Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival

MSPIFF returns April 2-13 to The Main Cinema and other venues around the Twin Cities. As the largest annual celebration of international cinema in the region, MSPIFF44 promises another exciting lineup of 200+ films from around the world, plus an exciting array of parties, panels, visiting filmmakers, and special guests.

Film Schedule

April 8, 2025

The Dance Is Not Over

Dir. Mark Wojahn

93 min

Director Mark Wojahn attending.

Celebrating the life and career of dancer, performer, choreographer, LGBTQ+ and publicly HIV-positive activist Patrick Scully, whose Patrick’s Cabaret was a South Minneapolis fixture for decades. His work in MN, New York and Berlin, expresses his passion for life, and touches on subjects that are often controversial and profound.

Time: 7:05 pm

Venue: The Main 2

Harvest

Dir. Athina Rachel Tsangari

133 min

In the Middle Ages, a mysterious fire consumes the village stables and two community members are scapegoated for it. As fingers are pointed and paranoia comes to a roiling boil, the arrival of an unforgiving and wealthy landowner pushes the villagers further into disarray. Director Athina Rachel Tsangari’s new film is a scathing critique of authoritarian power.

Time: 4:10 pm

Venue: The Main 2

John Cranko

Dir. Joachim A. Lang

128 min

A dance-infused tribute to the virtuoso choreographer who graced the world’s greatest stages, driven by a quest for perfection in both art and love. South Africa-born John Cranko (a tour-de-force performance by Sam Riley) is the toast of 1950s London until he is caught up in a “cottaging” scandal and prosecuted for homosexual activity. Recruited by the Stuttgart Ballet, the manic workaholic revitalizes the company and develops a world-renowned ensemble, but still grapples with destructive urges. Benefitting from writer-director Joachim A. Lang’s extensive research, the film accurately depicts Cranko as adored by his dancers, yet a frequent headache for others. Riley plays him as a high maintenance bundle of contradictions: generous, ebullient, depressive, highly cultured but with a taste for rough trade, and able to focus even after extreme drinking bouts. Meanwhile, Lang finds unusually vivid means of conveying how a driven creator’s mind works, showing the dance ideas in his head wonderfully performed. –AS

Time: 1:30 pm

Venue: The Main 1

Kill the Jockey

Dir. Luis Ortega

96 min

Remo (Nahuel Pérez Biscayart) is a star jockey; his lover Abril (Ursula Corberó) is also a jockey. When he suffers an accident, Remo goes on the lam and Abril must find him before a murderous gangster does, in director Luis Ortega’s darkly comedic, stunning modern noir.

Time: 7:20 pm

Venue: The Main 3

Manas

Dir. Marianna Brennand

101 min

In her Amazonian village, teenage Marcielle watches as her older sister escapes their oppressive household. Desperate to protect her younger sister, Marcielle summons her courage to face down generations of exploitation in renowned documentarian Marianna Brennand’s debut fiction feature.

Time: 1:50 pm

Venue: The Main 4

Shorts: Animation Roundup

95 min

Filmmakers attending.

The Brown Dog 14 min

dir:  Nadia Hallgren, Jamie-James Medina

A night watchman clocks into a lonely security booth and spends his nights composing endless security logs to stay awake. But as daylight approaches, he is haunted by a mysterious brown dog.

Best Damn Street Corner 4 min

dir. Emory Allen

Local slacker Mikey can't wait to tell you why his street corner is the number 1 undisputed heavyweight champion of street corners.

Jasmine 10 min

dir:  Adam Loomis

Abel’s one joy in life is laying eyes on his pet lizard Jasmine. When the lights in Jasmine’s enclosure go out, a series of mishaps force Abel out of the darkness.

Even Still, 3 min

dir: Grey Anderson

Even Still, is a short film about creating a life that is joyful to live through the experience of transness.

Early Bird 3 min

dir: Scott Wenner

A seaside search, a standoff, and a decision to make about all things lost and found.

