07-03-2025
Oscar-winning director to attend 2025 Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Fest
The MSP Film Society has called "action" on the 44th Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival (MSPIFF).
The festival will return in 2025, with the bulk of programming taking place at The Main Cinema from April 2–13. Highlights from the announcement include an appearance from Oscar-winning director Ang Lee and an opening-night screening of Free Leonard Peltier.
The opening-night documentary recently premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, arriving there just a week after Peltier was granted clemency after a nearly 50-year imprisonment.
The presentation of Free Leonard Peltier will include appearances from director Jesse Short Bull and producer Jhane Meyers. It'll be followed by a party at Sean Sherman's Owamni.
The festival will also welcome Lee for the MSPIFF44 Milgrom Tribute, a celebration of the 20th anniversary of Brokeback Mountain, the film that saw him become the first Asian director to win an Academy Award for Best Director.
Lee's appearance will include a conversation on Sunday, April 6, which will be followed by a screening of Brokeback Mountain, introduced by the director.
The Milgrom Tribute, named for MSPIFF and MSP Film Society founder Al Milgrom, honors "artists whose talents put a distinctive stamp on every one of their films, who have been instrumental in promoting a higher regard for the art of cinema, and who have consistently made and continue to make critical waves at a global level."
Lee has embodied those attributes in his more than 40-year career with moving, personal films like The Wedding Banquet and The Ice Storm, as well as big-budget productions like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hulk, Life of Pi, and Gemini Man.
The fest will again include a slate of Minnesota-made and Minnesota-connected films, including Folktales and Speak, both of which appeared at Sundance.
Other films on the MSPIFF calendar include Sundance award winners DJ Ahmet, Seeds, Sally, and 2000 Meters to Andriivka; Kim A. Snyder's The Librarians; and Julie Delpy's satire, Meet the Barbarians, among others.
As usual, films will also be screened at other Twin Cities area theaters, including the Capri Theater and Landmark Center, as well as the Edina Mann Theatres, a new partner for the 44th installment.
The full lineup of films can be viewed on the MSPIFF website. The schedule and presale for those events will be unveiled later this month.
