Have you been outside today? It’s pretty nice! True, spring is still months away, but at least it kinda-sorta feels like spring today. And here’s another taste of spring: the just-released artwork for the 2025 Milwaukee Film Festival, which is set to run April 24 – May 8. Behold!
The bird-tastic artwork is the creation of Minneapolis-based artist and illustrator Jinjer Markley. “It was such a blast to work on the artwork for the 2025 Milwaukee Film Festival!” Markley says in a press release. “I used the excuse to learn a little bit about birds that migrate through Wisconsin in the spring (I got kind of carried away drawing birds). I also wanted to incorporate playful watercolor explorations into the design, so I created unique ‘theater bushes’ for the theatergoing birds to sit on. Also, I had no inkling that popcorn would be so fun to draw: like snowflakes, no two are alike. (Unlike snowflakes, they taste great with butter).”
In the press release, Milwaukee Film says that “after several years of transition coming out of the pandemic, the MFF25 artwork signifies an era of blossoming and regrowth for the organization.” Milwaukee Film recently revealed a new executive director, Susan Santha Kerns, Ph.D. She succeeds Anne Reed, who took the job in May 2024, and Jonathan Jackson, who departed after 16 years in January 2024.
“This year’s campaign art mirrors the emotional tug of spring that our staff, local filmmakers, and audiences feel during the Milwaukee Film Festival,” says Cara Ogburn, Milwaukee Film’s artistic director, in the press release. “And the films we show do that as well: opening hearts and minds to new ideas, luring us out of our winter hibernation into the world beyond, offering the promise of new ideas and new voices, celebrating whimsy and new discoveries. We’re excited to share in those feelings together in just a few months!”
Ticket packages and passes to MFF2025 are available NOW. Prices will increase on February 10, so get ’em while they’re, ahem, cheep. The full lineup of films will be released in early April.
The 2024 Milwaukee Film Festival drew a total of 32,624 attendees. It included 379 public screenings at the Oriental Theatre, Downer Theatre, Avalon Theater, and Times Cinema. That attendance was up from 29,718 in 2023, and way up from 18,734 in 2022 (when the festival was at least partially virtual). Still, attendance remains way down from pre-pandemic times; in 2019, the festival drew 87,618 attendees.
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