes to standby.

How can I get a Member discount?

Milwaukee Film Members pay less for tickets, passes, concessions, and merchandise during the Festival. Throughout the year, they also get to take advantage of many other great benefits, including year-round discounts on tickets and concessions at the Oriental Theatre and the Downer Theatre. If you aren’t a Member yet, sign up at mkefilm.org/membership or at any Festival box office to enjoy these discounts immediately!

Can I bring kids to the Film Festival?

Certainly. We’re a kid-friendly Festival! However, not all films have MPAA ratings. Some movies might contain material unsuitable for children, so please use discretion when selecting films for youths

When can I get the program book? Where can I get it?

The program book is available digitally right here on our website.

Physical copies can be found at our cinemas - we've spread additional copies across the city, so wtach for them there as well, but the cinemas are a sure bet.

What kind of accessibility does the festival offer?

All films for the Festival will have hearing-impaired device capability.

Options:

Hearing Impaired (HI)

For those with hearing impairment, we will be offering for all films HI audio tracks. These are audio tracks which mix down the main channel audio (Left, Center and Right) so that user can hear the audio more clearly. We offer multiple devices for users to access HI devices. At the Oriental Theatre, we use hearing loops to transmit HI audio tracks which can be received by users with T-Coil devices (such as certain hearing aids) or with devices we supply in house which receive that transmission that can be listened to via a headset. The Downer Theatre we offer Fidelio devices and headsets which staff will program to receive the HI track transmitted from our projection equipment.

Closed Captioning (CCAP)

We will additionally be offering closed captioning for those films that have provided closed captioning tracks. These are tracks that filmmakers/distributors have provided which describe the dialogue and audio of the film via text displays. The devices we offer for accessing closed captioning tracks are called Captiview. These are small displays that can be mounted by the user either in a cup holder or on a seat rest and positioned so that the captions can be read while watching the film. Staff will need to program these devices for each film, and it should be noted that Closed Captions may only be available for the feature content (e.g. not on trailers)

Open Captions (OCAP)

We will be offering a few screenings open caption form. For these screenings, the captions will be on the screen for everyone to see and no devices will be necessary.

Visual impaired (VI)

For those with visual impairment, films may be available with VI audio tracks. These are audio tracks authored by the filmmakers/distributors that contain the main audio channels of the film in addition to the narration that describes what is happening on the screen visually. These audio tracks are delivered to the user via a Fidelio receiver and headset which staff will program to receive the appropriate audio track.