These young filmmakers will get to showcase their talents at the Milwaukee Film Festival

Alexander Eberhage was just 13 when he first got an idea for a science-fiction film.

The Milwaukee resident wanted to create a futuristic world about a cosmic archaeologist traveling the galaxy. But he lacked the technical skills to bring that world to life.

So during the early days of the pandemic, while some people learned to make sourdough bread or build furniture, Eberhage, now 18, learned visual effects on YouTube. Now his sci-fi short film, “Galacta Raider,” is showing at the Milwaukee Film Fest, which returned this year in a combination of in-person and virtual events.

"Galacta Raider" is among 14 youth-made and produced films showcased in the festival's "Milwaukee Youth Show." The in-person screening will be 11:30 a.m. Sunday at the Oriental Theatre, 2230 N. Farwell Ave. A question-and-answer session with the teen filmmakers will follow.

The films also can be viewed virtually at watch.mkefilm.org, and are available only to all-access pass holders for the festival.

The young filmmakers, many of whom are showing their work for the first time, are excited to be in the youth show, now in its 10th year at the film festival.

The opportunity, Eberhage says, cemented his fascination with the medium; he plans to study film in college. A senior at Milwaukee High School of the Arts, he always had an interest in film, especially the production side of things.

He makes replica props from his favorite 1980s movies, like the proton pack from "Ghostbusters."

“I'd done a couple of things with those techniques on music videos, but they were never brought to that level of sophistication where you're doing it (visual effects) for every shot," Eberhage said. "I wanted to really just develop it even further with this film.”

"Galacta Raider" is a sci-fi mystery that follows a cosmic archaeologist living in a society where people have no past until he makes a discovery that can alter the future. His film mimics Ridley Scott’s 1982 sci-fi classic “Blade Runner.”

“I was inspired by the look and the world (Scott) created because it kind of transports you into this immersive world,” he said. “I really wanted to try to do that as much as possible. But I don't have as much funding as that film.”

It took a year for Eberhage to learn the visual graphics needed to create the 13-minute film. He even designed the props, costumes and the production set.

“There's a lot of work that went into it,” he said, noting the film is about honoring one’s culture and ancestry. “I was really inspired over quarantine to develop this film because I felt like it was the right time for the idea.

"I think there's a lot of subtexts and meaning behind it that relate to what's going on in our society now.”

Eberhage's film and those of the other teens screening in the festival demonstrate the breadth of their work and creativity that varies in subject matter and genre. Their films tackle heavy-weighted issues, such as gun violence, feminism and the pandemic's impact on youth in thought-provoking, deeply personal and at times in dark satirical ways.

One such take is Trygg Johnson’s “Hard Candy.”

Johnson’s film is about a would-be burglar who agonizes over whether to save a teen’s life or flee the scene of a crime. The documentary “Behind the Curtain: Auditions,” delves into the nail-biting audition process teens endure to be in a school’s musical.

Milwaukee Film’s Education Manager Marielle Allschwang called the students' work impressive, showing strong creativity, technical ability and authentic storytelling. The youth, Allschwang said, recognize filmmaking can be a tool for civic engagement and a way to amplify their voice, especially about issues they care about.

“I feel that these films hold up to even the films made by the adults in the Cream City Cinema program in the festival,” she said. “If people in the city are interested in what Milwaukee’s filmmaking industry is doing, then this is a must-see for them.

"This is the future of our city’s filmmaking culture and industry. We are just really so proud of their work.”

Evelyn Winter's film "The Garden," exemplifies that. Her hand-drawn animated short is a retelling of the story of Adam and Eve that's not through a Judeo-Christian lens. The film was inspired by the absence of matriarchal cultures in history books, which are often written from a male perspective, said the 15-year-old Wauwatosa West High School sophomore.

“I wanted to bring this story that everyone's pretty familiar with and kind of switch up the perspective and flip it around so people could see another side of it through a different lens,” she said.

As an illustrator, Winter found inspiration in artists like Frida Kahlo and French painter and printmaker Louise Bourgeois, who is known for her large-scale sculpture. Work from both artists tackled social issues similar to hers.

“I feel very inspired by art that's kind of conceptual and takes on a meaning,” Winter said.

Filming the 2-minute short was challenging, said Winter, noting the pandemic gave her time to complete the film in two months.

“The actual process of drawing frame by frame kind of gets tiring after a while. I think just finishing it was a process,” said Winter, who wants to pursue a career as an animator. She called it "magical" seeing the final piece come to life on film.

Winter she is excited to be in her first film festival and hopes the experience will bring more exposure to her work.

“I thought that it'd be really cool to have my film shown to my community, so my community could be kind of exposed to my ideas and my craft," Winter said.

Olivia Cagle hopes her documentary helps people understand the world of "stans" — super fans who are obsessed with celebrities. The term comes from a 2000 Eminem song of the same name about an obsessed fan’s unrequited admiration for the rapper.

Her documentary, “To Be a Stan,” offers an intimate portrait of three fangirls who talk about the musicians they love and what it means to be a “stan.” Cagle, 18, wanted to destigmatize the term that seemingly only applies to teen girls.

“That can be harmful in a sense because it paints women as over-obsessive,” said Cagle, a senior at Homestead High School in Mequon and a self-described stan for singer Harry Styles. “I personally don't think that's bad. I think being passionate about something is important.”

Male fans, she noted, are not stigmatized in the same way, especially when it comes to sports. Men, she said, are considered diehard Packer fans. But women who stay up all night for an album release are labeled “crazy” or “weirdo,” she said.

“I own copious amounts of Harry Styles shirts and posters, and then my stepdad has lots of Packer merch. It's a nice comparison that I like to make.” Cagle said.

Superfans, she added, are doing what they love and shouldn’t be shamed for it.

“Showing that in my film was cool because then other people who might be ashamed can be like it’s OK to relate to Taylor Swift on a personal level, even though you've never met her,” said Cagle, who plans to study film at the University of Texas at Austin next fall. “That was my main takeaway. Do what makes you happy and engage in what makes you happy, because life is too short.”

The documentary “COVID: The Teen Experience” examines the upheaval the pandemic caused in the lives of six teens from different backgrounds and neighborhoods.

Shot entirely on cell phones, the film puts together personal footage from the past year and a half as the youth travail life during the lockdown, the isolation of virtual learning, the protests over the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and an uprising a half a world away in Myanmar that shows the importance of family and culture.

The students' film was part of ArtWorks for Milwaukee which submitted the film to the festival.

“There’re layers of things right now that are affecting us, and on top of (COVID-19),” said Georgia Fritsch, who was among the students working on the film. She was a senior at Martin Luther High School when the pandemic descended on the country. “We're students in high school. So, all of these different issues affect us, and that's why we decided to do all these different topics.”

Fritsch said it was important to do the film even though the pandemic caused some challenges. Going virtual created technical difficulties that got the collaboration among the students off to a bumpy start.

“I think it took a toll on us a little bit mentally just because of all the traumatic events in it. But it needed to be made because it's real life. It was real life at the time, and it still is,” said Fritsch, 19, who will attend Mount Mary University this fall majoring in art therapy. “It's a big think piece. So, I'm looking forward to everyone being able to see it.”

When asked what she wants the audience to learn from the film, she said to make sure youth have a safe place to talk about issues that concern them.

“Me personally, I want people to be more considerate of each other and more aware of young people's mental health because there is so much going on,” Fritsch said.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Young filmmakers emerge from the pandemic ready for the Milwaukee Film Fest