35 Years, Hundreds of Films: MSPIFF 2016

Now in its 35th year, the Minneapolis St Paul International Film Festival is back with its usual menagerie of 200+ films to suit all tastes and desires of the Twin City cinephile. We hope the schedule below can act as a road map or just another way to augment the dart-board method of choosing among all the options. As we have in past years, we've taken the opportunity to pretend that we will be at the Festival all day, every day, and give you our daily recommendations on how to potentially navigate the schedule, based on movies we've seen, movies we desperately want to see, and movies that may never return to the Twin Cities again. In addition to these daily recommendations, we'll be dropping in reviews for films as we see them. Read, watch, repeat, and we will see you at the Festival.

Day 1: Friday, April 8

Our picks:

Wednesday, May 9
(Iran)
d. Vahid Jalilvand
4:50 pm

---

They Will Have to Kill Us First
(UK)
d. Johanna Schwartz
7:00 pm

---

The High Sun
(Croatia/Slovenia/Serbia)
d. Dalibor Matanić
★★★½
9:45 pm

_Also screening:

• Enclave (Serbia/Germany)
• Muzzaffanagar Eventually... (India)
• A Simple Goodbye (China)
• Here Come the Videofreex (USA)
• The Lovers and the Despot (UK)
• 1944 (Estonia/Finland)
• A Decent Man (Switzerland)
• District Zero (Jordan/Spain)
• Sparrows (Iceland/Denmark/Croatia)
• Mr Pig (Mexico)
• Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You (USA)
• Alone (South Korea) ★★★½
• The Legend of Swee' Pea (USA)
• Rosita (Denmark)
• I Promised You Anarchy (Mexico)
• Summertime (France)
• Kaili Blues  (China) ★★★★★
  
• The Invitation (USA)
• Serial Killer 1 (France)

---

Day 2: Saturday, April 9

Our picks:

One Floor Below
(Romania)
d. Radu Muntean

11:30 am

---

Kill Me Please
(Brazil)
d. Anita Rocha da Silveira
3:15 pm

---

Chronic
(Mexico)
d. Michel Franco

5:00 pm

---

Right Now, Wrong Then
(South Korea)
d. Hong Sang-soo

9:30 pm

Also screening:

• The New Classmate (India)
• Operation Arctic (Norway)
• Walnut Tree (Kazakhstan) ★★★★½
• Walls (Spain)
• Ghostland (Namibia)
• Celestial Camel (Russia)
• Unlocking the Cage (USA)
• O Samba (Switzerland/Germany)
• The Homecoming (Iceland)
• Atomic Falafel (Israel)
• My Internship in Canada (Canada)
• Birds of Passage (Belgium)
• Tharlo (China)
• The Last King (Norway)
• Francofonia (France)
• Dheepan (France)
• Valley of Love (France)
• The Summer Help (USA)
• The Idol (Palestine)
• The Innocents (France/Poland)
• Alias Maria (Columbia)
• My Big Night (Spain)
• The Big Wu Way (USA)
  
• Robert Klein (USA)
• Wonderous Bocaccio (Italy)
• Aferim! (Romania) ★★★★
  
• Alena (Sweden)
• Chevalier (Greece) ★★★★½
• HomeSick (Germany)

---

Day 3: Sunday, April 10

Our picks:

Speed Sisters
(Palestine)
d. Amber Fares

11:30 am

---

Bota
(Albania)
d. Iris Elezi, Thomas Logoreci

4:10 pm

---

Above and Below
(USA)
d. Nicolas Steiner
★★★★½ 
7:00 pm

---

The Chinese Mayor
(China)
d. Zhou Hao
9:10 pm

Also screening:

• Heavenly Nomadic (Kyrgyzstan)
• Talent Has Hunger (USA
• The Summer Help (USA)
• My Friend Raffi (Germany)
• Sunset Song (UK)
• Hill of Freedom (South Korea)
• 600 Miles (Mexico)
• Nina's Children (Norway)
• Women Outward Bound (USA)
• Adama (France)
• District Zero (Jordan)
• The Fencer (Estonia)
• Mr Pig (Mexico)
• O Samba (Switzerland)
• The Homecoming (Iceland)
• From Afar (Venezuela)
• Last Cab to Darwin (Australia)
• Vore King (USA)
• Alone (South Korea) ★★★½
• Fever at Dawn (Israel)
• Dragonfly (USA)
• Vanity (Switzerland)
• Endorphine (Canada) ★★★½
  
