WAUKESHA - One week into the party, the third annual
Milwaukee Film Festival has already offered audiences a lively journey around
the globe. From the orphanages of China to the street soccer of Venezuela, the
festival’s official selections have been emotional, eclectic and inspired. And
for those who have, thus far, missed out on all that the 2011 festival has to
offer, never fear: There is still one more weekend during which you can lose
yourself in the stories and the spectacle.
Here are five not-to-be-missed highlights from the festival’s final weekend
at the New Berlin Ridge Cinema:
"The Flaw"
7:30 p.m. tonight
If you want to understand why the housing bubble burst, and why the economy
is still sagging, look no further than "The Flaw." Director David
Sington offers a historical counterpoint to the Oscar-winning "Inside
Job," going beyond the surface financial crisis to examine the credit
bubble existing underneath. The documentary includes such experts as Nobel
laureate Joseph Stiglitz and housing analyst Robert Shiller.
"Outrage"
7:15 p.m. Friday
This eastern thriller puts us deep in the world of the Japanese yakuza, as an
array of top crime bosses meet for a power lunch with Mr. Chairman - the
gangster who rules Tokyo. One mob boss warns another to cut his ties with an
outsider - an outrageous breach of decorum that unleashes a chain reaction of
attacks, counterattacks, and power struggles.
"Breaking and
Entering"
2:15 p.m. Saturday
No, it’s not a film about crime. It’s about breaking a world record, and
earning your way into the Guinness Book of World Records by any means necessary.
Director Benjamin Fingerhut tracks down the world’s best grape catcher - not
to mention those brave souls vying to be the world’s best marathon juggler and
the world’s best hula hooper - in a hilarious documentary about people on a
quest to become famous.
"Shorts: Date Night"
7 p.m. Saturday
Short film programs are the staple of any major film festival - surveying
eclectic works from up-and-coming filmmakers - and with "Date Night,"
programmers have isolated seven distinct chapters about love and longing. From
stories about love to those of babies, courting, sex and fetishes, this promises
to be a shorts program that runs the gamut from romantic to risquŽ.
"Nostalgia
for the Light"
5 p.m. Sunday
One of the more abstract films to screen as part of this year’s festival,
"Nostalgia" takes place near the great Atacama Desert of Chile.
Director Patricio Guzman creates a metaphor of contrasts, rising to 10,000 feet
above sea level to look both upward into outer space through clear and cloudless
skies, and down below to the mysterious desert floor - where mummies, explorers
and deposed political prisoners now rest. Blending the imagery, Guzman arrives
at surreal nexus of future and past, where astronomy meets archeology and
political justice.
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