2013 Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival runs April 11-28
New Programs, New Programmers, New Parties and Events Mark the Return of Minnesota’s Preeminent Film Event

Minneapolis, MN (February 19, 2013) – The Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival, presented by The Film Society of Minneapolis St. Paul, will return to five screens of the St. Anthony Main Theatre April 11 through 28. The Festival will screen some 200 international independent feature length and short films representing over 60 countries in an array of new and returning programs and will feature visits from prominent international filmmakers and celebrities and a host of galas, events, parties, and panel discussions.

For more than three decades, this annual spring event has provided an opportunity for audiences to discover new cultures and ideas through the medium of film, and has welcomed numerous prominent filmmakers and personalities to tell their stories.

“The Festival allows you to see many non-commercial films you’d never otherwise have access to,” said Susan Smoluchowski, Executive Director of the The Film Society of Minneapolis St. Paul. “We give the community—both artists and film and art lovers—a rare chance to see these works on the big screen.”

Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak agreed. “The Minneapolis St. Paul International film festival is one of the signature annual events that makes our city a great place to live, work, and visit, and solidifies our much-deserved reputation as one of America’s greatest cultural destinations,” he said.

A spirit of exploration is reflected in the 2013 Festival’s programming lineup, which this year features several notable sidebars and new programs curated by local and national industry authorities.

Oscar Submissions in the Best Foreign Film Category
The MSP International Film Festival has always been pleased to present several Oscar submissions in the best foreign film category of the given year. This year’s Festival will continue that tradition, presenting a number of foreign titles submitted for consideration for the 2013 Oscars that have not previously been screened in regional theaters.

Songs of Exile
As the 2013 MSP International Film Festival’s Spotlight on the World, ‘Songs of Exile: Cinema of Displacement and Dispossession' will feature a selection of new independent documentary and narrative feature films from around the world, focusing, through fresh and contrasting perspectives, on an age-old predicament: the movement or displacement - either geographical, cultural or psychological - of individuals and peoples around the globe. A number of the films featured will represent the new and growing international populations in this state. ‘Songs of Exile’ is supported by Legacy Amendment Arts Access Funding and by an Academy Festival Grant from The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and is co-programmed by veteran international film festival curator Alissa Simon.

More REEL
Programmed in conjunction with the Minneapolis Institute of Arts exhibition ‘More Real? Art in the Age of Truthiness’(March 21-June 9, 2013), this special series focuses on documentary and narrative films that creatively blur boundaries between fact and fiction. 'More REEL' is framed by a pair of Werner Herzog’s pioneering ‘directed documentaries’ and includes recent features and shorts that similarly deploy fabrication and imagination in a quest for ‘ecstatic truth.’ The series was co-programmed by former Walker film/video curator Bruce Jenkins.

MINNESOTA-Made
An audience favorite, MINNESOTA-Made returns with what a slate of new films with local connections. Programmed by filmmaker and musician Craig Rice, with Shelli Ainsworth and Susan Marks as advisors, along with other filmmakers and industry notables.

The 2013 Festival will also feature the annual Documentary and World Cinema programs co-programmed by Tim Grady, Al Milgrom, Jesse Bishop and the Festival’s selection committee, Late Nights and American Independents curated by Jesse Bishop, Childish curated by Deb Girdwood, and a variety of Juried Competition categories.

The MSP International Film Festival is privileged to be supported by and collaborating with The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Minnesota State Arts Board Legacy Amendment Funding, the McKnight Foundation, U.S. Bancorp, The Star Tribune, The Thomas Lowell Grady Visiting Filmmakers Fund, and Crash+Sues, among many others.

About the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival
The largest film event in the Upper Midwest, and one of the largest and longest running film festivals in the country, the MSP International Film Festival annually presents some 200 feature length and short form narrative and documentary films from 60+ countries around the world to growing numbers of attendees every year. For more than three decades, this spring event has provided an opportunity for audiences to experience new cultures and ideas through the medium and art of film, and has welcomed numerous prominent filmmakers and personalities to tell their stories.
www.mspfilmfest.org

About The Film Society of Minneapolis St. Paul
A 501(c)(3) non-profit membership-based organization with a rich 50-year history of exhibiting the very best of contemporary and historical independent, local national and international cinema to Minnesota audiences. In doing so, we inform our audiences about the culture, histories, cutting-edge news and filmmaking artistry from countries around the world.
www.mspfilmsociety.org