MSP Film Society's Virtual Cinema Updates

Via an August 5 e-announcement from MSP Film Society:

August has arrived and MSP Film Society has another jam-packed month of exciting programming available in our Virtual Cinema:

Opening this Friday, August 7 - A THOUSAND CUTS, Ramona S. Diaz's thrilling film about the increasingly dangerous war between press and government; along with OUT STEALING HORSES (Ut og stjæle hester), based on the bestselling novel by Norwegian author Per Petterson. JAZZ ON A SUMMER'S DAY, the classic concert film set at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival, will open on Wednesday, August 12.

In anticipation of Fashion Week MN, MSP Film Society is excited to present two fashion-forward docs this month:  MARTIN MARGIELA: IN HIS OWN WORDS, about the mastermind known as the Banksy of the Fashion World, opens on Friday, August 14; followed by HOUSE OF CARDIN on Friday, August 28, which offers a rare peek into the life of legendary fashion designer Pierre Cardin.

"WE THE PEOPLE: REQUIRED WATCHING" continues on Sunday, August 16 with a FREE screening of JIM CROW OF THE NORTH, the Twin Cities PBS original documentary that explores why Minnesota has some of the worst racial disparities in the nation, followed by a conversation with Director Daniel Pierce Bergin, Anthony R. Scott, President of Minnesota's Black Community Project, and Brian Paulson, Senior Program Officer at the Pohlad Family Foundation, on Monday, August 17 at 7pm.

Opening Friday, August 28 is MR. SOUL!, Melissa Haizlip award-winning documentary about her father Ellis Haizlip’s groundbreaking television variety show SOUL!, which ran from 1968-1973 and offered an unfiltered, uncompromising celebration of Black literature, poetry, music, and politics. MR. SOUL! is being presented as part of our "WE THE PEOPLE: REQUIRED WATCHING" series, and will include a FREE Community Conversation on Monday, August 31 at 7pm. Registration will be made available as soon as guests are confirmed.

And on Wednesday, August 19, MSP Film Society presents a special encore screening of the MSPIFF39 Redefined official selection COUP 53, followed by a discussion with Director Taghi Amirani, Editor Walter Murch, and actor Ralph Fiennes on Thursday, August 20.

.

OPENING Friday, August 7 - A THOUSAND CUTS 

On June 15, 2020, journalist Maria Ressa was found guilty of cyber libel, setting a ticking clock on the limited time she has to get her story out to the world and keep the fight for democracy alive in this all too familiar tale of an autocratic leader drowning out "fake news." Nowhere is the worldwide erosion of democracy, fueled by social media disinformation campaigns, more starkly evident than in the authoritarian regime of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. Ressa places the tools of the free press—and her freedom—on the line in defense of truth and democracy. Ramona S. Diaz's thrilling film follows key players from two sides of an increasingly dangerous war between press and government. As each side digs in, we become witness to an epic and ongoing fight for the integrity of human life and truth itself—a conflict that extends beyond the Philippines into our own divisive backyard.  official trailer  - official website

.

OPENING Friday, August 7 - OUT STEALING HORSES (Ut og stjæle hester)

November 1999: 67-year-old Trond (Stellan Skarsgård), lives in self-imposed isolation and looks forward to welcoming in the new millennium alone. As winter arrives he meets one of his few neighbours, Lars (Bjørn Floberg), and realizes he knew him back in the summer of 1948. 1948 – the year Trond turned 15. The summer Trond grew up. OUT STEALING HORSES is based on the bestselling novel by Norwegian author Per Petterson. official trailer  - official website

.

OPENING Wednesday, August 12 - JAZZ ON A SUMMER'S DAY

Filmed at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival in Rhode Island and directed by world-renowned photographer Bert Stern, Jazz on a Summer's Day features intimate performances by an all-star line-up of musical legends including Louis Armstrong, Thelonius Monk, Gerry Mulligan, Anita O'Day, Chuck Berry, Dinah Washington, and closes with a beautiful rendition or The Lord's Prayer by Mahalia Jackson at midnight to usher in Sunday morning. The 1959 classic is considered one of the most extraordinary and possibly the first concert film ever made. official trailer - official website

.

