April 16, 2008

City Pages. MSPIFF.

MSPIFF 08 "As if you didn't already have enough trouble picking which screenings to attend at the Minneapolis-St Paul International Film Festival, this year's event will be significantly bigger than last year's: nearly 140 films from more than 40 countries (not counting several short-film programs), compared to about 80 titles in 2007."

Matthew Smith opens up a package in the City Pages, which naturally includes a whopping guide, "Flicks to Pick," but also profiles of local filmmakers: Tony Cane-Honeysett (Mondo Bondo), Tommy Haines (Pond Hockey), Chris Gegax (Forgotten), Diego Luke (Diego's Trip to Guatemala), Melody Gilbert (Disconnected) and Jesse Roesler (Finding Flight and Secrets of the Symmetrical Gentlemen).

The festival opens tomorrow and runs through May 3.



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Posted by dwhudson at April 16, 2008 7:01 AM

Comments

Not to malign this effort, particularly that of the great, and might I say cockroach like Al Milgrom, the octogenarian who remains the programmer for this festival, but the organization who runs it has "got a lot of explaining to do." Two years on, it has not hired a replacement for its former ED Jamie Hook, who may or may not have run it into the ground. It has closed one of its mainstay theatres the Bell Auditorium (a former all docs all the time policy) and has promised the demise of the Oak Street cinema, a former hot rep house in the city. If you go to the festival and see anytone from the board, make sure to ask them what the hell they're thinking!

Posted by: apttitle at April 16, 2008 7:22 PM