WANT TO SUBMIT? Films for regular screenings can be five minutes long. BEFORE SUBMITTING: READ THE REGULAR SCREENING RULES and the KABARET RULES.

Themes for 2008 (our Year 6)
January 20 – Cool or Uncool Presence (Escape Java Joint)
February 17 – Love/Sex (Escape Java Joint)
March 20 – Music Videos (Escape Java Joint)
April 18th/20 Spring Kabaret – (screening 1) Angst, Popsicles, and War / (screening 2) Kabaret films (Sundance Cinema)
May 18 – Fair, Fare, Phare (Escape Java Joint)
June 22 – Overused French Phrases (Escape Java Joint)
July 20 – Sci-Fi (Escape Java Joint)
August 24 – Animation (Escape Java Joint)
September 21 – Dios Mio (My God) (Escape Java Joint)
October 19 – Halloween or Scary (Escape Java Joint)
November 21/23 – Signs/Kabaret (Sundance Cinema)
December 12 – Retrospective (Mercury Cafe)

Each month we'll be featuring films that somehow incorporate these themes.
The themes are inspirations rather than mandates;
we'll also screen films using previous months' themes or no theme.
The point is: Make films that you're excited about sharing.
And, of course, you don't have to bring a film to come and enjoy the screening!

Kino shorts play weekly on WYOU TELEVISION, Madison's cable channel 4.
Check their website for showtimes

It's History...

Wis-Kino Special Retrospective Screening: Saturday December 15, 8pm at the Mercury Lounge (117 E. Mifflin St., Madison)

Wis-Kino Screening: Sun, November 18, 7pm at the Escape Java Joint and Art Gallery. Theme: Things that don't exist

Wis-Kino Fall 2007 Kabaret screenings October 11-13: Escape Java Joint and Art Gallery and Westgate Art Cinema. Get all the details about the Fall 2007 48-Hour Kabaret! Theme: Down the gutter

Wis-Kino screening: Sun, September 23, 7pm at the Escape Coffee Gallery. Theme: Infomercial

Wis-Kino screening: Sun, August 19, 7pm at the Escape Coffee Gallery. Theme: Animation

Wis-Kino screening: Sun, July 8, approximately 8pm - outdoor screening at La Fete French festival outside the Fork and Spoon Cafe (1133 E. Wilson St). Theme: French

Wis-Kino screening: Sun, June 17, 7pm at the Escape Coffee Gallery. Theme: Photography

Wis-Kino Spring Kabaret, May 10-12:
First screening - Thursday, May 10, 7pm at the Orpheum Theater. Theme: Silent/No Dialogue

Second screening (see the films made in 48 hours) - Saturday May 12, 7pm at the Orpheum Theater

April Wis-Kino: Sun, April 29, 7pm at the Escape Coffee Gallery. Theme: Explosions

March Wis-Kino: Sun, March 25, 7pm at the Escape Coffee Gallery. Theme: Music Video

February Wis-Kino: Sun, Feb 18, 7pm at the Escape Coffee Gallery. Theme: Love/Sex

January Wis-Kino: Sun, Jan 28, 2007, 7pm at the Escape Coffee Gallery. Theme: Drip

November Wis-Kino Kabaret and 4th Birthday! Two screenings, each at 7pm at the Orpheum Theater. Meet our filmmakers guests from Montréal and Louisville! Thursday, November 16 - Watch Wis-Kino films and kick off the Kabaret. Theme: 1 minute film. Saturday, November 18 - See the finished Kabaret films, created in the previous 48 hours! Theme: Counterfeit.

October Wis-Kino: Sun, Oct 15, 7pm at the Orpheum Theater. Theme: Scary/Halloween

September Wis-Kino: Sun, Sept 24, 7pm at the Orpheum Theater. Theme: Melt

August Wis-Kino: Sun, Aug 20, 7pm at the Orpheum Theater. Theme: Animation

July Wis-Kino: Sun, July 30, 7pm at the Orpheum Theater. Theme: Sci Fi

June Wis-Kino: Sun, June 25, 7pm at the Orpheum Theater. Theme: Close/Far

May Wis-Kino: Sun, May 21, 7pm at the Orpheum Theater. Theme: Drama

Wis-Kino Madison 150 Film Screening: Sun, April 9, at the Monona Terrace Convention Center (1pm and 4pm, Lecture Hall theater, main floor). Join Wis-Kino and other local filmmakers as we help to celebrate Madison's 150th birthday through our beloved art form! This is a curated program of fifteen short films, selected through a juried competition and representing filmmakers of a broad range of age and experience. The films include historical documentaries, whimsical visual pieces, public service messages, comedic shorts, and explorations of new trends. This program is part of the larger Madison 150 Celebration at Monona Terrace, with many activities happening all afternoon, from 1-6pm. Admission: This is a free program that is open to the public and appropriate for all ages. VIEW THE LIST OF FILMS AND LEARN MORE ABOUT THE EVENT

