Schedule:

Friday, November 1, 2024

7:00 p.m: Session 1
Cinema Paradiso
With: Black Strings

Filmmaker: Giuseppe Tornatore
1988, Italy, Runtime: 2:35 Screenings: Friday
Special Flashback Feature Presentation
Young Salvatore Di Vita (Salvatore Cascio) discovers the perfect escape from life in his war-torn Sicilian village: the Cinema Paradiso movie house, where projectionist Alfredo (Philippe Noiret) instills in the boy a deep love of films. When Salvatore grows up, falls in love with a beautiful local girl (Agnese Nano) and takes over as the Paradiso's projectionist, Alfredo must convince Salvatore to leave his small town and pursue his passion for filmmaking.

9:00 p.m: Opening Night Party
Sponsors: Cafe 43

Saturday, November 2, 2024

3:00 p.m: Session 2 - Student Short Films
Featuring: Adagio, In Her Wake, The Forgotten, The Mistletoe Dart, The Short Stay, When Death Arrives

7:00 p.m: Session 3
Angels Of Dirt
With: Ride More Drift Less

Filmmaker: Wendy Schneider
20241 United States, Runtime: 1:26 Screenings: Saturday

Equal parts inspiration and heartbreak, this film charts the life and career of the amazing Charlotte Kainz, a "small-town girl"' who grows up among the racers and pit mechanics at a rural Wisconsin motorcycle track. Developing a taste for speed and a talent for Flat Track racing at age four, young Charlotte puts the pedal to the metal and never looks back. Shot over the course of 17 years, this intimate and engaging documentary is an all-encompassing portrait of a fearless young woman with an innate desire and knack for competing and succeeding in a sport very few women, much less young girls, ever thought to compete in. Charlotte's story of triumph and tragedy {she lost her life in a racing accident at age 20) is told through a rich tapestry of personal archives, interviews with family and friends, fellow competitors, and the supportive community that is the Aztalan Cycle Club, the Wisconsin track where Charlotte learned to race.

Sunday, November 3, 2024

4:00 p.m: Session 4
String Theory: The Richard Davis Method
With: A Room Alive!

Filmmaker: Michael Neelsen
20241 United States, Runtime: 1:00 Screenings: Sunday

A heartfelt and inspiring documentary that delves into the life and legacy of one of the greatest bass players in history, Richard Davis. Set against the backdrop of the renowned Richard Davis Bass Conference for Young Bassists in Madison, Wisconsin, the film captures the essence of Davis's profound impact on the world of music. While Davis is most known for gracing the stages with music icons like Miles Davis, Van Morrison, and Eric Dolphy, his transition from a celebrated performer to a revered professor at the University of Wisconsin in the 1970s forms the crux of this story, highlighting his dedication to nurturing young talent.

Monday, November 4, 2024

7:00 p.m: Session 5
Adrianne and The Castle
With: Beach Boi

Filmmaker: Shannon Walsh
20241 United States, Runtime: 1:36 Screenings: Monday

Inventive and whimsical. Adrianne and The Castle is a true story of great love and loss. Alan St-Gcorgc is a mascot-maker and artist in rural Illinois who hand-made an ornate castle with his late wife Adrianne. Since her death in 2006 he continues to put the finishing touches on I lavencrest Castle, which stands as a "temple" dedicated to their transcendent !ovc, and the creation of a truly authentic life. Acclaimed filmmaker Shannon Walsh (The Gig Is Up, Illusions Of Control) collaborates with Alan to tell his and Adrianne's fairytale love story through fantastical musical re-enactments. In so doing, Alan grapples with his profound grief, revealing with lucidity and extraordinary candor his struggle to find a way forward without the love of his life.

Tuesday, November 5, 2024

6:00 p.m: Session 6
Stronger Sun Prairie
With: My Best Nut

Filmmaker: Steve Donovan
20241 United States, Runtime: 0:53 Screenings: Tuesday

Five years after a gas explosion rocks a downtown community in South Central Wisconsin, those who were close to the devastation share their stories.

Wednesday, November 6, 2024

7:00 p.m: Session 7
Never Not Yours
With: My Fair Dairy, The Ham Ridge Craft Competition

Filmmaker: John Klein, Stephen Kniss
20241 United States, Runtime: 1:22 Screenings: Wednesday

30ish siblings Michael, Ellic, and James drive to their family cabin to visit their parents Jonathan and Maddie. But when their mom and dad unexpectedly announce their divorce, chaos ensues.

Thursday, November 7, 2024

7:00 p.m Session 8
Just Above the Surface of the Earth
With: Emerald City

Filmmaker: Marianna Milhorat
20241 Canada, Runtime: 1:09 Screenings: Thursday

A poetic portrait of contemporary wildlife conservation, the film reflects on empathy, agency, and the role of hope in the midst of a sixth mass extinction. This debut nonfiction feature examines scientists and citizen scientists who conduct surveys of frogs, which serve as an indicator species; study sea stars threatened by disease; track bats whose populations have been decimated by white-nose syndrome; and collect data on insects declining at unprecedented rates. Set primarily at night with portions filmed in the Driftlcss Area of Wisconsin, the film weaves together observational and lyrical sequences, texts written by authors including W.S. Merwin and Adam Nicolson, and an otherworldly soundscapc. A visceral, sensory meditation on what it means to live in a broken world.

Friday, November 8, 2024

7:00 p.m: Session 9
Love Differently
With: Paint The City 2

Filmmaker: Emma Siewert
20241 United States, Runtime: 1:11 Screenings: Friday

Awards:
Door County Short Film Festival
Fish Creek United States February16,2024 Wisconsin Premiere Audicence Choice

What happens when an adoptee is all grown up Love Differently
explores the importance of identity, how it could help save a life, and why a name matters. Diana shares her unique adoption story and why she believes change is in order. Even those of us who are not adopted can find wavs to relate.

Saturday, November 9, 2024

3:00 p.m: Session 10
Decoupling
With: As Easy As Closing Your Eyes

Filmmaker: Yinan Wang
20241 China, Runtime: 1:04
Screenings: Saturday

Decoupling was once a term primarily used in cosmology, but it has now taken on a geopolitical significance, referring to the deteriorating relationship between China and the United States. The film Decoupling is a stor\f of a Chinese father reflecting on that changing relationship during his trip to Beijing to retrieve his 3-year-old daughter, who has been stranded because of the recent decoupling of the two countries. Born in China and living in the American Midwest, filmmaker Yinan Wang attempts to unpack his own experience of how a transnational migrant family deals with the distress caused by identity, nationalism, and geopolitics.

7:00 p.m: Session 11
The Exchange, in White America. Kaukauna and King 50 Years Later
With: Spark Plug

Filmmaker: Joanne Williams
20241 United States, Runtime: 1:02 Screenings: Saturday

This is the story of an exchange of Black and White high school students in Wisconsin. The schools arc Rufus King I Iigh School in Milwaukee and Kaukauna High School in the Fox River Valley. This exchange happened in 1966, right in the middle of the Civil Rights Movement more than 50 years ago. The participants lived in each others' homes, attended classes in each others' schools and performed the groundbreaking play In White America in both cities. This is the story of the revival of the play 50 years later by a new generation of high school students in the same schools and communities.

9:00 pm
Awards Ceremony and Closing Party

Date: November 1 - 9, 2024

Location:

Mineral Point Opera House
139 High Street
Mineral Point, WI 53565

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