Fish Creek, Wis. (February 15, 2023) – The 14th Annual Door County Short Film Fest (DCSFF) at Northern Sky’s Gould Theater in Fish Creek on Friday, February 17 and Saturday, February 18 has a specific theme for 2023: Wisconsin. Most of the festival’s 23 featured films, both its 21 short films and its two feature-length films, were either filmed in Wisconsin or created and directed by Wisconsin filmmakers. One of the short films is “The 500 Project,” 38 minutes in length, which was filmed on Washington Island, just off the northern tip of the Door Peninsula.
“The 500 Project” documentary examines the challenging life of endurance athlete Heidi Videto and how she fought to overcome a traumatic past. After setting a cycling record of 441 miles in 36 hours at the Washington Island Ultra event, Videto suffered the tragic loss of her best friend and coach and then attempted to accomplish their last shared goal: a 500-mile cycling journey. “The 500 Project” will be screened at 5:00 pm on Saturday, February 18.
Immediately following “The 500 Project” screening is the feature film “Confessions of a Sailor,” directed by Kurt Krauss. The Saturday screening of the 90-minute film is its much-delayed world premiere. “Confessions” was filmed in 2013, but couldn’t be released until now due to a series of major technical issues, including the failure of a hard drive on which most of the footage had been stored. Director Kurt Krauss re-edited the unlucky film during a years-long process, finally finishing it in 2022. Filmed almost entirely in Wisconsin’s Door County, the popular tourist destination, the film is billed as an “indie maritime film” that retells the tragic shipwreck story of “Queen of the Lakes” freighter Carl D. Bradley, lost with 33 of its 35 crew members in a 1958 Lake Michigan storm. “Confessions of a Sailor” will be screened at 6:00 pm on Saturday, February 18.
Tickets for an all-weekend pass to the Door County Short Film Fest are $25. Advance tickets are available online (www.northernskytheater.com) and at Northern Sky Theater’s ticket office, Monday-Friday, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm (tickets are also available at the office from 5:00 – 6:00 pm on Friday, February 17). On Saturday, February 18, the ticket office opens at noon.
At the conclusion of the festival, the 2023 Golden Mug Award will be presented by the festival’s jury to a selected film. The 2023 People’s Choice Mug Award will be presented to the film that receives the most votes from festival attendees.
Festival Tickets: www.northernskytheater.com
Facebook: facebook.com/DoorCountyShortFilmFestival
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