Wis-Kino Monthly Screening and Spring Kabaret: Thursday April 20 and Saturday April 22, 7pm each night, Orpheum Stage Door Theater (216 State St., Madison, WI). All ages welcome. Thursday theme: Clap; Kabaret theme: Disguise.

April 1 2006: Wis-Kino-A-Go-Go was our program at the 2006 Wisconsin Film Festival in Madison. VIEW THE LIST OF KINO FILMS and filmmakers at the festival. Download the print program.

March 19 2006: Wis-Kino at the Orpheum Stage Door Theater (216 State St., Madison, WI). All ages welcome. $2/$4 sliding scale admission. Theme: Urban Legends.

February 26 2006: Wis-Kino at the Orpheum Stage Door Theater12-Nov-20082/$4 sliding scale admission. The theme was: Sex.

Isthmus Wisconsin Film Festival Preview party: March 1, High Noon Saloon (701 E. Washington Ave., Madison, WI). The evening featured preview clips of the 2006 Wisconsin Film Festival films, a preliminary festival schedule, and Wis-Kino short films, followed by musical entertainment from The Gomers.

February 21 2006: Wis-Kino films at the Buffali All-Star Stir-Fry, King Club (114 King St., Madison, WI). The program also featured: Monkey Business Institute, The Buffali, Break Bread, UW Breakdance Club, and DJ Curfew.

January 27 2006: Wis-Kino at the Orpheum Theater Main Stage (216 State St., Madison, WI). All ages welcome. The January theme was: Police.

December 9, 2005: Wis-Kino at the Orpheum Stage Door Theater (216 State St., Madison, WI). Theme: phone.

November 10-12, 2005: Wis-Kino Fall Kabaret and Third Birthday Party. Press Release: Catch the 48-Hour Guerilla at the Wis-Kino Fall Kabaret! | Download press release file | Download and print the Fall 2005 Kabaret poster (13.4 MB pdf, works in black & white or color) | Dowload and print fliers (4 to a page, 5MB pdf) | What exactly is a kabaret?

Thursday, 11/10: 7pm at the Orpheum Stage Door Theater (216 State St, Madison). Featuring submissions from local filmmakers; a program of shorts from Kino Louisville, Kino Trois-Rivières, and the Montréal Fall 2005 Kabaret; and kickoff of the kabaret with the announcement of the secret ingredient. The November theme is: Make a film with one shot/no cuts. The secret ingredient for the 48-hour kabaret was: Impossible Dream.

During the Kabaret, the Kino Lab was available for all participants. The filmmaking process is all about collaboration and, to help that along and make things more fun, Wis-Kino sets up a Kino Lab during the Kabaret. The Kino Lab is a public place where everyone participating in the Kabaret is invited to bring their equipment, work on their film, and help other filmmakers with their films. It is a secure location, so participants can set up equipment in advance and leave it there during the course of the 48-hour event. The Fall 2005 Kino Lab is at the WYOU Community Television station (609 E. Washington Ave., Madison). To use WYOU production and editing equipment during the course of the Kabaret, be sure to join (the membership fee is modest, but only members can use WYOU resources). Contact wis-kino for information on setting up equipment in advance.

Friday, 11/11: KINO Lecture, "KINO Trois-Rivières: microcinéma planétaire" by Denis Roy (Founder, KINO-Trois-Rivières). 294 Van Hise Hall, noon. Lecture and screening in French, sponsored by the Professional French Masters Program.

Saturday, 11/12: 7pm at the Red Gym "On Wisconsin" room (716 Langdon St, Madison), free admission. Featuring films made in the previous 48 hours.

October 30: Wis-Kino at the Orpheum Stage Door Theater (216 State St., Madison, WI). Theme: Scary/Halloween.

