Wisconsin's PREMIERE genre film festival returns for a 6th year!
"The BEST film festival EVER! I've been to fests all over the world and the Milwaukee Twisted Dreams Film Festival is just the very best. Still new and growing but already on par with the best worldwide!!" - Albert Pyun Director, The Sword and the Sorcerer, Dollman, Cyborg, Nemesis
2020 sucked. There's no other way to put it. We had an amazing festival planned but then, the world came to a halt putting live events on hold. We switched to a virtual event to keep our tradition alive and we were extremely surprised at the turnout. 2020 saw an incredible global audience tune into our festival. Going virtual also allowed us to hold amazing Q&A sessions with nearly 100 film makers from around the world streamed live to a global audience. We are going to hold another virtual festival in 2021 since right now, we are so unsure of what the future holds for the entertainment industry, We are looking for your best shorts and features in the horror / sci-fi or fantasy genres.
We will have more panel discussions and film maker Q&A's planned for 2021. We had a great turnout for our 2020 "History of Horror" panel discussion featuring horror film makers and writers for Bloody Disgusting. We will have more surprises that always make our event more than just a film festival.
Celebrating our 6th year, we have had celebrity judges such as JOE BOB BRIGGS and LLOYD KAUFMAN. In 2019 we welcomed JOE BOB BRIGGS and his one man show "HOW REDNECKS SAVED HOLLYWOOD" and SHATTERED our attendance records. Sold out screenings and well documented press coverage made us the LARGEST genre film festival in Wisconsin! The Milwaukee Twisted Dreams Film Festival is bigger and better than ever! 2019 saw us host a number of films from across the globe as well as live performances from a live punk band, RATBATSPIDER to an authentic Spook Show performance. More than just a film festival, Twisted Dreams is an EVENT to look forward to. We are looking for the best of the best short and feature films. There is no made by date, if you have a good film we want to see it! We are especially looking for films from the LGBT community, people of color and women. In 2018 we hosted a "women in horror" panel after screening a short film block from female filmmakers. We are looking to do something similar in 2021. We offer local Wisconsin filmmakers free submission as a way of supporting our local film community. The film must have been made in Wisconsin or the filmmaker be currently living in Wisconsin.
Throughout the year, we host single screening events to keep our brand alive and fresh. It's our hope to one day be a destination festival for genre fans and film makers alike.
Set in the springtime to set itself apart from the other horror film festivals, the Twisted Dreams Festival is unique. Fall is a crowded time of the year for festivals. Especially in Milwaukee with some very big festivals occurring that time. Plus, horror fans are fans year round and don't just come out during Halloween so, we decided on a spring time event.
Events are broken down into sessions. Short films are a part of "short blocks" running 90-100 minutes, features are their own showcase. Some short blocks will be themed including a block devoted to animation and one devoted to women filmmakers depending on submissions.
Milwaukee is home to many great tourist attractions and draws an audience from all over the country.
An audience and Jury award will be given for Best Feature, Best Short, and Best Wisconsin Short.
Jury consists of a diverse group of people from Genre Fans to professional filmmakers.
Additional Awards will be given in a variety of categories (ex. directing, acting, screenplay)