Ang Lee kicks off MSPIFF

Highlighting the 44th Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival (MSPIFF) this year is a conversation with Ang Lee, the award-winning director of “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” “Brokeback Mountain” and “The Life of Pi.”

The festival runs April 2-13 at the Main Cinema, 115 Main Street SE in Minneapolis.

A conversation with Lee and the showing of “Brokeback Mountain” will take place April 6 as part of the Milgrom Tribute.

“Lee is a visionary filmmaker, sort of a household name,” said Jesse Bishop, programming director for the Minneapolis St. Paul Film Society, which presents MSPIFF. “He has always been very open and generous in talking about his work, and it is coming up on the 20th anniversary of ‘Brokeback Mountain.’ Also, Bill Pohlad has produced a couple of his films, and we’re always looking for local connections. So we thought it was worth diving into.”

The opening film of the festival is “Free Leonard Peltier,” a documentary about the decades-long struggle to free Peltier, who was charged with murder in a shootout with FBI agents.

Bishop said he had seen the film at Sundance, just days after clemency was granted to Peltier by President Joe Biden. “They actually had to make a last-minute addition to the film,” Bishop said. The film is co-directed by Dick France and Jesse Short Bull, whose film “Lakota Nation vs. the United States” showed at last year’s festival. Short Bull and Jhane Myers, one of the producers, will attend the screening at MSPIFF.

The film “Folktales” documents the story of youth taking a gap year after high school and learning about folklore and survival skills in the woods of Norway, relying on themselves, their peers and sled dogs. “It’s another approach for how young people can move into adulthood,” Bishop said. He said one of the directors, Rachel Grady, will attend the festival. She is originally from the Twin Cities.

Local filmmaker Patrick Coyle will present his latest film “Unholy Communion,” at MSPIFF.  The film is based on a book by Scandia author Thomas Ehrenbach and tells a story of revenge and redemption. It outlines the investigation into who is murdering Catholic priests. “It’s exciting that Patrick is having his festival premiere with us,” Bishop said. “He is one of the longtime artists in the community who makes compelling motion pictures and elevates local voices.”

Another local artist, Patrick Scully, has his life and art explored in the documentary “The Dance is Not Over,” directed by Mark Wojahn. It’s a profile of Patrick and his career as the founder of Patrick’s Cabaret, which was located at 3010 Minnehaha Ave. “It’s a very reverent portrait of his life and his art,” Bishop added.

He said the film “Or Something” is a dramedy about a couple of people who go to a man’s house to collect money he owes them. “They don’t know each other, but both are owed money. The man does not have the money, but sends them on a wild goose chase across New York City to find the money. They decide to search together and get to know each other.” Bishop said the film stars Kareem Rahma, who lived in the Twin Cities before moving to New York. “He has a show on Tik Tok called ‘Subway Tapes,’ and he interviewed Gov. Tim Walz on one of the episodes. Mary Neely, another comedian and artist, also stars in the film. They will also be putting together a Comedy Night at the festival,” Bishop said.

“One movie I think people will be taken with is ‘Speak,’ about a high school national oratory competition. A couple of the teens are from Minnesota, one from Moorhead and one from Apple Valley. The Apple Valley teen is in college now, but she is coming for the festival.”

“The Librarians” is a documentary that reflects on the book banning efforts that are occurring in the United States. “The film comes from a librarian’s perspective,” said Bishop. “It looks at the book banning and who is behind them, and the efforts to get supporters of the bans on school boards.”

Bishop said “The Wailing” is a horror movie that he calls creepy. “There will be a lot of moments that will have you covering your eyes,” he said. Some other films like “Surfer” with Nicolas Cage and “Friendship” will be part of the Dark Side selection.

“We will have lots of family films, too,” Bishop said, mentioning “The Legend of Ochi,” starring Willem Dafoe.

He said the festival will end on a Sunday, and there is no specific closing movie but rather several films shown the last night. One of those is “Bitterroot,” a film about the aftermath of a man’s divorce, as well as his relationship with his aging mother, filmed in the wilds of Montana in the Hmong American community in Missoula. “We’re excited for this one, showing on the last day,” Bishop said. “Kazoua Vang, one of the producers, will be in attendance. Vera Brunner-Sung, the director, has been invited.

“We have over 65 countries and regions represented by over 200 films at the festival,” Bishop said. “And for the first time this year, films will be shown at the Edina Mann Theatre April 4-10.”

There will be filmmakers in attendance every day. Most films will be shown at the Main Cinema, but other venues include the Capri Theater and the Landmark Center. For more information on tickets and schedules, go to mspfilm.org