October 13-23, 2005: Five Wis-Kino filmmakers were part of the spectacular Montréal Fall Kabaret! Read the forum thread and see the photos in our album.

September 16: Congratulations! We raised $250 each for local Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, and for Wis-Kino at our benefit screening and concert, Orpheum Stage Door Theater (216 State St., Madison, WI). The September theme was Animation. The concert featured: The Buffali, Aporia, and Young Bodies. Find out how to get more involved in further local relief efforts.

August 21: Wis-Kino at the Orpheum Stage Door Theater (216 State St., Madison, WI). Theme: Nature.

August 7: Documentary film screening at the Orpheum Stage Door. Wis-Kinoite Shelby Floyd organized a screening of several locally-produced documentaries. The show included the premiere of Trash E. Love and Floyd's 30-minute film, "Trash Days," as well as "Blaze Orange" by Kevin Kilduff, "Streetcombing" by Tona Willliams and Angela Richardson, and "Counter-Revolution" and "The Caffeinated Posse" by Brian Standing.

July 24: Wis-Kino at the Orpheum Stage Door Theater (216 State St., Madison, WI). Theme: Sci Fi.

July 19: We had a great outdoor screening at Madison's Memorial Union Terrace! Thanks to the Wisconsin Union Directorate Film Committee for sponsoring the event, and to Andy Schlachtenhaufen for organizing it. Some of the films from the program on our DVDs and some are posted online, so you can see them right here (Super Shooter, When the Lord Attacks, 10 Stages of Opening a Jar / Pterodactylus / Streetcombing, Going To). Go to our discussion forum to comment on the films and ask the filmmakers questions.

June 26: Wis-Kino at the Orpheum Stage Door theater (216 State St.). The theme was: "Fast/Slow."

June 9-11: Wis-Kino Helps Birth the Third Kino Cell in the US. Ritt Deitz, Matt Sloan and Tona Williams road-tripped to Kentucky to represent Wis-Kino at the first ever Kino Louisville 48-hour Kabaret. It was a fantastic event, and the Wis-Kinoites were involved with six films over the course of the weekend. We look forward to welcoming Kino Louisville members to future events in Wisconsin, and we'll certainly return to Louisville for more fun on the Ohio River!

May 22: Wis-Kino at the Orpheum Stage Door theater (216 State St.). The theme was: "reality."

April 7 and 9: Spring 2005 Kabaret, both nights at the Orpheum Stage Door Theater (216 State St.). The theme for April 7 was: Mystery and/or No Talking; The Kabaret theme was: twist.

Saturday April 2: The Kino Film Revolution at the Wisconsin Film Festival, Memorial Union Play Circle theater. Kino founders Christian Laurence and Jéricho Jeudy, from Kino Montréal, presented Kino films from around the world, and Wis-Kino presented a selection of our local films from the past year. See the Wisconsin Film Festival web site. View "The Wisconsin Film Festival: From A to Z" that we created for the festival. See the lineup of films at this event.

March 2: Isthmus Sneak Preview Party for the Wisconsin Film Festival. This free party at the High Noon Saloon featured previews of WI Film Festival films, the premiere of Death is My Co-Pilot (by Erik Gunneson, Matt Sloan, and Aaron Yonda), an instructional video, "The Wisconsin Film Festival: From A to Z" (by Matt Sloan, Aaron Yonda, Courtney Collins and Tona Williams), and a selection of Wis-Kino kabaret films. Wis-Kino collaborated with the Isthmus, Wisconsin Film Festival, High Noon Saloon, Full Compass, 105.5 TripleM, Smart Motors, Scion, and Charter Communications to sponsor this event.

February 27: Wis-Kino at the Orpheum Stage Door theater (216 State St.). The theme was: sex.

January 23, 2005: Wis-Kino at the UW-Madison Vilas Hall Cinemateque(Cinemateque is in 4070 Vilas Hall; 821 University Avenue; the entrance is in the center of the open fourth-floor terrace of Vilas Hall on the UW-Madison campus, on the corner of Park Street and University Ave.). The theme was: advertisement.

December 12: Wis-Kino at the King Club (114 King St, Madison). Theme: interview.

November 13: Wis-Kino Kabaret at the Memorial Union Tripp Commons. Theme: red-handed.

November 12: Wis-Kino Kids screening and editing workshop, 294 Van Hise Hall on the UW-Madison campus (1220 Linden Dr, Madison).

