The MSPIFF just announced this year's award winners, which you can read about here. I just started drafting my reviews of these two documentaries when the news dropped, so let's just say I'm thrilled with the selections! Checkpoint Zoo Feldman Ecopark in Kharkiv used to be one of Ukraine's favorite animal sanctuaries, but it ended …
Tag: MSPIFF
MSPIFF 2025 viewing recap + mini reviews + FlixChatter’s picks of 3 Favorite #MSPIFF44 films from the past 12 days
The 44th Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival (MSPIFF) has come and gone!! The film festivities aren't over yet, though, as a selection of the BEST OF FEST is screening this week. Wish I could see some of the films I had missed, but I have a pretty severe cold as I'm typing this, however, …
MSPIFF 2025 Documentary Review: Ai Weiwei’s Turandot – brilliantly captures Wei’s creative genius in a riveting and deeply moving way
Ai Weiwei is a well-known Chinese contemporary artist and activist who has gained international fame for his thought-provoking art installations, architecture, photography, and active presence on social media. The film begins with the text ‘Everything is Art, Everything is Politics’ that’s attributed to Wei. If you haven't heard of Giacomo Puccini's Turandot, it's a story …
MSPIFF 2025 Review: LUZ – Isabelle Huppert stars in a cross-continent tale about rediscovering human connection via VR technology
Luz is a fascinating exploration of connection with the use of technology, notably virtual reality, as characters living on two different continents collide in a VR world. It opens with a mythical translucent deer strolling the street of an LED-lit modern city. These fascinating and mysterious visuals are what fuel Flora Lau’s second feature, which …
MSPIFF 2025 Review: Chinese romance drama BOUND IN HEAVEN
My first film I saw at MSPIFF is this romance drama set in Wuhan, China. One fateful night, a successful, beautiful woman, Xia (Ni Ni), crosses paths with ticket scalper Xu (You Zhou) when she tries to get tickets to her favorite artist, Wong Faye. Sparks fly between them, and they have what seems to …
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MSPIFF 2025 Week 1 Recap – Films that I saw + A conversation with Oscar-winning filmmaker Ang Lee
We were blessed with 'mostly' fantastic weather last week and a gloriously sunny weekend as I attended MSPIFF! Thank God for that, as there have been years where I had to cancel screening plans due to a snowstorm in April. My hubby and I even took a stroll by the Mississippi River in between screenings. …
MSPIFF 2024 Reviews: Unbroken documentary + French drama Àma Gloria (both directed by women)
It's been a busy but fun weekend at 2024 MSPIFF! I have seen a total of five films so far: three documentaries (Unbroken, Call Me Dancer, and Broken Eyes) and two narratives (The Movie Teller, Àma Gloria), all of them #directedbywomen Woot!! The weather was wonderfully Summer-like with sunny skies and temps in the 70s, …
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