The Mill City Times Interview: Susan Smoluchowski, Executive Director, MSP Film Society

Article by Becky Fillinger

We have a cultural cornerstone within a stone’s throw of the Mill District – the MSP Film Society. We talked to Executive Director, Susan Smoluchowski, about this year's 40th anniversary of the International Film Festival, the organization’s successful pivot during COVID-19, and the many reasons we should celebrate and support their enduring status as an exhibitor of the best independent cinema.

Susan Smoluchowski

Q:  Please tell us about the origins of the MSP Film Society.  

A:  The MSP Film Society was established in 1962 as the U Film Society, by the legendary Al Milgrom, as one of the first art houses in the country to present independent and international film. Today, we are widely recognized as the foremost exhibitor of local, national, and international independent cinema in the region, offering a wide array of the best of such films 365 days a year. And we continue to do so this year through our virtual cinema programs, which can be found at MSPfilm.org

1981 Minneapolis Film Festival program coverOur primary identity is as the organization producing the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival, with origins going back to 1981 when a group of local cinema lovers launched the Minneapolis Film Festival.

Since the mid-eighties, when it became known as the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival (MSPIFF), the festival has operated under the umbrella of the MSP Film Society. Moving into its 40th year in 2021, MSPIFF is one of the longest running film festivals in the country, our community’s collective annual rite of spring, a treasured gathering for film lovers, filmmakers and the growing international communities throughout the state, and an enduring and increasingly important cultural establishment. People often tell us that they plan their year around our festival!

Q:  When did you get a home at SE Main Street in Minneapolis?

A:  We had been looking for a new location off the campus of the U of MN for a while, and had an opportunity to bring MSPIFF to the St. Anthony Main Theatre for a test run in 2008. The location proved to be a great draw, creating more prominence and a heightened profile for our organization at a time when the riverfront was beginning to bustle again with new residents and businesses, providing access to and opening MSPIFF up to brand new audiences. 

The next year, we settled down by the river permanently, a move that launched an audience expansion period for our organization that has yet to dwindle. Our membership and donor base grew from 200 in 2010 to 3000 in 2019, and our annual attendance grew by 150% during that same period, to an approximate 85,000 in 2019.

We have significantly expanded our film programs over the past 10 years as well, with year-round offerings of the best in international and independent films, as well as several new film series, including our annual Cine Latino festival. In fact, we have grown so much that we are now exhibiting films out of a number of venues besides our hub at St. Anthony Main, including the Capri Theater in North Minneapolis, the Landmark Theater in St. Paul, and during MSPIFF in Rochester, too.

Q:  How has MSP Film Society adapted to business as usual in times of COVID-19? 

A:  COVID-19 may have put a damper on the growth, but not for long (says she says she…). 

Our theme for the 2020 MSPIFF, or MSPIFF39, selected in late 2019, was the prescient ADJUST YOUR VIEW. On March 13, 2020, just one month before the festival’s anticipated launch and a few days after the lineup was announced to the press, Governor Walz issued an executive order in response to COVID-19 limiting public gatherings and urging us all to stay at home for the next few weeks. Out of concern for the safety and well-being of our staff and audiences, we cancelled all of our live theatrical programming and took a moment to regroup. In a quick pivot - and incredible burst of creativity and will on the part of our small and dedicated core staff - we reimagined the festival in just a few weeks as MSPIFF39 Redefined – A Virtual Film Festival. We offered 50 new feature length films and as many shorts representing 40 countries, on a newly developed virtual platform, and managed to engage a viewership for the films and attendant filmmaker conversations topping 20,000. 

Since then and throughout 2020, we continued presenting the best in new international independent cinema, and films of relevance to our community and to the times, including our newest series We The People: Required Watching, or in October Cine Latino en Casa, on our virtual platform at mspfilm.org.

As you will imagine, this shift has come with many challenges. But we were determined to not disappear from view, keep our amazing staff gainfully employed, do our best to continue to bring films from around the globe to our audiences especially during this period of isolation for us all, and support the work of talented filmmakers in a moment of upheaval for artists everywhere.

This said, the virtual world that we now inhabit is a competitive one, and we have deliberately kept our virtual cinema prices low for maximum access. In fact, we offer many of our film programs free of charge or pay-what-you-can. And we are proud to say that film viewership alone has exceeded 30,000. In addition, all of our filmmaker conversations, which have drawn an astonishing participation of 50,000+ since April, are free of charge.

Although we are elated to have found a way to maintain a connection with our audiences and members, the financial repercussions for our organization have been significant. In 2020, earned revenues, or ticket sales, are down by more than 85% compared to 2019. 

