Best of Fest Encore Screening

An abandoned villa’s elderly caretaker fights the intrusions of modern Egypt in 19B. His story highlights the changes taking place in contemporary Egypt as characters of different social strata struggle to find their place. Winner, Best Arab Film, Best Cinematography and the International Critics’ Prize, Cairo Film Festival. –Alissa Simon

Best of Fest Encore Screening

What is the Arrowhead 135? Nothing more than one of the toughest, most dangerous races in the world. Run, bike, ski, you have to make it 135 miles in the coldest, most desolate areas in America, in the dead of January. And the participants wouldn’t change a thing.

Best of Fest Encore Screening

He Shuming’s directorial debut wowed audiences at the Busan International Film Festival and was Singapore’s official entry for this year’s Best International Feature Film at the Academy Awards. Ajoomma (Korean for ‘auntie’) is a heartwarming story of love and acceptance and… soap operas. 

Best of Fest Encore Screening

Cue the Strings - a film about Low follows the entire 29 year career of the iconic band Low and their relationship with director Philip Harder. Harder went into his vaults and reassembled all of his music videos, including outtakes and behind the scenes footage. Low leaves the stage for the final time in their hometown of Duluth in September 2022.

Best of Fest Encore Screening

After his well-received feature debut Lynn + Lucy, Fyzal Boulifa, a UK director of Moroccan heritage, combines melodrama, neo-realism and sexual frankness to compelling effect in the story of a single mother and her teen son on the fringes of society. Winner, New Voices New Visions, Palm Springs Film Festival –Alissa Simon

Best of Fest Encore Screening

Recommended ages 12+

Shy Mina does a 180 and leaps into the audition for an Instagram-famous hip-hop dancer’s new crew. There’s only one small problem: she can’t dance! A solid gold mix of comedy and heart-warming entertainment, Dancing Queen is an inspiring celebration of the power of dance (with a wink to ABBA’s smash hit). –Deb Girdwood

Best of Fest Encore Screening

In the bitter winter of 1931, in the small farming community of Schafer, North Dakota, an entire family vanished, mother, father, and four children. The investigation immediately focuses on Charles Bannon, and soon the community is impatient for a particular bloodthirsty justice. 

Best of Fest Encore Screening

Oscar-nominated director Maite Alberdi (The Mole Agent) returns to MSPIFF with this compassionate story of Augusto and Paulina, a loving, elderly couple struggling with Alzheimer’s. 

Best of Fest Encore Screening

Samuel-Ali Mirpoorian’s urgent and intimate documentary looks at four multigenerational American farming families, including in Minnesota, wrestling with the various farm stressors, policies and politics farmers must maneuver to survive, connecting the dots between mental health, industrialization, food production and climate change.

Best of Fest Encore Screening

It is the most sacred place on earth, the birthplace of the Lakota that has shaped thought, identity and philosophy for the Océti Šakówi? since time immemorial--the life-giving land known as the Black Hills. Lakota Nation vs. United States is a lyrical and provocative testament to a land and a people who have survived removal, exploitation and genocide--and whose best days are yet to come.

Best of Fest Encore Screening

This is a bold, disquieting and psychologically complex study of a 12-year-old girl suddenly freed from years of captivity and sexual abuse at the hands of her father. Winner, FIPRESCI Prize, Cannes –Alissa Simon

Best of Fest Encore Screening

And now for something completely different … an offbeat crime thriller set in medieval Tallinn. Handsome young apothecary Melchior is known for his skill in diagnosing illnesses and concocting medications, but in addition, he has a knack for solving grisly murders. Estonia’s most-viewed film this year. –Alissa Simon

Best of Fest Encore Screening

Minnesota filmmaker and festival favorite Dawn Mikkelson (Risking Light, 2018 MSPIFF) returns with this rousing documentary following six fierce members of Minnesota Roller Derby as they fight to win the Hydra, the prize for the best women's flat track roller derby team in the entire world.

Best of Fest Encore Screening

Director Justinsuperstar + Special Guests Attending.

When director Justinsuperstar’s mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, his father, an inveterate inventor, crafted a prosthetic nipple that impressed all of their medical staff. But mom and dad’s business is a bit of an embarrassment for this conservative couple, and is kept under wraps until their little secret is discovered. 

Best of Fest Encore Screening

Finnish director Härö makes a poignant English-language debut with an Ireland-set drama about a retired sea captain whose late-life romance with a comely widow is threatened by his adult daughter. The heartfelt story, convincing performances and glorious coastal landscape will delight his many fans and draw tears. –Alissa Simon

Best of Fest Encore Screening

Do you miss Claude Chabrol’s sly, twisty thrillers? Then you will love this suspenseful, blackly funny tale of family fortunes and squabbling relatives where nothing is as it originally seems. Call My Agent’s Laure Calamy is the first among equals in a powerhouse cast. –Alissa Simon

Best of Fest Encore Screening

Post-screening conversation following the 1:50pm screening on Saturday, April 22nd at The Main Cinema.

It’s an American civil rights story rarely discussed: the right to read. In Jenny Mackenzie’s startling documentary, she follows an activist and teacher from Oakland and two families from the South who are trying to help children–especially Black and brown kids–to have the skills they need to succeed. 

Best of Fest Encore Screening

Asan moves to a small village in Kyrgyzstan with his sister and mother, and waits for his father to join them. This third feature film by Aibek Daiyrbekov is a sweeping and moving coming-of-age story. 

AUDIENCE CHOICE DOCUMENTARY SHORT WINNER :

BRUTAL UTOPIAS

AUDIENCE CHOICE FICTION SHORT WINNER :

CARDIFF

Best of Fest Encore Screening

From Oscar-winning filmmakers Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, Wild Life is a sweeping portrait of conservationists Kris and Doug Tompkins chronicling their fight to preserve one of the last truly wild places on earth. An epic, decades-spanning love story as wild as the landscapes they dedicated their lives to protecting.