Madison, Wis. – The 20th annual Wisconsin Film Festival (“Festival”) ran from April 5 through April 12, 2018. The Wisconsin Film Festival is the largest university-produced film festival in the nation and is presented by the University of Wisconsin–Madison Arts Institute in association with the Department of Communication Arts.
The 21st annual Festival is tentatively scheduled for April 4-11, 2019 (dates subject to change).
The 2018 Festival by numbers:
Attendees: 26,791 (includes 1,875 students on field trips)
Films: 146
Screenings: 149
Screens/Venues: 7/5 (Venues: Wisconsin Union Theater – Shannon Hall, Chazen Museum of Art, Cinematheque, Marquee at Union South and AMC Madison 6)
Volunteers: 169
Steep & Brew Audience Award Winners:
Steep & Brew has sponsored the Festival’s “Audience Awards” since 2005. Audience members rank films that they view at the Festival. Here are this year’s favorites:
Audience Favorite Narrative Feature
“Hearts Beat Loud” | Brett Haley
Audience Favorite Documentary Feature
“RBG” | Betsy West & Julie Cohen
Audience Favorite Restoration/Rediscovery
“Blue Collar” | Paul Schrader
Audience Favorite Shorts Program
“A World of Wisconsin’s Own”
Audience Favorite Big Screens, Little Folks Selection
“Short But Not So Sweet: Revolting Rhymes” and “Isis + Osiris”
Golden Badger Award Winners:
The Golden Badger Awards are chosen by a jury (in 2018, Kara Mulrooney, James Kreul and Xia Magnus). This year’s winners are:
“FUTURE LANGUAGE: The Dimensions of VON LMO” | Lori Felker
“Great Light” | Tony Oswald
“The Blood is at the Doorstep” | Erik Ljung
For some photo highlights of this year’s Festival, visit our SmugMug account.