The 2015 Milwaukee Film Festival runs Thursday, September 24 through Thursday, October 8. Check out our list of 13 reasons to get excited for the fest here. If you’re looking for daily recommendations and/or when and where to stalk us, look no further.

The Seventh Seal (4:15 p.m. – Oriental Theatre)

“You haven’t seen ___________?!? Are you kidding me? I can’t believe you call yourself a film lover. You have to watch it right now, like tonight!” Yes, we’ve all heard this in response to our admission of never having taken two hours out of our lives to watch this or that classic film. The berating is why so many of us just nod and smile when our friends are discussing anything from The Godfather to Citizen Kane to…The Seventh Seal. Screenings of repertory films are few and far between in Milwaukee these days. Outside of UWM’s Union Cinema, you have to settle for whatever you can find on Netflix, TCM, and checking out DVDs from the library. Which is why we love MFF’s classics screenings each year so very much. Whether it’s a chance to sing along to all your favorite songs (Stop Making Sense), get scared with a bunch of strangers (Jaws, The Shining), or buff up on your cinematic bonafides, we recommend you check out these great films. For today’s film history lesson, we take a journey to Sweden and get a master class from Ingmar Bergman.

Recommended if you like: the grim reaper; masterpieces; Bill And Ted’s Bogus Journey; sounding smarter in front of your friends.

The Glamour & The Squalor (7 p.m. – Oriental Theatre)

For those of us that didn’t grow up in the Seattle area, we may not be able to pick Marco Collins out of a lineup. But if you’re more than familiar with something called the “grunge scene” from the early ’90s, you have benefited from his brilliance. Now working at Seattle’s incredible KEXP, Collins rose to prominence during his time at KNDD 107.7 “The End,” where he introduced the world to the likes of Beck, Death Cab for Cutie, Pearl Jam, and Nirvana. Yes, there was a time when these supa-stars were hidden gems, and Collins was known for his digging and polishing. This doc began life as a history of KNDD, and ended up being a portrait of Collins himself, extending beyond his life in music and digging into his substance abuse and coming out later in life. In a world of tightly programmed radio playlists, a live wire like Marco Collins is a treasure to have on the air. Collins, director Marq Evans, and producer Michelle Quisenberry are all scheduled to attend tonight’s screening!

Recommended if you like: Seattle’s music scene; Outfest award-winning films; untethered radio.

Eden (9:15 p.m. – Oriental Theatre)

Let’s make it a ’90s music double-feature tonight, shall we? Close out the end of the weekend with the highlight of this year’s Sound Vision program, Eden, which takes you deep into the world of electronic dance music of early ’90s Paris that launched Daft Punk and others. Director Mia Hansen-Love is known for her attention to the heart-breaking subtleties of human interaction (catch her Father Of My Children to be shattered), so we’re anxious to see how her style translates to the chaotic world of sex and drugs and music. Loosely based onHansen-Love’s brother Sven’s experiences in the music world, Eden took forever to get made due to costly music rights. Thankfully, Daft Punk themselves got on board, lowered their fees, and the rest of the musicians followed suit. Heroes. All of you.

Recommended if you like: 24 Hour Party People; the films of Olivier Assayas; raves; ecstasy.

About The Author

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Blyth Meier is a photographer and filmmaker based in Milwaukee. She received her MA in Photography and MFA in Film from UWM and served as the first Marketing Director for Milwaukee Film from 2010-2014. She currently serves on the Advisory Board for Shotgun Cinema in New Orleans and is the founder and co-host of The Tiny Film Invasion, a weekly radio show about film on WMSE 91.7FM.