Ok, so after a practically snow-less Winter, Spring in Minnesota arrives with a snowstorm this weekend 😀 But hey, I refuse to let bad weather dampen my spirit, especially since MSPIFF just announced its lineup, woot!!

The festival returns on April 11-25 to The Main Cinema, Minneapolis, and other venues around the Twin Cities. As the largest annual celebration of international cinema in the region, MSPIFF43 reveals an exciting lineup of 200+ films from around the world, plus an exciting array of parties, panels, visiting filmmakers, and special guests.

PREVIEW THE MSPIFF43 LINEUP »

One thing I’m super thrilled about this year is that MSPIFF43 is featuring acclaimed cinematographer Roger Deakins and his longtime collaborator and wife James Deakins. They will be joining us at three events during the festival: Conversation with Roger Deakins during Industry Night, Book Signing of his photography coffee table book, and a screening of Fargo followed by a talk with Mr. Deakins. Naturally, the tickets were sold out in a matter of hours, but I’m glad I was able to score a ticket for me + my photographer-enthusiast husband for the Industry Night event. Can’t wait to hear him talk about his monumental career in cinematography!

OPENING + CLOSING NIGHT FILMS

I love that both opening and closing night films have a theater theme this year! The opening night film is SING SING directed by Greg Kwedar. 

Colman Domingo stars as Divine G, who’s imprisoned at Sing Sing for a crime he didn’t commit. He finds purpose by acting in a theater group alongside other incarcerated men, including a wary newcomer (Clarence Maclin), in this stirring true story of resilience, humanity, and the transformative power of art, starring an unforgettable ensemble cast of formerly incarcerated actors.

Domingo was recently nominated for RUSTIN, and this film also stars Paul Raci who was Oscar-nominated for his phenomenal work in Sound of Metal.

SING SING will be playing at The Main 1 Theater on Thursday, April 11th at 7:00 and 7:15 PM.

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MSPIFF43’s Closing Night film is Ghostlight, directed by Kelly O’Sullivan & Alex Thompson.

When melancholic construction worker Dan (Keith Kupferer) finds himself drifting from his wife and daughter, he unwittingly joins a local theater’s production of Romeo and Juliet, where he discovers community and purpose. As the drama onstage starts to mirror his own life, he and his family are forced to confront a personal loss.

Ghostlight will be playing at The Main 1 Theater on Thursday, April 25th at 7:00 and 7:20 PM.

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WOMEN-DIRECTED FILMS

I’m hoping to set my #52FilmsByWomen challenge ablaze this year by seeing as many female-directed films as I can during MSPIFF. I spent some time perusing the lineup earlier this week and as of now, there are at least 15 films #directedbywomen I’m hoping to see! Of course, it depends on the schedule and screener availability, as I still have to work during the day, and there are likely scheduling conflicts with some of the movies I want to see.

In any case, these are 15 narrative features + documentaries I’m most excited to see (in alphabetical order):

1. Àma Gloria (French)
   Six-year-old Cléo and her nanny Gloria must make the most of their last summer together when Gloria returns to Cape Verde to care for her own children,
2. Art For Everybody (USA)
   A documentary on Thomas Kincade, aka the “Painter of Light.” After his shocking death, his family discovers a vault of unseen paintings that reveal a complex artist whose life and work embody our divided America.
3. A New Kind of Wilderness (Norway)
   A family seeks a wild free existence but a tragic turn of events shatters their isolation, compelling them to adapt to the demands of contemporary society.
4. Banel and Adama (Senegal)
   A young couple in Senegal must contend with the disapproval of their remote village.
5. Broken Eyes (MN filmmaker)
   A documentary that centers on a filmmaker whose vision is destroyed by Lasik eye surgery and she decides to make a movie about it.
6. Ghostlight (closing night film – see above)
7. Girls Will Be Girls (India)
   Follows the journey of 16-year-old Mira, whose sexy, rebellious coming of age is disrupted by her young mother who never got to come of age herself.
8. The Gullspång Miracle (documentary – Sweden, Norway, Denmark)
   Two pious sisters buy an apartment after having witnessed a divine sign – only to realize that the seller of the apartment looks identical to their other sister, who committed suicide some thirty years before.
9. Lies We Tell (Ireland)
   An orphaned heiress is forced to embrace her family’s dark legacy – based on a Gothic novel.
10. The Movie Teller (Chile, Spain, France)
    This Lone Scherfig drama explores the power of cinema in a Chilean Mining Town, starring Bérénice Bejo and Daniel Bruhl.
11. The Nature of Love (Canada, France)
    A woman from a wealthy family Sophia’s life is turned upside down when she meets manual worker Sylvain. Sophia questions her own values after abandoning herself to her great romantic impulses.
12. Sira (Burkina Faso)
    After a brutal attack, a young nomad named Sira refuses to surrender to her fate without a fight and instead takes a stand against Islamist terror.
13. Sweet Dreams (Netherlands, Sweden, Indonesia, France)
    Set in the era of dying colonialism in the Dutch East Indies at an Indonesian sugar plantation
14. Tuesday (USA)
    A mother (Julia Louis Dreyfus) and her teenage daughter must confront Death when it arrives in the form of an astonishing talking bird.
15. Unbroken (documentary – USA) 
    The daughter of a Holocaust survivor explores the questions she asks herself: “Would I be here if my mother hadn’t been hidden?” and “Who else helped my mother and her siblings survive?”

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More international films I hope to see…

1. A Difficult Year (France)
2. A Man of Reason (South Korea)
3. African Giants (Sierra Leone)
4. The Beast (France, Canada)
5. Bonjour Switzerland (Switzerland, Italy)
6. The Convert (New Zealand, Australia)
7. In Our Day (South Korea)
8. Merchant Ivory (USA)
9. The Old Oak (UK, France, Belgium)
10. Thelma (USA)
11. Victoria Must Go (Norway)

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Stay tuned for my coverage of MSPIFF43 films in the coming weeks!