• Schneider vs. Bax (Netherlands)
• The Ardennes (Belgium)
  
• Mountain (Israel)

---

Day 4: Monday, April 11

Our picks:

Happy Hour
(Japan)
d. Ryusuke Hamaguchi
6:00 pm

---

Here is Harold
(Norway)
d. Gunnar Vikene
7:00 pm

Also screening:

• Belgian Rhapsody (Belgium)
• Madonna (South Korea)
• In Transit (USA)
• Walking Distance (Mexico)
• Messi (Spain)
• Walnut Tree (Kazakhstan) ★★★★½
  
• Above and Below (USA) ★★★★½ 
• The Violin Teacher (Brazil)
• Presenting Princess Shaw (Israel)
• The Sand Box (USA)
• Summer Solstice (Poland)
• The Invitation (USA)
• Taklub (Philippines)
• My King (France)
• I Promise You Anarchy (Mexico)

---

Day 5: Tuesday, April 12

Our picks:

Presenting Princess Shaw
(Israel)
d. Ido Haar
7:00 pm

---

Endless River
(South Africa)
d. Oliver Hermanus

9:40 pm

Also screening:

• Argentina (Argentina)
• Blush (Israel)
• Neon Bull (Brazil)
• Francofonia (France)
  
• Our Everyday Life (Bosnia-Herzegovina)
• Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World (USA) ★★★½
  
• Holy Hell (USA)
• How Love Won (USA)
• Enclave (Serbia)
• L'attesa (Italy)
• Nothing in Return (Spain)
• Tale of Tales (Italy)
• Dheepan (France)
• The Big Wu Way (USA)
• Chevalier (Greece) ★★★★½
• My Big Night (Spain)

---

Day 6: Wednesday, April 13

Our picks:

Eisenstein in Guanajuato
(Netherlands)
d. Peter Greenaway
★★★½
4:30 pm

---

Kaili Blues
(China)
d. Bi Gan
★★★★★
9:15 pm 

Also screening:

• A Light Beneath Their Feet (USA)
• Alias Maria (Columbia)
• The Innocents (France)
• Speed Sisters (Palestine)
• I Am Dublin (Sweden)
• Happy Collaborator (USA)
• Dog Lady (Argentina) ★★½
  
• Women He's Undressed (Australia)
• My King (France)
• Here Come the Videofreex (USA)
• 600 Miles (Mexico)
• Closer Than You Think (Cuba)
• The Seeker (USA)
• The Chinese Mayor (China)
• HomeSick (Germany)
• Alena (Sweden)

---

Day 7: Thursday, April 14

Our picks:

From Afar
(Venezuela)
d. Lorenzo Vigas
2:40 pm

---

Our Loved Ones
(Canada)
d. Anne Émond

4:40 pm

---

Under Electric Clouds
(Russia)
d. Aleksey German
9:15 pm

Also screening:

• Right Now, Wrong Then (South Korea)
• Fever at Dawn (Israel)
• Bota (Albania)
• My Internship in Canada (Canada)
• One Floor Below (Romania)
• They Will Have to Kill Us First (UK)
• The Legend of Swee' Pea (USA)
• Ghostland (Namibia)
• Belgian Rhapsody (Belgium)
• Affliction (Liberia)
• Dog Lady (Argentina) ★★½
  
• Beeba Boys (Canada)
• Robert Bly (USA)
• The Last King (Norway)
• A Good Wife (Serbia)
• Minimalism (USA)
• Schneider vs. Bax (Netherlands)
• Kill Me Please (Brazil)
• The Alchemist's Cookbook (USA)
• Mad Tiger (USA)

---

Day 8: Friday, April 15

Our picks:

Lamb
(Ethiopia)
d. Yared Zeleke
★★★★½
6:45 pm

---

Holy Hell
(USA)
d. Will Allen
9:50 pm

Also screening:

