This week marks the 6th Annual WUD Film Mini-Indie Film Festival at the Union South Marquee Theater. This is a pretty strong line up for those with the stamina to go one more round of festival-going after the Wisconsin Film Festival. Check back at the Madison Film Forum for reviews of A Field in England, Mood Indigo, Borgman, and The Broken Circle Breakdown by the end of the week. (You can also check out are archived review of Wadjda).
Descriptions are from the WUD Film calendar feed, which can also be seen on our Alternative Calendar. All screenings are at the Union South Marquee Theater.
Thursday, April 24
7:00pm: In A World (Lake Bell, USA, 2013, 93 min)
An underachieving voice coach finds herself competing in the movie trailer voiceover profession against her arrogant father and his protegee in this hilarious comedy from Sundance Film Festival 2013. “A clever, likable comedy that sends up sexism, satirizes Hollywood, examines family ties and features a surprisingly tender romance at its core” -Claudia Puig, USA Today.
9:30pm: A Field in England (Ben Wheatley, UK, 2013, 90 min)»
From the award-winning director Ben Wheatley of Down Terrace, Kill List and Sightseers. During the Civil War in 17th-Century England, a small group of deserters flee from a raging battle through an overgrown field. They are captured by an alchemist (Michael Smiley), who forces the group to aid him in his search to find a hidden treasure that he believes is buried in the field. The group quickly descends into chaotic argument and fighting after they eat a patch of psychotropic mushrooms. “It’s the English Civil War on magic mushrooms!” -Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail.
Friday, April 25
5:00pm: After Tiller (Martha Shane, Lana Wilson, USA, 2013, 85 min)
After the assassination of Dr. George Tiller in Kansas in 2009, there are a limited number of doctors left in the country who are willing to provide third-trimester abortions for women. This documentary follows the unfolding stories of these doctors, all of whom were close colleagues of Dr. Tiller, who are fighting to keep this service available in the wake of his death. “Any viewer with an interest in this issue, whether pro-life, pro-choice or agnostic, ought to see this heart-piercing report from the front lines” -Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune.
7:00pm: Living Stars (Mariano Cohn, Gaston Duprat, Argenina, 2014, 63 min)
In Buenos Aires, they are dancing. Dozens of real people, identified simply by name and occupation, are presented in their kitchens, living rooms, offices, and streets-each dancing to a fairly well-known pop song. Young and old, alone and with others, they perform for the camera with a rawness usually only reserved for the bathroom mirror. This is Living Stars. This fun, energetic film from Sundance Film Festival 2014 is sure to leave you dancing in the theater! “It’s not a film about actors and scripts. It’s a film about us, the strangers in our world, and our reaction to them” -Amy Nicholson, LA Weekly.
9:15pm: Mood Indigo (Michel Gondry, France, 2013, 131 min)»
The new film by Michel Gondry (Director of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), tells a visionary and romantic love story set in Paris starring Audrey Tautou (Amelie, Coco Before Chanel) and Romain Duris (The Beat My Heart Skipped). “Mood Indigo perfectly balances Gondry’s ornamental creativity and the verite storytelling of his more recent work, combining refined style and raw emotion into one devastating, beautiful package” -Todd Gilchrist, The Wrap.
11:59pm: Nothing Bad Can Happen (Katrin Gebbe, Germany, 2013, 110 min)
Young Tore belongs to the Jesus Freaks, a Christian punk movement rebelling against established religion whilst at the same time following Jesus’ precepts of love. One day he assists a man named Benno and before long, Tore moves into a tent in Benno’s garden and gradually becomes part of his family. But Benno can’t resist playing cruel game, designed to test Tore’s faith in this dark German drama. “Be careful who you pray for” -Jordan Hoffman, Film.com.
Saturday, April 26
2:00pm: The Broken Circle Breakdown (Felix van Groeningen, Belgium, 2012, 111 min)»
Elise and Didier fall in love at first sight, in spite of their differences. He talks, she listens. He’s a romantic atheist, she’s a religious realist. When their daughter becomes seriously ill, their love is put on trial. “It’s the music that really brings Broken Circle to life, an excellent collection of old-timey country classics and originals that reconnects the broken bits of the story and resonates with its deepest emotions” -Bruce Ingram, Chicago Sun-Times.
5:00pm: Gudu (Wang Bing, China, 2013, 89 min)
This powerful documentary follows three sisters who live alone in a small village family house in the high mountains of the Yunan region. Their parents are nowhere to be seen, and the film follows them through the struggles of their life in the village.
7:00pm: Wadjda (Haifaa Al-Mansour, Saudi Arabia, 2012, 98 min)»
An enterprising Saudi girl signs on for her school’s Koran recitation competition as a way to raise the remaining funds she needs in order to buy the green bicycle that has captured her interest in the first feature film shot entirely in Saudi Arabia, which has won critical acclaim. “The most radical and cheering message of Wadjda is that a change isn’t just possible, but inevitable” -Ann Hornaday, Washington Post.
9:30pm: Omar (Hany Abu-Assad, Palestine, 2013, 96 min)
In this Academy Award nominated film, a young Palestinian freedom fighter agrees to work as an informant after he’s tricked into an admission of guilt by association in the wake of an Israeli soldier’s killing. “It’s told with a stark, pitiless clarity that leaves you with fewer answers than before” -Ty Burr, Boston Globe.
11:59pm: Borgman (Alex van Warmerdam, Netherlands, 2013, 113 min)»
A dark suburban fable exploring the nature of evil in unexpected places, Borgman follows an enigmatic vagrant who enters the lives of an upper-class family and quickly unravels their carefully curated lifestyle. “A sly, insidious and intermittently hilarious domestic thriller that is likely to remain one of the most daring selections of this year’s Cannes competish” -Guy Lodge, Variety.
Sunday, April 27
3:00pm: Student Short Series (UW Madison Students, ∼90 min)
6:00pm: To Kill a Man (Alejandro Fernandez Almendras, France/Chile, 2014, 82 min)
Jorge is a tranquil, middle-class family man whose neighborhood has become overrun by a fringe class of street thugs. His comparatively fortunate existence makes him the target of their intimidation one night, and what follows is the focus of this dark film which premiered this year at the Sundance Film Festival and won the Grand Jury Prize for World Dramatic films.