Once upon a time in early 2011, newly-elected Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker presented his budget repair bill, which included some surprising proposals many maintain were not discussed during his campaign, especially those regarding the operation of state employee unions.  

In a state known for its history of progressivism and for its strong University system, the plans shocked many citizens, who flooded the State Capitol building and surrounding square in protest. Even in bitter winter weather, crowds of up to 150,000 people swelled in some of the largest political demonstrations in the state since the Vietnam War.

The new documentary film Forward presents an activist-level view of the ensuing events that, according to the filmmakers, “…swept state senators out of office, triggered the third governor recall election in American history, and inspired the Occupy movement.”

The film debuts to a sold-out audience this Sunday, April 28 at Sundance cinemas, plays in Milwaukee May 2 at the Oriental Theater, and again in Madison May 5. The short Overpass Light Brigade, which focuses on a Wisconsin activist group that holds lit signs over highway overpasses, will also play during the screenings. Filmmakers hope to raise funds to submit Forward to a number of film festivals as well as support the OLB Battery Fund.

Computer Chess shoots the moon:

• It’s shot on lo-fi video, which is typically a curse, but it’s so lo-fi that is goes back around the bend into weird analog beauty.
• It’s half a mockumentary, which is as overdone on the festival circuit as it is in horror movies, but rather than go for (a) broad comedy, (b) improbable-behavior-in-front-of-a-camera drama or (c) foreground tedium while waiting for something exciting and “unexpected” in the background, its documentary sections are legit — and as a result, the story’s surprisingly deep intrigue is perfectly fueled by appropriate buttoned-down reactions or public performance.
• The cast is primarily nonprofessional actors, but they are remarkable.
• It is, according to writer/director Andrew Bujalski, much less scripted than the movies that earned him a rep as a founder of mumblecore, and so while you might think mumblecore + more improv = yikes, each scene is coherent both in itself and in serving the story. (… OK, I’m excluding the cat scenes from that judgment.)

People may have seen a viral video clip that made the rounds last year of a herd of dairy cows being lead out of their barn after being cooped up all winter. Their massive bovine forms nearly prance into the green fields of grass, kicking up their heels in the free open space of a meadow.

Moo Man includes such a clip, but notes that this display of apparent animal joy, and dairy cattle even getting a taste of fresh springtime grass, is the exception to the norm.  Steve Hook is an English dairy farmer or “herdsman” as he refers to himself. He tends a herd of 72 dairy cows, which is well below the number normally found at farms now a day. He and his family run Hook and Sons, which provides fresh raw milk door to door and at farmer’s markets as a specialty small business offering in a world of inexpensive mass-produced dairy products.