2014 Wisconsin Film Festival appeals to a broad audience but stays true to film fanatics

From our friends at Arts Extract

It’s easy — and occasionally wonderful — to stay home and watch Netflix. But when there are 150 art films waiting to be seen and only eight days to see them, who can sit on the couch?

Arts Extract writer and film fan Scott Gordon couldn’t agree more. He has spent his week at the Wisconsin Film Festival in Madison, Wis., watching some of the latest and greatest art films the fest had to offer.

Launched in 1999, the Wisconsin Film Festival has brought more than 2,000 independent films to its capital, showcasing some of the best films of the year — with special attention paid to Wisconsin filmmakers, of course.

Gordon hails the festival for its diversity, taste and broad appeal, among other things.

“It draws a more diverse audience than I’ve ever seen at any other even in Madison, period,” Gordan said, “which I think is its greatest feat, in a city that is very much divided up into so many insular little pockets, especially when it comes to arts and music audiences.”

You may have missed this year’s film fest, but the fine film scene in Madison is never far away. Cinematheque offers weekly, free viewings of critically acclaimed films.

Learn more about movies, music and the Madison cultural scene from Arts Extract.