200 Films to be Presented at 42nd Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival

Article by Becky Fillinger, photos provided

The festival kicks off April 13 and runs until April 27 at The Main Cinema, 115 SE Main Street, with additional screenings at the Capri in North Minneapolis and the Landmark Center in St. Paul. The full schedule and movie descriptions are worth perusing. Parties, panels and other events fully round out the festival. Everyone who attends an opening night movie is invited to the MSPIFF42: Opening Night Party at Machine Shop, 300 2nd Street SE – great food, music and movie visionaries!

Festival organizers expect pre-pandemic audiences of about 40,000 people to attend. Attendees come from all over the world for the film festival, so let’s be sure to show local support for this major event. We asked MSPIFF staff for suggestions.

Jesse Bishop, Program Director, offers these three for your consideration:

A Compassionate Spy is the latest film from renowned documentarian Steve James, maker of Hoop Dreams, and brings to life an unlikely true story about the youngest physicist to work on the Manhattan Project who turned over secrets to the Russians. It's an incredible morality tale and love story wrapped into one.

Other People’s Children by Rebecca Zlotowski from France is one of two films in the festival that stars the amazing Belgian actress Virginie Efira (the other is REVOIR PARIS). It's a beautiful and engaging study of a woman's bond with her lover's child, and the longing to have a family of her own.

Mamacruz is a fun and irreverent Spanish dramedy about a devoted churchgoing grandmother who stumbles across an explicit website and finds herself exploring long buried desires. It's a fantastic story about retaking control of one's life, important at any age!

Kelly Nathe, Programmer & Publicity Manager, has one outstanding recommendation:

King Coal is a beautiful exploration of the many ways coal industry has been woven into the fabric of life in Appalachia, both positively and negatively. 

And here are my personal two top picks:

The Hamlet Syndrome. The Guthrie Theater is staging Hamlet in April, their 60th anniversary of the first production. I can’t resist seeing a movie also about Hamlet, just across the Mississippi River at the festival.  Plus, the heartbreak of the Ukrainian invasion needs to stay fresh in our minds. Movie Description: The Hamlet Syndrome is a powerful portrait of a vibrant young Ukrainian generation, the first one born after the collapse of the Soviet Union, shaped by the Maidan Revolution of 2013, empowered by political change and scarred by war. A few months prior to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, five young women and men participate in a unique stage production that attempts to relate their war experiences to Shakespeare’s Hamlet. For each of them, the stage is a platform to express their grief and trauma through the famous question, “to be or not to be,” a dilemma that applies to their own lives.

Gold Run. I’m a fan of historical movies, especially about World War II. If you enjoyed Atlantic Crossing on PBS or Narvik on Netflix, I think you’ll want to see this movie about the Nazi invasion of Norway. Movie Description: On April 9th, 1940 the Nazis invaded Norway. Based on true events, Gold Run tells the story of how a brigade of ragtag Norwegians, including a bank secretary, a famous poet and a female veteran of the Spanish Civil War, smuggled 40 tons of gold bullion out of the national bank vault in Oslo to safety with the Allies.

Get your tickets:

MSPIFF42 All-Access Festival Passes are $400 for Members/$500 for the General Public; individual tickets are $10 for Members/$15 for the General Public; and Six Packs are $50 for Members/$75 for General Public. Please visit mspfilm.org for more information.