November 11: Wis-Kino at the Orpheum Stage Door. Theme: no theme free-for-all. We screened new films, films from Paris and Montreal, and a selection of Wis-Kino films from the past year. Then we kicked off the 48-hour kabaret.

October 24: Wis-Kino at the UW-Madison Vilas Hall Cinemateque. Theme: bounce.

September 26: Wis-Kino screening outdoors!. Location: 1218 E. Mifflin St. (between Few and Baldwin Streets; see a map), on Madison's near-east side. Featured: blankets, lawn chairs, beverages, and a fire pit! Theme: make two or more very short films, totaling under 10 minutes in length. For more information about this event, check out its thread on our forum.

September 12: Our first annual Wis-Kino Benefit Concert was great! Thanks to everyone who helped organize and perform at the event, and who joined us at the High Noon Saloon. Visit the websites of the bands who donated their time and talent: The Buffali, Daedalus Burn, and Aporia.

August 22: Wis-Kino at the UW-Madison Vilas Hall Cinemateque (4070 Vilas Hall; 821 University Avenue; the entrance is in the center of the open fourth-floor terrace of Vilas Hall on the UW-Madison campus, on the corner of Park Street and University Ave). Theme: animation.

July 25: Wis-Kino at the Wil-Mar Neighborhood Center (on the corner of Jenifer & Brearly streets). Theme: sci-fi.

June 27: Wis-Kino at the UW-Madison Vilas Hall Cinemateque Theme: Make a sequel to a Wis-Kino film.

May 23: Wis-Kino at the UW-Madison Vilas Hall Cinemateque. Theme: boy meets girl, something dies.

April 8-10: The Wis-Kino 01 Spring Kabaret was a stimulating exploration of the theme of flight. On April 8 we had a regular Wis-Kino screening and announced the theme (at the Wil-Mar Neighborhood Center), and on April 10 we met again to see the results of our 48-hour filmmaking frenzy (at the Orpheum Stage Door).

April 5-8: Wis-Kino Kids held its first filmmaking workshop. The young filmmakers produced two great short films, featuring time travel and vegetables.

March 21: Wis-Kino at the Cinemateque. Theme: Mirror.

March 7: Wis-Kino editing class at the Cinemateque, for beginning and intermediate-level editors alike. Kai Yu and Tony Welch explained several editing techniques, and Marcus Trapp and Aaron Yonda demonstrated these techniques in Final Cut Pro.

February 29: Wis-Kino at the Wil-Mar Neighborhood Center (953 Jenifer St - corner of Jenifer & Brearly). The theme was how-to.

January 25, 2004: Wis-Kino at the UW-Madison Cinemateque (4070 Vilas Hall, 821 University Avenue). The theme was laughter.

December 18 : Wis-Kino at the UW-Madison Cinemateque. The theme was hot/cold.

November 13 and 15: Wis-kino Fall Kabaret and Birthday Bash launched us into Wis-Kino 01! The secret ingredient was light. Day 1 (Electric Earth Café) - short films from Quebec and France. Day 2 (Memorial Union Main Lounge, 2nd floor) - around 200 people came to see the films that people created in 48 hours. Press release| Poster | Sponsors.

October 1: Wis-kino at The Grid Iron. Secret Ingredient was seven deadly sins.

September 3: Wis-kino at The Grid Iron. Secret Ingredient was plant.

July 24: Wis-kino Kabaret III at The Grid Iron. Secret ingredient was to use an item from the grab bag.

July 17: Wis-kino at The Grid Iron. Secret ingredient was book.

June 19: Wis-kino at The Grid Iron. Secret ingredient was black and white film.

May 15: Wis-kino at Electric Eye Cinema. Secret ingredient was a local band's music.

April 17: Wis-kino at Electric Eye Cinema. Secret ingredient was to bring in an old film that you've already finished.

April 3 and 5: Wis-kino Kabaret II at WYOU and Electric Earth Café. Secret ingredient was glass.

March 20: Wis-kino at Electric Eye Cinema. Secret ingredients were déjà vu and frosting.

February 20: Wis-kino at Electric Eye Cinema. Secret ingredients were smoke and palindrome.

January 16, 2003: Wis-kino at Electric Eye Cinema. Secret ingredients were spork and cheese curds.

November/December, 2002: Kick-off of Wis-kino and Kabaret with Kino Montréal filmmakers. Secret ingredient was a very small door.