While watching it I told myself to breathe and to be in the moment. Right now, I’m giddy and full of gratitude.
Dasha Kelly paced in the back of the dimly lit theater, nervously munching handfuls of popcorn.
About 100 other people shifted and settled into their upholstered seats, eyeing the wide, white screen of the historic Downer Theatre in Milwaukee’s East Side.
As the faint light faded to black, Kelly found a seat near the front. A few moments later, the screen flickered to life. The 67-minute documentary, “Makin’ Cake,” was making its world premiere at the 18th annual Milwaukee Film Festival on April 24.
Kelly, who calls herself a “creative change agent,” has authored books, written plays, painted portraits and reigned as Wisconsin’s poet laureate. She served as Milwaukee Area Technical College’s first chair of social justice in 2022 and delivered the keynote address at the college’s 2021 Spring Commencement.
‘Makin Cake’” was her very film project.
“While watching it I told myself to breathe and to be in the moment,” Kelly said after the film ended. “Right now, I’m giddy and full of gratitude.”
“Makin’ Cake” tells the story of Kelly’s stage play of the same name, which mixes storytelling, multimedia projection and live bakers to illustrate the history of cake, and chronicle wealth disparity and institutional racism in America. At the end, the audience eats the cupcakes that were made during the show and converses about race and equity.
Kelly staged the play in MATC’s Cooley Auditorium in December 2022. Since then, she has toured the nation with the production.
The film includes scenes from several performances of the stage play, including the one at Cooley, along with experts speaking about the nation’s challenging relationships with racism, feminism, class and privilege.
Also featured are interviews with numerous baking experts, including Baking and Pastry Arts program instructors Kurt Fogle, Keosha Nelson and Andrew Schneider, along with Kimberly Adams, owner of Signature Sweets in Milwaukee.
In the film, Kelly steps out of the role of interviewer and onto the kitchen stage: She attempts to bake on camera while unpacking the layered history behind ingredients, labor, celebration and exclusion.
“Cake is often associated with celebration,” Kelly said in the film. “But when you start looking closely at who had access to sugar, flour, ovens and the luxury of time, you uncover a much deeper story about power and privilege.”
Making a film allowed Kelly to dig even deeper into the topics presented in the play.
“I’m a storyteller and this is still storytelling,” she said. “While making this (film), it felt exciting to be new at something again. It was being a freshman all over again. It was really a journey of the heart.”
She added: “And I’m still feeling that. I didn’t set out to make a motion picture, even though I had thought about it. This took time. But the people appeared, the path appeared and here we are.”
The film was also screened April 27 at the Oriental Theatre during the festival. The stage production of “Makin’ Cake” will return to Milwaukee at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 7, at the Wilson Theater at Vogel Hall.
Kelly plans to present the play across the nation. She is also creating a curriculum based on the film. “I would love to bring these subjects and ideas that we’re talking about into schools,” she said. “We always need to find a way to continue these conversations.”
About MATC: As Wisconsin’s largest technical college and one of the most diverse two-year institutions in the Midwest, Milwaukee Area Technical College is a key driver of southeastern Wisconsin’s economy and has provided innovative education in the region since 1912. More than 35,000 students per year attend the college’s four campuses and community-based sites or learn online. MATC offers affordable and accessible education and training opportunities that empower and transform lives in the community. The college offers more than 180 academic programs — many that prepare students for jobs immediately upon completion and others that provide transfer options leading to bachelor’s degrees with more than 45 four-year colleges and universities. Overwhelmingly, MATC graduates build careers and businesses in southeastern Wisconsin. The college is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.
About Dasha Kelly: Dasha Kelly is a writer, performance artist and creative change agent. She has authored award-winning poetry, essays and fiction. She is a mainstage storyteller and host with The Moth, an alum of HBO's Def Poetry Jam, Poet Laureate Emerita for both the City of Milwaukee and the State of Wisconsin and a National Laureate Fellow with the American Academy of Poets. In 2024, Dasha was named a Living Legacy Honoree by the licensing agency for the legendary poet Gwendolyn Brooks. A skilled engagement practitioner and instructor, Dasha has facilitated initiatives in Botswana, Mauritius and Beirut as an Arts Envoy for the U.S. Embassy. Her nonprofit literary arts organization, Still Waters Collective, recently celebrated its 25th anniversary.