MILWAUKEE — After months of hard work and planning, two Whitefish Bay high school students are hosting the Whitefish Bay Student Film Festival at the vacant Fox-Bay Theater.
12 short films produced by students around Milwaukee will debut in a two-day festival. Sophie Hatton, a junior, and Anna Olsson, a senior and recent graduate, are the masterminds behind the event.
“It’s been a big part of my childhood. It was my first taste of independence, going and buying a ticket,” Hatton smiled, looking back on memories at Fox-Bay.
Originally a dinner-and-a-movie theater, it closed in September 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I was pretty upset about it,” Olsson said. “I told my parents that someone should buy it and reopen it.”
Three years later, Hatton and Olsson emailed Village President Kevin Buckley, who said the festival would be a great idea. For the first time in years, there would be a Whitefish Bay Student Film Festival, and at a historic theater, now owned by New Land Enterprises.
The two students got to work planning, recruiting, and cleaning the space.
“Bringing back student films in this theater is a super valuable experience,” Hatton said. “This is an opportunity to revisit the theater, but more importantly, see the great work of young filmmakers in the city.”
Showings are Friday, June 9, and Saturday, June 10, at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are $5 and include Sendik’s popcorn. They’re available for purchasehereand in person.
The students said the money raised will be donated to a charity called Art Start. Partly based out of Milwaukee, they use the creative process to help youth from communities that have been historically marginalized.
Last summer, the village awarded New Land Enterprises with a grant to renovate the building and encourage a new tenant to move in. Construction is happening, but the theater is still vacant.
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