OPENING Friday, August 14 -  MARTIN MARGIELA: IN HIS OWN WORDS

An intimate profile of Martin Margiela, one of the most revolutionary and influential fashion designers of his time. From Jean Paul Gaultier's assistant to creative director at Hermes to leading his own brand, Margiela never showed his face publicly but reinvented fashion with his radical style for over 20 years, through 41 provocative collections. For the first time, the "Banksy of fashion" reveals his drawings, notes and personal items, giving us an exclusive peek to his vision and career. The film features interviews with, among others, Jean Paul Gaultier, Carine Roitfeld, Trend Forecaster Lidewij Edelkoort, Fashion Critic Cathy Horyn and Fashion Historian Olivier Saillard. The score has been composed by the Belgian rock band dEUS.

official trailer

.

ONGOING SERIES - "WE THE PEOPLE: REQUIRED WATCHING" 

MSP Film Society presents our community screening and conversation series of films that speak powerfully to systemic inequality, followed by conversations with directors and community leaders discussing ways we can support social justice and anti-racism efforts within our communities.

.  

FREE SCREENING - Sunday, August 16 - JIM CROW OF THE NORTH

Why does Minnesota suffer through some of the worst racial disparities in the nation? One answer is the spread of racist, restrictive real estate covenants in the early 20th century. Jim Crow of the North charts the progression of racist policies and practices from the advent of restrictive covenants after the turn of the last century to their final elimination in the late 1960s. Roots of racial disparities are seen through a new lens in this film that explores the origins of housing segregation in the Minneapolis area. But the story also illustrates how African-American families and leaders resisted this insidious practice, and how Black people built community — within and despite — the red lines that these restrictive covenants created. A Twin Cities PBS Original. official trailer

.

COMMUNITY CONVERSATION - Monday, August 17 at 7:00pm 

MSP Film Programmer Craig Laurence Rice leads a post-screening discussion with Director Daniel Pierce Bergin and Anthony R. Scott, President of Minnesota's Black Community Project, discussing the ways we all can support social justice and anti-racism efforts in our community.

.

SPECIAL SCREENING - Wednesday, August 19 - COUP 53 

*MSPIFF39 Redefined Official Selection*

While making a documentary about the CIA/MI6 coup in Iran in 1953, Iranian director Taghi Amirani and editor Walter Murch (Apocalypse Now, The Conversation,The English Patient) discover never seen before archive material hidden for decades. The 16mm footage and documents not only allow the filmmakers to tell the story of the overthrow of the Iranian government in unprecedented detail, but it also leads to explosive revelations about dark secrets buried for 67 years. Working with Ralph Fiennes (The Grand Budapest Hotel, Schindler’s List, The English Patient) to help bring the lost material to life, what began as a historical documentary about four days in August 1953 turned into a live investigation, taking the filmmakers into uncharted cinematic waters. The roots of Iran's volatile relationship with America and Britain has never been so forensically and dramatically exposed.

A ticket for the COUP 53 screening also includes an exclusive Q+A with Ralph Fiennes, Walter Murch and Taghi Amirani, which will be available on August 20. official trailer

.

OPENS Friday, August 28 - MR. SOUL!

From 1968 to 1973, the public television variety show SOUL!, guided by the enigmatic producer and host Ellis Haizlip, offered an unfiltered, uncompromising celebration of Black literature, poetry, music, and politics—voices that had few other options for national exposure, and, as a result, found the program an improbable place to call home. The series was among the first to provide expanded images of African Americans on television, shifting the gaze from inner-city poverty and violence to the vibrancy of the Black Arts Movement. With participants’ recollections and a bevy of great archival clips, MR. SOUL! captures a critical moment in culture whose impact continues to resonate. official trailer

.

OPENS Friday, August 28 - HOUSE OF CARDIN

A rare peek into the mind of a genius, an authorized feature documentary chronicling the life and design of Pierre Cardin. A true original, Mr. Cardin granted complete access to his archives and his empire, and unprecedented interviews at the sunset of a glorious career to filmmakers P. David Ebersole and Todd Hughes. official trailer