Over $145,000 in funding and filmmaking assistance were awarded to the Jury Award winners of our 10th Annual Milwaukee Film Festival, presented by Associated Bank. Among the top awards include RaMell Ross’s celebrated feature debut Hale County, This Morning This Evening, winning the Herzfeld Competition Award, Milwaukee Film alum Qasim Basir’s A Boy. A Girl. A Dream. winning the Black Lens Feature Jury Award, and Bing Liu’s Minding the Gap, winning the Documentary Jury Award.
The inaugural Cream City Cinema Emerging Voices award, created with support from HBO, was awarded to Yen Ching. Director Yinan Wang will receive a $2,000 travel stipend to visit the HBO offices to meet with key industry professionals.
Carol Brandt’s narrative film Pet Names received the Cream City Cinema Award; the project had previously received funding from the 2017 Brico Forward Fund, Milwaukee Film’s annual granting program.
In total, the 2018 Brico Forward Fund jury awarded 12 projects over $110,000 in cash and production services. This year’s Brico Forward Fund jury was comprised of independent film director and writer, Bob Byington (Infinity Baby, MFF2017), senior creative member of Oscilloscope Laboratories, Debra McClutchy, and the crowdfunding director at Seed&Spark, Christina Raia.
As a reminder, we still have four days of fest left, so the Allan H. (Bud) and Suzanne L. Selig Audience Awards for Best Feature and Best Short and the Women in Film Audience Award presented by Live Wire Productions will be announced after the festival concludes! Take a look at the full list of winners below:
10TH ANNUAL MILWAUKEE FILM FESTIVAL AWARDS
Abele Catalyst Award
Christine Symchych
Black Lens Jury Award - Feature ($4,000 cash)
A Boy. A Girl. A Dream. (dir. Qasim Basir)
Honorable mention: MR. SOUL! (dirs. Sam Pollard, Melissa Haizlip)
Black Lens Jury Award - Short ($1,000 cash)
Suitable (did. Thembi Banks)
Honorable mention: Baby Steps (dir. Eric Dyson)
2018 Brico Forward Fund Recipients ($50,000 cash and $95,000+ in production services)
Black Girl Training (dir. Santana Coleman)
$10,000 cash, $4,000 North American Camera, $5,000 Electric Sun Corporation, 7 studio days at Big Chair Studio, Legal consultation from Dan Kattman of Reinhart Boerner van Deuren, s.c.
The New Extinction (dir. Kyle Arpke)
$10,000 cash, $5,000 Independent, $5,000 Electric Sun Corporation, Legal consultation from Dan Kattman of Reinhart Boerner van Deuren, s.c.
Ringolevio (dir. Kristin Peterson)
$5,000 cash, $5,000 North American Camera, $5,000 Electric Sun Corporation, Legal consultation from Dan Kattman of Reinhart Boerner van Deuren, s.c.
Among Wild Beasts (dir. Ryan Reeve)
$5,000 cash, $5,000 North American Camera, $5,000 Electric Sun Corporation, Legal consultation from Dan Kattman of Reinhart Boerner van Deuren, s.c.
Latino Wisconsin (dir. Ralph Pabst)
$7,500 cash, Legal consultation from Dan Kattman of Reinhart Boerner van Deuren, s.c.
The Floating World (dir. Janelle VanderKelen)
$6,000 North American Camera, Legal consultation from Dan Kattman of Reinhart Boerner van Deuren, s.c.
The Cost of Freedom (dir. Erik Ljung)
$5,000 cash, Legal consultation from Dan Kattman of Reinhart Boerner van Deuren, s.c.
Pink Moon (dir. Carol Brandt)
$5,000 cash, Legal consultation from Dan Kattman of Reinhart Boerner van Deuren, s.c.
The Mistake of the Third Chimpanzee (dir. Colin Sytsma)
$5,000 Independent, Legal consultation from Dan Kattman of Reinhart Boerner van Deuren, s.c.
Pass On (dir. Maeve Jackson)
$5,000 Independent, Legal consultation from Dan Kattman of Reinhart Boerner van Deuren, s.c.
Real Soul: A Gospel Music Story (dir. Daniel Andera)
$5,000 Independent, Legal consultation from Dan Kattman of Reinhart Boerner van Deuren, s.c.
Yene Fikir, Ethiopia (My Love, Ethiopia) (dir. Gabrielle Tesfaye)
$2,500 cash, Legal consultation from Dan Kattman of Reinhart Boerner van Deuren, s.c.
Cream City Cinema College Filmmaker Award ($2,500 cash)
The Water Will Carry Us Home (dir. Gabrielle Tesfaye)
Cream City Cinema Jury Award ($5,000 cash)
Pet Names (dir. Carol Brandt)
Special mentions: Lake Michigan Monster (dir. Ryan Tews) and Marie (dir. Katie Theel)
Cream City Cinema Emerging Voices Award ($2,000 travel stipend to HBO offices)
Yen Ching (dir. Yinan Wang)
Documentary Jury Award ($5,000 cash)
Minding the Gap (dir. Bing Liu)
Special mentions: Circles (dir. Cassidy Friedman) and The Feeling of Being Watched (dir. Assia Boundaoui)
Herzfeld Competition Award ($10,000 cash)
Hale Country, This Morning This Evening (dir. RaMell Ross)
Honorable mention: Scary Mother (dir. Ana Urushadze)
Kids Choice Short Film Award ($1,000 cash)
Two Balloons (dir. Mark C. Smith)
Honorable mentions: Scrap Dolls (dir. Aude Cuenod), Jubilee (dir.
Charlotte Pioge, Coralie Soudet, Marion Duvert, Marie El Kadiri, Agathe Marmion), and Two Trams (dir. Svetlana Andrianova)
Milwaukee Music Video Award ($5,000 cash)
Amanda Huff - "Gravetalking" (dir. Kristin Peterson)
Pitch Us Your Film! Contest ($1,000 cash)
Leaps and Bounds: the Men Who Changed Track and Field (dir. Jessie Garcia Marble)
Shorter Is Better Award ($1,000 cash)
Caroline (dirs. Logan George, Celine Held)
Honorable mention Best Experimental Short: Ultraviolet (dir. Marc Johnson)
Honorable mention Best Screenplay Short: A House in the Countryside (Una Casa en el Campo) (dir. Chiqui Carabante)
Honorable mention Best Dark Comedy Short: Sam Did It (dir. Dominic Burgess)
Honorable mention Best Documentary Short: Homeless: The Soundtrack (dir. Irene Taylor Brodsky)
Posted by: Tom Fuchs