April 17th, 2009

For Immediate Release:

Milwaukee’s Future Foundation, the parent nonprofit corporation of the Milwaukee International Film Festival, the Shepherd Express and Louis Fortis are filing suit today against Chris Abele and Milwaukee Film for forcing the closure of the Milwaukee International Film Festival after five very successful film festivals. (See “Complaint” online at Milwaukeefilmfest.org.)

A Brief History of the
Milwaukee International Film Festival

• In 2002, Louis Fortis, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of the Shepherd Express, and Dave Luhrssen, Arts and Entertainment Editor of the Shepherd Express, undertook the challenge of creating the Milwaukee International Film Festival (“the Festival”), as Milwaukee was among the only major U.S. cities that did not have an international film festival. This was the Shepherd Express’ way of giving back to Milwaukee.
• Over a six-year period, Fortis and Luhrssen each invested more than 2,000 volunteer hours building the Festival. The Festival utilized the Shepherd Express, its services and staff for its publicity and promotion needs, and relied upon Fortis to supply additional funding as necessary to cover payroll and other operating expenses. Without this tremendous financial support, the Festival would not have been possible.
• After five very successful Festivals, Chris Abele, who was one of many donors to the Festival, but who was not a board member or involved in any official capacity, decided that he wanted to control the Festival, and mounted a campaign to oust Fortis as the Festival’s leader. Fortis and Luhrssen, who put six years of their lives into creating a world-class film festival, tried to negotiate with Abele to reach an amicable solution and preserve the Festival for Milwaukee, but to no avail. Through a series of actions as documented in the “Complaint,” Abele forced the Festival out of business and created a new nonprofit corporation, Milwaukee Film, to run the Festival without Fortis.