Bayside resident Mark Metcalf is an actor who has worked in movies, TV and on the stage. He is best known for his work in "Animal House," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Seinfeld."

In addition to his work on screen, Metcalf is involved with the Milwaukee International Film Festival, First Stage Children's Theater and a number of other projects, including the comedy Web site, comicwonder.com.

He also finds time to write about movies for OnMilwaukee.com.

FIRST OF THREE PARTS

We begin with a disclaimer: I have had a very close association with the Milwaukee International Film Festival since its second year. What follows are my recollections of the history of that festival. I have worked closely with all the participants at one point or another. But, as always, my personal bias informs, or infects all things.

In the year 2002, Louis Fortis, publisher and editor-in-chief of the Shepherd Express, and his arts and entertainment editor, Dave Luhrssen, had a brilliant idea. That idea became the Milwaukee International Film Festival.

Because they knew very little about film festivals they went to Jonathan Jackson, a Cleveland native and a graduate of the UWM film program. In the three years prior, Jackson had re-energized the UWM Union Theatre as its program manager, breaking attendance records and screening more films and programs than ever before.

Rubina Shafi, a Milwaukee native, was hired as managing director for the 2003 festival. Shafi had experience with several film festivals in New York City. Working with a staff of two full-time employees, plus a miraculous assortment of volunteers and interns for the first few years, the festival grew quickly.

What started as an admittedly ambitious 11-day festival with more than 100 films and 8,000 attendees in 2003 evolved into a smooth-running, important regional festival with more than 140 films from 50 different countries and more than 30,000 attendees in 2007.

In the past two years alone, the attendance at MIFF doubled. The Milwaukee International Film Festival became a showpiece for Milwaukee, a moment of great pride in the early fall, when filmmakers from around the world and around the country came to this city to see and show their films and talk about movies with both industry insiders and fellow film lovers.

The most influential people in the city and in the film industry, myself included, have celebrated the original idea and the two men who had it. Fortis, in particular, and Luhrssen, as his aide, have been celebrated much the way Richard Nixon is celebrated for his trip to China in 1972. Despite all that came after, Richard Nixon is still known as the man who opened the doors to the East.

An international film festival in Milwaukee was one of those ideas where you slap your forehead and say, "Why didn't I think of that?"

In retrospect, it was a no brainer.

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