A day at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival, MSPIFF, feels like a real-life choose-your-own adventure book.
Whether you’re looking for foreign films, want to hear tips from local filmmakers or are itching to mingle with fellow cinephiles, MSPIFF’s event catalogue offers enough activities to keep you entertained for the entire day.
If you’re anything like me — a curious movie viewer with a penchant for heartfelt stories — your day might end up looking something like this:
Stop 1: MSPIFF Headquarters
Located just a block Northwest of The Main Cinema, MSPIFF headquarters is where the party happens — literally.
Guests can stop by the festival information office to pick up their passes and learn about the day’s happenings. From questions about logistics to film recommendations, the staff at the information office are ready to help.
Headquarters are also the place to learn about film organizations and resources.
On Saturday, Explore Minnesota Film and the Upper Midwest Film Office were among the groups tabling, sharing information about a tax credit program that Minnesota film production companies can apply for.
“We’re all working together to get more films made in Minnesota,” Shari Marshik said, executive director of the Upper Midwest Film Office.
Connection doesn’t end there. Past the tabling area in a wood-panelled room is where the panels take place.
Saturday’s panels — free for attendees — covered the process behind creating a documentary and introductions to organizations that make up Minnesota’s film industry. Audiences got the unique opportunity to hear firsthand about speakers’ filmmaking experiences.
“Once we know the visiting filmmakers who are coming in, we develop these conversations that both people who are in the industry might be interested in, but also the general public as well,” Jesse Bishop said, MSP Film Society programming director.
Stop 2: The Main Cinema
It wouldn’t be a film festival without some films, so let’s head over to The Main Cinema, the festival’s primary theater.
Depending on the day, the Main during festival season fluctuates between modest and packed. Lines for some weekend screenings stretch throughout the building, with volunteers herding eager movie-viewers forward with practiced calmness.
Attendees can buy tickets at the box office in person. If their desired film is already sold out, they can hop in the rush line, filling any no-show seats.
The popcorn machine is one of the festival’s heroes, working around the clock to pump out buttery treats.
Ticket in one hand and popcorn bucket in the other, you’re ready for the final destination: the screening room.
Stop 3: The screen
With each of the Main Cinema’s five screens working daily to show festival films, attendees have an adventure waiting for them behind every door.
I caught showings of “Nomad Shadow,” the story of a woman reintegrating into life in Western Sahara after being deported from Spain, and “Bigfoot Woods,” where a small town is happier to believe in Bigfoot than a teenager’s gender transition.
Some screenings have people who worked on the films in attendance. At Saturday’s screening of “Bigfoot Woods,” the scriptwriters, two actors, the producer and director watched the film with the audience, doing a Q&A session afterwards.
Like the panels, these Q&As allow audiences to connect with the creatives behind the films, asking about their processes and ambitions, which can be hard to gather from just watching a movie.
“I just wanted to make a happy ending for my kid,” Bruce Pavalon said, one of the writers and producers of the film, when asked about why he wanted to make it.
After each screening, guests could score the film out of five stars on a paper ballot. The scores go towards determining the winners of the audience choice awards.
Whether you’re a film buff or just looking for something to do over the weekend, the Minneapolis St. Paul Film Festival has something for you. You can choose your own adventure at MSPIFF through April 19.
Students can buy all-access passes for $75 and a pack of six passes for $30.