So, what has allowed us to stay above water and given us the impetus and capacity to continue offering our unique content in these confounding times? The fact that, along with our audiences and members, our individual donors, corporate sponsors and institutional funders have continued to believe and invest in our organization, supporting us and pivoting with us this year in impressive numbers. Our motto - We do it for you. We can’t do it without you! - has a particular resonance in this year of all years.

Q:  You're about to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the MSP International Film Festival. Congratulations!  Any memorable milestones you'd like to share? 

A:  The annual MSP International Film Festival is a singular and significant cultural event, introducing films and filmmakers from across the globe, as well as local filmmakers, to Minnesota audiences. Each year our festival presents some 250 new documentary and narrative feature length and short films representing more than 100 cultures and countries, films that are otherwise simply not available to audiences in the region.

Over its 40 years, visiting guests have included directors, actors and film artists of note such as Louis Malle, Jean-Luc Goddard, Werner Herzog, Terry Gilliam, Deepa Mehta, Agnieczka Holland, Tippi Hedren, Steve James, the Coen Brothers, and so many others. Most often, however, our guests are emerging filmmakers, whose films we discover at festivals around the world, who are gathering critical acclaim and awards, and who are on a path to making names for themselves. In recent years we have presented films by and hosted promising new filmmakers from countries with longstanding film industries like Canada, Mexico, France, Spain, India, Iran, England, The Czech Republic, Poland, China, Japan and Germany, but also and importantly from countries with lesser-known or burgeoning industries including Iceland, Finland, Cuba, South Africa, South Korea, Thailand, Algeria, Turkey, The Balkans, Greece, Tunisia, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Argentina, Australia and Chile, to name a few.

This spring, we will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the MSP International Film Festival. How could we not? It will simply look a little different from the event that we had anticipated a short year ago. Holding no illusions that we can safely return to the St. Anthony Main Theatre complex this spring, we have decided to move forward with plans for a virtual/hybrid MSPIFF40. Of course, we hear from many of our members and patrons that they cannot wait to see our films again in a darkened theater in the company of friends and strangers. On the other hand, we hear from many of the same that they have sought out inspiration, and even solace, from our virtual film offerings. And in this year of seclusion, when those of us who so love to travel the world cannot, we are proud to offer the next best thing: a little virtual global travel from the comfort of your living room. 

MSPIFF40, slated for May 13-25, 2021, will be hosted primarily on our virtual platform at mspfilm.org, but we are also planning some in-person outdoor events, if COVID-19 restrictions allow. Since the summer, and as we always do, we have been culling the offerings at national and international film festivals - many of which have also gone virtual this year - to find the best new films to bring to our audiences. And we have received nearly 1000 film submissions, each of which our selection committee will view. We anticipate an exciting line-up of some 100 new documentary and narrative films, and 100 shorts, representing as many cultures and countries, and scores of virtual conversations with filmmakers from around the globe. 

Q:  How does the Board of Directors interact or assist with your mission? 

A:  All members of our Board of Directors (currently 16) play key roles in strategic planning and financial oversight, and as ambassadors, advisors, advocates, promoters of our mission and vision, and as sponsors of our programs. Board terms are three years, renewable once. All of our past Board members remain invested in our organization in many ways, joining our Industry Advisory Council of 25 individuals who live around the world and work in the global film industry, whose role is to connect us with and advocate on our behalf within that industry. Others serve on our active Cine Global Advisory Group, now counting 100+ Minnesota residents representing some 50 countries and cultures, who are academics, transplants working for multinational companies, community leaders, activists, diplomats and others with an interest in and knowledge of international film.

Q:  Tell us more about the Filmmaker Conversations.

A:  Our Filmmaker Conversations happen live on Zoom. They are free to anyone and registration links can be found on the page for each film/event. Here is a link to an upcoming conversation for the film First Daughter and the Black Snake, which is part of The Great Northern festival.

These conversations are also simulcast live on Facebook, which anyone who follows us can access on their own feed, or find by going to our page. Some of our ongoing programs and special screening series have their own pages on MSPfilm.org and anyone can register to join the zoom conversations: We the People: Required Watching, The Great Northern: Climate Action Films.

Also, past conversations are archived and available for viewing anytime on MSP Film Society's Facebook page  and our YouTube channel.

Q:  Are there volunteer opportunities now?

A:  Yes, especially as we move deeper into planning and presenting the 40th anniversary of MSPIFF. We have always relied on our enthusiastic volunteers to help us present MSPIFF, in a variety of capacities from marketing to promotions to operations to programming assistance, and this year will be no different. Anyone who is interested in joining us should reach out to info@mspfilm.org.

Q:  How may we follow your news?

A:  We keep our website up to date and please do follow us on social media: Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter! We also have a weekly eNewsletter – sign up on our website to follow our news.