May Programming Features the Films of David Cronenberg and Gene Hackman
MILWAUKEE – Tuesday, May 6th –As the 2025 Milwaukee Film Festival comes to a close, Milwaukee Film is preparing to resume year-round programming at the Downer and Oriental Theatres with exciting new first-run releases (like The Legend of Ochi, Hurry Up Tomorrow, and Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning), Best of Fest selections, and incredible repertory film series to screen throughout the rest of May. This month at the Oriental Theatre will feature a collaborative screening with the Muslim Women’s Coalition, a retrospective of films from director David Cronenberg, and a series of films that feature the late actor Gene Hackman.
Starting on May 14th, The Muslim Women's Coalition will proudly co-present several screenings of the film The Encampments in collaboration with Milwaukee Film. The documentary follows students who flooded Columbia University's lawn to create the Gaza Solidarity Encampment in order to pressure their university to divest from the US and Israeli weapons companies. The screening on May 14th will be followed by a conversation with the organizers from the UWM student encampment moderated by Dr. Rachel Ida Buff.
“This is a deeply powerful and timely film that captures the spirit of the student-led movement that rose across the country, including in our own city, a movement demanding justice for the Indigenous people of Palestine. These brave students called on their universities to break their silence and stand against genocide,” expressed Janan Najeeb, founder and executive director of the Muslim Women’s Coalition. “The film highlights the unwavering courage, fierce solidarity, and moral clarity of these students as they peacefully challenged entrenched systems of power. It is a must-see film for anyone who believes in real democracy, the power of conscience, free speech, and the fight for human dignity,” she concluded.
Milwaukee Film will continue to screen the newest film from master of body horror David Cronenberg, The Shrouds, after concluding its run at the Milwaukee Film Festival. Along with his newest film, three other classic Cronenberg films will screen throughout the month of May at the historic Oriental Theatre, as part of Milwaukee Film’s Cronenberg Made Flesh series.
Milwaukee Film’s programming director Kerstin Larson enthused, “David Cronenberg has sent shivers down our spines for the past five decades and he's not slowing down any time soon.” She continued, “Go see his latest, The Shrouds, and then make sure to come back to our theatres to experience some of his most iconic, stomach-churning works.”
See the full line-up of Cronenberg Made Flesh films here:
Also this May, Milwaukee Film will be screening a series of films in remembrance of the late actor Gene Hackman. Throughout the month, folks can watch a number of films that celebrate the career and life of Gene Hackman at the Oriental Theatre.
“Gene Hackman was one of our finest stars on the silver screen,” said Cara Ogburn, Milwaukee Film’s artistic director. “He demonstrated his dramatic range time and time again and remains a towering presence in cinema history,” she concluded.
See the full line-up of Remembering Gene Hackman films here:
All Tickets and showtimes can be found online at mkefilm.org/comingsoon.
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