Milwaukee Film’s third annual Dialogues Documentary Festival is set to take over the screens of the Oriental and Downer theaters September 24-27. The fest will feature more than 35 new documentary films—many of them with accompanying guests and post-film discussions. Look for the Rocky Horror-focused Time Warp, the Milwaukee-made Heavy Is The Crown, the AI investigation Ghost In The Machine, and many more. Find the full lineup and ticket information HERE.
Oh, and don’t forget to check out a handful of films that are—and we quote—”Milwaukee Record-coded.” That quote comes from our friends at Milwaukee Film, who recently told us they were using the phrase internally to describe three films in the DDF lineup. We were incredibly flattered to hear this, of course, especially when we saw that the films were about [checks notes] an “extraterrestrial-channeling spiritual school and self-healing community,” the uncovered archives of a “dog show legend,” and, well, Sea Monkeys.
So here’s everything you need to know about those films, with blurbs provided by Milwaukee Film! (We’ve seen Amazing Live Sea Monkeys, and it’s fantastic.) Again, find the full lineup and ticket information for Dialogues Documentary Festival HERE.
WELCOME SPACE BROTHERS
Friday, September 25
Downer Theatre (North Cinema) – 8 p.m.
WELCOME SPACE BROTHERS tells the astonishing true story of the Unarius Academy of Science, an extraterrestrial-channeling spiritual school and self-healing community. Guided by the dazzlingly outlandish Ruth E. Norman (“Archangel Uriel”), Unarius evolved from a fringe metaphysical movement into a wildly inventive public-access television phenomenon, complete with cosmic pageantry, interplanetary wisdom, and DIY sci-fi visions. With the same curiosity that made THE SOURCE FAMILY so captivating, director Jodi Wille brings this singularly American saga of belief, performance, and transcendence to life.
SINCERELY, RIC
Saturday, September 26
Oriental Theatre (Herzfeld Cinema) – 11:30 a.m.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Ric Routledge transformed the dog-show world, then walked away without explanation. After his death in 2017, a family friend discovered a storage unit filled with videotapes, cassette interviews, photographs, postcards, and an unpublished autobiographical novel. That friend’s son, director Jesse Carfield, re-assembled this treasure trove into SINCERELY, RIC, using Ric’s ephemera to form the shape of a life lived between public ambition and private disappearance, asking what remains when someone documents everything except the ending.
This screening will be followed by a Q&A with director, Jesse Carfield and his parents (and documentary participants, Kathy and Jim Carfield).
AMAZING LIVE SEA MONKEYS
Sunday, September 27
Downer Theatre (North Cinema) – 7 p.m.
From her crumbling estate on the Potomac, Yolanda Signorelli von Braunhut wages a David-and-Goliath battle to reclaim her late husband’s iconic toy, Amazing Live Sea Monkeys!, from the corporate forces who stole the rights from her. Whether you raised Sea Monkeys, begged your parents to order them from a magazine, or love stories about mad genius entrepreneurs, this film will hook you with the toy’s surprising origins, enduring legacy, and the mysterious story behind its invention.
This screening will be followed by a Q&A with the film’s directors, Mark Becker and Aaron Schock.
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