Experimental films by Bill Bedford at MMoCA and Emily Pelstring at Mills Folly Microcinema
Films by Bill Bedford will screen in the MMoCA video gallery starting June 4. Canadian filmmaker Emily Pelstring will visit Mills Folly Microcinema June 10.
Scroll down for Now Showing in Madison, June 2–June 8, 2026
Tuesday weekly posts feature some short notes on various cinematic topics, followed by the Now Showing in Madison guide to commercial theaters and alternative venues.
Once again, deadlines for many projects will restrict my time available for Moving Image Madison this week, but I wanted to make sure that two upcoming experimental film opportunities are on your radar.
First, films by Watertown-based experimental filmmaker Bill Bedford will begin screening in the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art video gallery (227 State Street) starting Friday, June 4, and running through September 6. Fans of the Wisconsin Film Festival will recognize Bedford’s name, because his films have been featured in several experimental film programs at Festival in recent years.
I have a hand in bringing Bedford’s films to MMoCA in my role as Assistant Curator of Film and Art Video. Here are a few notes I prepared for Films by Bill Bedford:
Filmmaker and photographer Bill Bedford has investigated the relationship between still and moving images since the mid-1970s. He creates what he calls “moving, semi-moving, and non-moving pictures” in short films that move between documentation and abstraction. Sometimes this abstraction evolves while filming, through camera movement or objects moving in front of the camera. Other times Bedford creates or discovers abstract shapes and patterns during the editing process.
I’m very pleased to share Bedford’s films with MMoCA visitors. Friday also marks the 125th anniversary of MMoCA (in its various incarnations) and a special Spring Opening Celebration to celebrate the opening of Extended Play: A-Side, an exhibition of groundbreaking abstract art associated with Sam Gillam and the Washington Color School. The public reception on Friday from 6:00pm to 9:00pm will be your first opportunity to see Bedford’s films in the newly renovated MMoCA video gallery. But you’ll have plenty of opportunities to walk in during gallery hours and see the program through September.
Our Psychedelic Nature: Short Films by Emily Pelstring
Meanwhile, you won’t have as much time to see work by Canadian filmmaker Emily Pelstring, so mark Wednesdsay, June 10 on your calendar now.
Pelstring will attend a program of her short films, Our Psychedelic Nature, at Mills Folly Microcinema on Wednesday, June 10, 7:00pm at Arts + Literature Laboratory, 111 S. Livingston Street, Suite 100.
I plan to have more about this special screening in next Tuesday’s post. But here is a brief introduction from the program’s promotional material and Pelstring’s website:
Emily Pelstring is a Canadian artist and tenured professor in the Department of Film and Media at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. Her animated short films have screened widely at film festivals, including Slamdance, the Ann Arbor Film Festival, Transmediale Berlin, Images, and Internationale Short Film Festival Oberhausen. The Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF) presented a 13-film retrospective of her work in 2020. In 2023, the GIRAF Festival presented a second retrospective of her work.
Pelstring’s A Flame the Colour of Air (2025, pictured above) won 2nd Prize for Best Experimental Film at the ASIFA East Awards.
Mills Folly programmer Grant Phipps has been working with Pelstring to facilitate her visit next week. It should be a special screening, so I hope you can join us!
Now Playing In Madison: June 2–June 8, 2026
Please confirm showtimes with the venues (follow venue links where provided). The commercial theaters update their weekend listings on Wednesdays. Another valuable source that posts on Wednesdays with now playing lists is The Horizon Line Madison. When possible, I will provide links to reviews by Rob Thomas at Not That Rob Thomas, who gets around to far more proper reviews than I do.
Comments here are not reviews of the films, they are usually a response to the trailer, a summary of the buzz I have heard, or just snark. They are not always particularly accurate, according to reader feedback. I add trailers to new films of interest that you might not know about (American indies, international features, etc.).