• The Wednesday Child (Hungary)
• The High Sun (Croatia/Slovenia/Serbia) ★★★½
• Sabali (Canada)
• In Transit (USA)
• Walls (Spain)
• The Last Cab to Darwin (Australia)
• Happy Collaborator (USA)
• Nina's Children (Norway)
• Don't Blink - Robert Frank (USA)
• How to Let Go of the World (USA)
• Magallanes (Peru)
• A Stray (USA)
• Sparrows (Iceland)
• The Seeker (USA)
• What We Become (Denmark)

---

Day 9: Saturday, April 16

Our picks:

Don't Blink - Robert Frank
(USA)
d. Laura Israel
11:15 am

---

Sunset Song
(UK)
d. Terence Davies

4:10 pm

---

The Man Who Saw Too Much
(Mexico)
d. Trisha Ziff

7:05 pm

---

Demon
(Poland)
d. Marcin Wrona

10:00 pm

Also screening:

• Rosita (Denmark)
• Women He's Undressed (Australia)
• Chronic (Mexico)
  
• How Love Won (USA)
• Lamb (Ethiopia) ★★★★½
  
• Kick It! (Norway)
• When Two Worlds Collide (Peru)
• Babai (Kosovo)
• Adama (France)
• Yoko and the Cherry Blossoms (Japan)
• Sunset Songs (UK)
• Hockney (USA)
• The Hard Stop (UK)
• Mr Pig (Mexico)
• Home Care (Czech Republic)
• Beeba Boys (Canada)
• Our Loved Ones (Canada)
• Minnesota 13: From Grain to Glass (USA)
• Summer Solstice (Poland)
• Raging Rose (France)
• Virgin Mountain (Iceland)
• Tickled (New Zealand)

---

Day 10: Sunday, April 17

Our picks:

My Skinny Sister
(Sweden)
d. Sanna Lenken

11:30 pm

---

Minnesota 13: From Grain to Glass
(USA)
d. Kelly Nathe, Norah Shapiro
1:45 pm

---

The Hard Stop
(UK)
d. George Amponsah
3:30 pm

---

When a Tree Falls
(Spain)
d. Asier Altuna

8:50 pm

Also showing:

• Voices From Chernobyl (Luxembourg)
• Journey to the Shore (Japan)
• Zero Point (Estonia)
• Messi (Spain)
• Birds of Passage (France)
• The Happy Film (USA)
• The Fencer (Estonia)
• A Simple Goodbye (China)
• Our Loved Ones (Canada)
• Operation Arctic (Norway)
• A Stray (USA)
• Hard Stop (UK)
• Home Care (Czech Republic)
• Ice and the Sky (France)
• In the Game (USA)
• The Boda Boda Thieves (Uganda)
• Robert Bly (USA)
  
• Radiator (UK)
• Sabina K (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
• Tale of Tales (Italy)
• Eisenstein in Guanajuato (Netherlands) ★★★½
  
• The Endless River (South Africa)
• Sleeping Giant (Canada) ★★
• A Light Beneath Their Feet (USA)
• Serial Killer 1 (France)

---

Day 11: Monday, April 18

Our picks:

Tharlo
(China)
d. Pema Tseden

4:40 pm

---

Endorphine
(Canada)
d. André Turpin
★★★½
9:30 pm

_Also screening:

• Vanity (Switzerland)
• 10 Billion - What's on Your Plate (Germany)
• The New Classmate (India)
• Heavenly Nomadic (Kyrgystan)
• Road to La Paz (Argentina)
• Iraqi Odyssey (Iraq)
• The World Has No Eyedea (USA)
• Radiator (UK)
• Raging Rose (France)
• Weiner (USA)
• Summertime (France)
• The Lovers and the Despot (USA)
• Here is Harold (Norway)
• Mad Tiger (USA)
• Nothing in Return (Spain)

---

Day 12: Tuesday, April 19

Our picks:

Uncle Howard
(USA)
d. Aaron Brookner

4:40 pm

---

Neon Bull
(Brazil)
d. Gabriel Mascaro

9:45 pm

Also screening:

• Wednesday, May 9 (Iran)
  
• 1944 (Estonia)
  
• Magallanes (Peru)
  
• Exotica, Erotica, etc (France)
  
• In the Game (USA)
  
• Gypsy: Rock and Roll Nomads (USA)
  
• Blush (Israel)
  
