Wega Arts presents more than 50 films
The ninth annual Weyauwega International Film Festival will be held Wednesday through Saturday, Nov. 13-16, at the Gerold Opera House in Weyauwega,
Wega Arts will screen more than 50 films. About half will be foreign films and the rest from the United States, with a great selection of Wisconsin-based shorts and features.
The festival shows narrative and documentary features and a variety of short films including animation.
Psychofest
Some highlights of this year’s festival include “The Field,” a supernatural thriller filmed in Manitowoc.
Directed by University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee film teacher Tate Bunker, the film stars Veronica Cartwright of “Alien,” Barry Bostwick of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” and Mark Metcalf of “Animal House,” “Seinfeld” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”
Filmmakers and actors, including Metcalf, will be at the screening at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 15.
The film is part of this year’s Psychofest on Friday night, which features two sessions of thriller/horror shorts starting at 4:30 p.m.
“Black Flowers,” a post-apocalyptic thriller, will show at 9:30 p.m.
Psychofest is inspired by Robert Bloch who penned the novel “Psycho” while living in Weyauwega. Bloch was inspired by the Ed Gein murders in Plainfield. Bloch sold the novel to Alfred Hitchcock who made the seminal film in 1960.
Saturday highlights
Saturday’s films include Dan Sallitt’s festival hit “Fourteen,” the story of two young women and 10 years of their close but troubled friendship. Both stars of the film, Tallie Medel (“The Unspeakable Truth”) and Norma Kuhling (“Chicago Med”) will be at the 2:30 p.m. screening.
“Give Me Liberty” is the Sundance Film Festival standout that was made in Milwaukee by Russian born filmmaker Kirill Mikhanovsky.
Screening at 5:45 p.m. Saturday, this heartfelt film is about medical transport driver Vic. He is late, but it’s not his fault. Roads are closed for a protest, and no one else can shuttle his Russian grandfather and émigré friends to a funeral.
As the day goes from hectic to off-the-rails, their collective ride becomes a hilarious, compassionate and intersectional portrait of American dreams and disenchantment.
Saturday night’s closing film at 8 p.m. is “Parasite,” from South Korean filmmaker Bong Joon Ho (“Snowpiercer” and “Okja”). “Parasite” won the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
In this modern fairy tale, the Park family, the picture of aspirational wealth, and the Kim family, rich in street smarts but not much else, are brought together and the Kims sense a golden opportunity.
A filmmakers’ seminar will be held on Saturday morning, Nov. 16. The subject of this year’s roundtable discussion is storytelling in documentary films and what makes a documentary stand out.
On Saturday evening, the festival closes with the awards ceremony and a party.
Film noir, bayou thriller
At 7 p.m. Wednesday, the festival will show Billy Wilder’s “Double Indemnity,” starring Barbara Stanwyck and Fred Macmurray.
This 1944 classic film noir will be introduced by Dr. Jack Rhodes.
Wednesday attendees will also be treated to a complimentary pasta dinner starting at 6:30 p.m.
“Decoding the Driftless,” will screen at 7 p.m. Thursday. This beautifully filmed documentary tells the unique history of the Driftless region of southwestern Wisconsin and neighboring areas in Minnesota.
At 8:15 p.m. Thursday, the Louisiana thriller “Lost Bayou” screens. A troubled daughter receives a message from her father. She arrives to find a shocking and mysterious situation on her father’s raft.
Tickets
The Gerold Opera House is located at 136 E. Main St., Weyauwega.
There are no individual movie tickets, only day passes and festival passes.
Day passes are $18 and good for any one whole day. Festival passes are $45 and are good for all four days and include one free popcorn and one free drink.
Tickets are available at wiff2019.bpt.me/ as well as the Book Cellar in Waupaca and the Gerold Opera House box office during festival hours.
The festival schedule can be found at wegafilm.com.