By Matt Mueller Culture Editor Published Feb 01, 2017 at 8:51 AM

It's never too early to start getting excited for the Milwaukee Film Festival – even when it's more than seven months away from the event. So today, Milwaukee Film announced the official dates for the 2017 festival – its ninth edition – landing this year from Sept. 28 through Oct. 12. 

2016 was pretty spectacular for Milwaukee Film, from receiving a grant from The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (yes, THAT Academy) for its terrific and essential Black Lens program to Oscar-winning screenwriter-director-producer John Ridley joining its board of directors to, of course, another terrific festival featuring another terrific lineup of films and another increase in numbers. So here's to that momentum continuing forward in 2017!

Milwaukee Film will begin accepting submissions on a date to be announced later this month. In the meantime, maybe check out "Miss Sharon Jones!" or "Under the Shadow," two outstanding 2016 film festival selections just added to Netflix last month. Or stay tuned for "Imperial Dreams" (Feb. 3) or "Girl Asleep" (Feb. 8), two other MFF picks coming to the streaming service this month. Or watch this 2015 MFF sponsor video – you know, the one with all the puppies and kittens. All solid choices.

Matt Mueller Culture Editor

As much as it is a gigantic cliché to say that one has always had a passion for film, Matt Mueller has always had a passion for film. Whether it was bringing in the latest movie reviews for his first grade show-and-tell or writing film reviews for the St. Norbert College Times as a high school student, Matt is way too obsessed with movies for his own good.

When he's not writing about the latest blockbuster or talking much too glowingly about "Piranha 3D," Matt can probably be found watching literally any sport (minus cricket) or working at - get this - a local movie theater. Or watching a movie. Yeah, he's probably watching a movie.