MSP Film Presents Virtual Cinema!
Though our daily in-house cinema programming is temporarily suspended and the 2020 MSPIFF disrupted for now, we are busy looking for creative ways to bring film viewing opportunities to you, our amazing members and patrons!
We are partnering with independent distributor Distrib Films to bring a brave new alternative online experience to film fans in our community for home viewing!
Your purchase will directly support MSP Film as we reassess, plan for the future, and uphold our commitment to bringing our community together through the very best in international independent cinema. Thank you. We do it for you and couldn't do it without you.
Details to watch Balloon:
For $10*, the distributor Distrib Films will make the movie viewable at the web link provided above.
- Click the button "Rent $10."
- Create a login and complete your purchase.
- You will have access to the film for 3 days from the moment of your purchase.
*Please note this arrangement with Distrib Films — in these especially unprecedented times — means we’re unable to offer member pricing.
About the Film:
2019 MSPIFF Official Selection!
A thriller-like true story of one of the most spectacular escapes of the 20th Century.
With a theatrical release to coincide with the 30th anniversary of Germany’s reunification, Balloon is based on the true events of one of the most daring escapes of the Cold War in which two families living in Communist East Germany sailed over the heavily fortified border in a homemade hot-air balloon.
In the summer of 1979, the Strelzyk and Wetzel families—who had been working on their audacious plan for more than two years—try to flee East Germany in a self-made hot-air balloon. But after the balloon crash-lands just before the West German border, the Stasi find traces of the attempted escape and immediately launch an investigation. In a nerve-wracking race against the clock, the two families attempt to build a new escape balloon as the Stasi get closer and closer each day…
Press
"Filmmaker Herbig and his team prove to be especially adept at contriving situations where anything anyone does causes fear, anxiety, stress and worry, leaving everyone, very much including the audience, existing on the knife's edge of unremitting tension." - Los Angeles Times
Extraordinary foreign films, must-see American indies, and groundbreaking documentaries from around the world, screening weekly at MSP Film Society.