Birds of a Feather 5 min

dir: Katie Cobos

A talkative parrot attempts to befriend a boy with Tourette's syndrome.

Stitched 2 min

dir: Joella Goyette, Alison Haun

After waking up on their bed in a strange new body, a plush fox becomes haunted by traumatizing memories.

Have I Swallowed Your Dreams 6 min

dir: Clara Chan

A poetic conversation between an immigrant daughter and her mother about sacrifices and dreams.

Kabekona Bay 1970 4 min

dir: Tom Schroeder

During the last days of her life my mother fixates on a memory from 50 years earlier.

The Garden Sees Fire 15 min

dir: Kiera Faber

A mystical tale of cloaked identities, systemic traumas, and insatiable consumption: The ecology burns, reclaiming its environs.

Les Bêtes 12 min

dir: Michael Granberry

A mysterious rabbit with a set of magic keys summons a host of strange creatures to entertain a wicked king and his decadent court.

The Devil’s Neighbor 15 min

dir: Brian Hawkins

In this folktale from Missouri's French Creole community, Petit Jean is a farmer who also happens to be the devil’s neighbor.

Time: 7:00 pm

Venue: The Main 1

Shorts: The Kids Are Alright

73 min

51st State 27 min

dir: Hannah Rosenweig

As one of Gen Z’s most vibrant political leaders, Jamal Holtz takes on Washington D.C.’s fight for statehood and reveals a virtually unknown crack in our democracy.

The Honest Poet 30 min

dir: Jordan Bryan

Through the eyes of 11-year-old Raheem, a journey through Taliban-controlled Afghanistan offers hope and reflections on the country’s poetic soul.

Bear Guardians 16 min

dir: Mariah Wilson

A father and daughter wildlife rescue team care for amputee bears in Cambodia.

Time: 4:45 pm

The Main 4

Singing Back the Buffalo

Dir. Tasha Hubbard

98 min

Richly visualised and deeply uplifting, Singing Back the Buffalo is an epic reimagining of North America through the lens of buffalo consciousness and a potent dream of what is within our grasp.

Time: 4:45 pm

Venue: Edina Theatre

Tiny Lights

Dir. Beata Parkanová

75 min

Based on the childhood of prize-winning director Beata Parkanová (The Word), Tiny Lights shows the impact of family turmoil on six-year-old Amálka. There’s a strain in the relationship of Amalka’s parents and between Amálka’s mother and grandmother. Parkanová’s approach to storytelling is immersive, keeping the camera at Amálka’s eye level and presenting the narrative as she experiences it. The cinematography by Tomáš Jurícek enhances this, using rich, saturated colors that make each moment feel like a vivid childhood memory. The visuals are striking—warm tones of sun-drenched fields contrast with the cooler hues of her home, reflecting the comfort she finds in nature versus the unease of her domestic life. The story takes place over the course of a single day, and its poignancy derives from the fact that we, if not Amalka, are fully aware that her life is soon going to change, possibly forever. –AS

Time: 2:00 pm

Venue: The Main 5

When Fall is Coming

Dir. François Ozon

103 min

The versatile and prolific François Ozon channels a bit of iconic French master Claude Chabrol in this gentle drama dealing with generational tensions and the art of breaking rules. Michelle (Hélène Vincent), who once lived in Paris, has since retired to a quiet existence in Burgundy. The voracious hostility of her adult daughter Valérie (Ludovine Sagnier) remains Michelle’s great puzzlement: how can a child for whom she sacrificed so much treat her with such contempt and suspicion? When Valérie drops off her son for a week with his grandmother, Michelle sees an opportunity to repair the relationship, but a culinary accident soon undercuts whatever trust remains. Hélène Vincent and Josiane Balasko are terrific as old friends who share an unconventional past as well as difficulties with their children. –AS

Time: 7:15 pm

Venue: The Main 4

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Date: April 2 - 13, 2025