Wisconsin 48 Hour Film Project
THE WISCONSIN 48 B.O.W.s (Best of Weekend), Sunday, June 7, 1:00pm, Crucible Madison, 3112 Commercial Avenue.
The 48hr Film Project folks will screen the films produced back on the weekend of May 17 that have advanced to the “Yes We Cannes” competition.
WUD Film Lakeside Cinema
Based on the sources provided, there is only one film scheduled to play at WUD Film during the specified period of Tuesday, June 2 through Monday, June 8, 2026:
WHIP IT, The Terrace @ Memorial Union, Monday, 6/8, 9:00 P.M.
Lakeside Cinema, Monday nights at the Memorial Union Terrace returns with monthly themes: “Sports” (June), “Under the Lake,” (July), “Back to the 80’s” (August).
Commercial Theaters:
AMC Theatres
Flix Brewhouse
Marcus Theatres (Palace and Point)
Unfortunately, this will be a bare-bones list this week due to other project commitments. But snarky comments will return next week!
A.I.: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE at Flix.
AMAZING DIGITAL CIRCUS: THE LAST ACT, THE at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.
BACKROOMS at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.
BIRDCAGE 30TH ANNIVERSARY, THE at AMC, Point.
BLAST at AMC.
BREADWINNER, THE at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.
CAROLINA CAROLINE at AMC.
DEVIL WEARS PRADA 2, THE at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.
HAI JAWANI TOH ISHQ HONA HAI at AMC.
HUNGRY at AMC.
I LOVE BOOSTERS at AMC, Palace.
KATTALAN at AMC.
LAST WHALE SINGER, THE at AMC, Palace, Point.
MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.
MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE EARLY ACCESS SCREENING at AMC, Palace, Point.
METROPOLITAN OPERA: EL ÚLTIMO SUEÑO DE FRIDA Y DIEGO, THE at Point.
MICHAEL at AMC, Palace, Point.
MORTAL KOMBAT II at AMC, Flix.
OBSESSION at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.
PASSENGER at AMC, Palace, Point.
PEDDI at AMC, Palace, Point.
POWER BALLAD at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.
PRESSURE at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.
PROJECT HAIL MARY at AMC.
REVOLUTIONARY AMERICA at Palace.
SCARY MOVIE at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.
SCARY MOVIE: FAN EVENT at Flix, Palace, Point.
SHEEP DETECTIVES, THE at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.
STAR WARS: THE MANDALORIAN AND GROGU at AMC, Flix, Palace, Point.
SUPER MARIO GALAXY MOVIE, THE at AMC.
TRAINSPOTTING at AMC, Point.
TUNER at AMC, Palace, Point.
Have you used the Now Showing in Madison listings at least once to find something interesting to see? Have you discovered a film that you didn’t realize was playing in town? Please consider supporting these efforts directly by clicking the “Buy Me a Popcorn” button and making a modest donation on those occasions when you find this resource valuable to your moviegoing in Madison.
Looking Ahead:
Local filmmaker Michael Doyle Olson has started what he hopes to be a comprehensive, collaborative public calendar of alternative film screenings in Madison. It is still a work in progress, but check it out at www.mdo.me/film.
Mills Folly Microcinema
OUR PSYCHEDELIC NATURE: SHORT FILMS BY EMILY PELSTRING, Wednesday, June 10, 7:00pm at Arts + Literature Laboratory, 111 S. Livingston Street, Suite 100.
Mills Folly Microcinema welcomes Canadian artist and animator Emily Pelstring for an in-person visit and screening of her recent work.
UW Cinematheque
UW Cinematheque will resume with “Bleak Week” from Wednesday, June 24 through Tuesday, June 30.
The remaining summer schedule is now posted at the UW-Cinematheque website.
Side Room Cinematheque
Consult Instagram @sideroomcinematic for screening details, second Thursday of the month, and last Monday of the month.
Cinesthesia at Madison Public Library Central Branch
MIDNIGHT COWBOY (Joh , 1993), Wednesday June 17, 6:30pm.