The acclaimed new documentary “Free Leonard Peltier” will open the 44th Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival, which runs April 2 through 13.
Screenings are $17, or $11 for MSP Film Society members. Six-packs of tickets are $85 and $55, while all-access passes are $800 and $550. For more details and the full lineup, see mspiff.org.
The festival will feature more than 200 films from around the world at the Main Cinema and Capri Theater in Minneapolis, Landmark Center in St. Paul and the Edina Mann Theatre.
Highlights of the festival include:
“Free Leonard Peltier”: Directors Jesse Short Bull and David France revisit one of the most discredited convictions in modern America, the double life sentences handed down to Indian rights activist Leonard Peltier for the 1975 murder of two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation of South Dakota. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January, just a week after President Joe Biden commuted Peltier’s life sentences. (7 and 7:15 p.m. April 2 at the Main Cinema.)
Opening night party: MSP Film Society has partnered with Owamni, the James Beard Award-winning Indigenous restaurant led by the Sioux Chef Sean Sherman, for a night of celebration with special guests, drinks, food and music. (9 p.m. April 2 at A-Mill Artist Lofts, 315 S.E. Main St., Minneapolis; tickets are $60, or $40 for members.)
“Brokeback Mountain” and a filmmaker conversation with director Ang Lee: The MSPIFF44 Milgrom Tribute, named in honor of festival founder Al Milgrom, will feature a live discussion with Lee, who is also known for “Sense and Sensibility,” “The Ice Storm,” “Life of Pi” and “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.” A screening of “Brokeback Mountain” follows. It was one of 2005’s most acclaimed films, winning 71 awards around the world including Oscars for best director, adapted screenplay and original score. (4 p.m. April 6 with the screening at 7:15 p.m. at the Main Cinema.)
Writer/director Patrick Coyle discusses a scene in the film “Unholy Communion” with actor Adam Bartley. (Courtesy of Catrina Engleby)
Minnesota-made world premieres: The festival boasts two of them. “The Dance Is Not Over” is a documentary about local dancer, performer, choreographer, LGBTQ+ and publicly HIV-positive activist Patrick Scully. Director Patrick Coyle’s “Unholy Communion” is a murder mystery about a serial killer that’s based on a novel by Scandia author Thomas Rumreich and was largely shot in and around St. Paul. (Showtimes to be announced.)
RELATED: Adam Bartley talks about return to Minnesota for feature film shot in St. Paul
Other Minnesota-connected features: They include “Brooklyn, Minnesota” by Jessica Plank and Minnesota-raised Erik Jensen (filmed around Lake Minnetonka), “The Fun-Raiser” by Wyatt McDill (filmed on the Iron Range); “The Flamingo” by Adam Sekular (a former Film Society programmer), “Or Something” starring Minnesota-raised Kareem Rhama from the social media series “Subway Takes” and “Folktales” by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, who hails from St. Paul. (Showtimes to be announced.)
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