• The Apostate (Spain)
  
• The Happy Film (USA)
  
• Liza the Fox Fairy (Hungary)
  
• My Skinny Sister (Sweden)
  
• Vore King (USA)
  
• A Copy of My Mind (Indonesia)
  
• A Decent Man (Switzerland)
  
• Sabali (Canada)
  

---

Day 13: Wednesday, April 20

Our picks:

L'attesa
(Italy)
d. Piero Messina

4:40 pm

---

The Fits
(USA)
d. Anna Rose Holmer
9:25 pm

Also screening:

• 10 Billion - What's on Your Plate (Germany)
  
• Our Everyday Life (Bosnia-Herzegovina)
  
• Zero Point (Estonia)
  
• Our Last Tango (Argentina)
  
• Ville-Marie (Canada)
  
• The Idol (Palestine)
  
• Resilience (USA)
  
• Atomic Falafel (Israel)
  
• The Boda Boda Thieves (Uganda)
  
• Tickled (New Zealand)
  
• The Wednesday Child (Hungary)
  

---

Day 14: Thursday, April 21

Our picks:

Journey to the Shore
(Japan)
d. Kiyoshi Kurosawa
2:00 pm

---

Mountain
(Israel)
d. Yaelle Kayam

5:00 pm

---

The Alchemist's Cookbook
(USA)
d. Joel Potrykus
10:00 pm

Also screening:

• Iraqi Odyssey (Iraq)
• Under Electric Clouds (Russia)
• A Copy of My Mind (Indonesia)
• When Two Worlds Collide (Peru)
• Weiner (USA)
  
• Taklub (Philippines)
• Walking Distance (Peru)
• Aferim! (Romania) ★★★★
  
• When a Tree Falls (Spain)
• Trophy Husband (USA)
• The Music of Strangers (USA)
• Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World (USA) ★★★½
• The World Has No Eyedea (USA)
• Uncle Howard (USA)
• The Garbage Helicopter (Sweden)
• Madonna (South Korea)

---

Day 15: Friday, April 22

Our picks:

Voices From Chernobyl
(Luxembourg)
d. Pol Cruchten

4:45 pm

---

Valley of Love
(France)
d. Guillaume Nicloux
7:30 pm

---

Liza the Fox Fairy
(Hungary)
d. Károly Ujj-Mészáros
9:50 pm

Also screening:

• I Am Dublin (Sweden)
  
• Yoko the Cherry Blossom (Japan)
  
• Closer Than You Think (Cuba)
  
• Minimalism (USA)
  
• Hill of Freedom (South Korea)
  
• The Anthropologist (USA)
  
• The Apostate (Spain)
  
• The Sand Box (USA)
  
• A Journey of a Thousand Miles (Bangladesh)
  
• Babai (Kosovo)
  
• Sing Street (Ireland)
  
• Under the Skin (Sweden)
  
• Gypsy: Rock and Roll Nomads (USA)
  
• Exotica, Erotica, etc (France)
  
• The Ardennes (Belgium)
  
• Therapy for a Vampire (Austria)
  

---

Day 16: Saturday, April 23

Our picks:

Ice and the Sky
(France)
d. Luc Jacquet

11:15 am

---

Under the Skin
(Sweden)
d. Cécile Allegra, Delphine Deloget
1:30 pm

---

The Garbage Helicopter
(Sweden)
d. Jonas Selberg Augustsén
7:05 pm

---

Ville-Marie
(Canada)
d. Guy Édoin

9:40 pm

Also screening:

• My Friend Raffi (Germany)
• Unlocking the Cage (USA)
• The Anthropologist (USA)
• Celestial Camel (Russia)
• A Journey of a Thousand Miles (Bangladesh)
• Standing Tall (France)
• Our Last Tango (Argentina)
• Kick It! (Norway)
• Talent Has Hunger (USA)
• How to Let Go of the World (USA)
• Road to La Paz (Argentina)
• Wonderous Boccacio (Italy)
• The Fits (USA)
• The Violin Teacher (Brazil)
• The Seventh Fire (USA)
• Sing Street (Ireland)
• Trophy Husband (USA)
• Sleeping Giant (Canada) ★★
  
• What We Become (Denmark)
• Virgin Mountain (Iceland)