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The campaign artwork for the 15th Annual 2023 Milwaukee Film Festival has been revealed. Titled “Milwacky”, the artwork represents the spirit of joy and togetherness that happens each spring as the film festival arrives in Milwaukee and runs from April 20th through May 4th.
We worked with the local artist Dwellephant to bring the festival artwork to life. Dwellephant blended hand drawings with cartoon-esque caricatures to create illustrations that are as delightful as they are entertaining to look at up close. “It's paying tribute to this special thing that happens at the festival, where people who don’t interact for 50 weeks a year have all of these shared moments and experiences. Complete strangers on any other day wind up in a dark theater together for two straight weeks and laugh, cry, get inspired, get angry…and then talk about it in line, at a bar after, online, etc.” Dwellephant describes. “The characters are a mix of random things and some Milwaukee references — everything from the Bucks and Samson the Gorilla to Laverne & Shirley and the Milwaukee Lion/Oriental Theatre lions. I also put a little tribute to Mike Schank in there…I also wanted the characters to look like they’re enjoying the heck out of what they’re watching. If you know someone who doesn’t think they’d enjoy going to the festival, show them this poster. It will change their heart.”
“When we initially started talking about the vibes we wanted the art for our 2023 edition to evoke, Dwellephant was the first artist that came to mind for me,” explains Milwaukee Film’s Artistic Director, Cara Ogburn. “As we continue to emerge into our still-new spring festival home, I think it’s important to remind people of everything they have always loved about the festival. So I think I just said some word salad: ‘big group, joy, together, discovery, Milwaukee’ and Dwellephant certainly delivered!!”
We've already unveiled our first film festival title, the classic silent film Metropolis, which will include a live score performed by the Anvil Orchestra, an experience that has been a fan-favorite at numerous Milwaukee Film Festivals. Milwaukee Film plans to reveal more film titles on a rolling basis in the coming weeks and expects to build upon the momentum from past festivals in welcoming the Milwaukee community back in-person for two weeks of entertaining films, heartwarming moments, and exciting events. “The fact that for two weeks a year, you can sit in a room with your friends and neighbors and distract yourself with 100+ excellent films hand-picked by a bunch of beautiful, hard-working film smarties?” Dwellephant elaborates. “What a gift!”
Anyone who purchases an all-access pass this year will also receive a hand-signed collectible print of the 2023 film festival artwork from Dwellephant himself.
Test prints of our collectible campaign art!
Tickets and passes for the 2023 Milwaukee Film Festival are
available for purchase at mkefilm.org/mff.
Posted by: Tom Fuchs