Events

Focusing on the growing political movement that has taken up the cause of the Green New Deal — as well as the forces determined to oppose it — To the End is both a rallying cry to meet the challenge of climate change and a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at a new generation of activist leaders. […]

Director Jessica Rae Attending https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBqkE9jbNYQ Based on director Jessica Rae’s own experiences growing up in Minneapolis, Raise Your Hand follows best friends Gia and Lila, two midwestern teens of color growing up and facing the challenges of youth. At once raw and honest, and capturing the vicissitudes of teenage life, Raise Your Hand is a […]

https://vimeo.com/609977263 The profound friendship between Archbishop Desmond Tutu and His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and their embrace of an all-encompassing happiness in life — despite the incredible challenges that both have faced —is examined in this uplifting documentary from Oscar®-winning director Louie Psihoyos (The Cove) and Peggy Callahan. Inspired by the international bestseller, The Book […]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pffUhWsN6qk “Every one of us inherits the curses of our ancestors. But we may put an end to this cycle by constantly going to war with ourselves…” So says filmmaker Rebeca “Beba” Huntt in this documentary that will challenge all of your notions of filmmaking, race and class in America. This poetic and searching autobiography, […]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsFxXb9fZYU Bangui’s Hyenas are a fabled trio of mercenaries from Guinea-Bissau, who strip a drug dealer of his enormous wealth and make a beeline for Dakar. There they get trapped in a near-mythical resort… and the blood is just beginning to flow in Jean Luc Herbulot’s kinetic thriller-horror hybrid. Amidst the chaos of a coup […]

https://vimeo.com/672573306 Director Kevin Shaw Attending Located just south of downtown Chicago, the National Teachers Academy Elementary School (NTA) is a high-achieving public school in an African American neighborhood. When the city announces plans to phase out NTA’s curriculum and turn it into a high school drawing students from other schools, the community senses gentrification… and, […]

Post-film discussion featuring MSPIFF Programmer and filmmaker Craig Laurence Rice. When a Harlem mobster’s daughter is kidnapped by the Mafosi, does he turn to the cops? Not when Shaft’s in town. Thrilling, sexy, and dangerous, Gordon Parks’ action thriller ushered in the 70s Blaxploitation genre. Richard Roundtree is magnetic as Shaft and Isaac Hayes won […]

Director David Grubin Attending Tamara Lanier’s great-great-great grandfather was an enslaved man named Renty, who was compelled in 1850 to have his photograph taken so that Harvard Professor Louis Agassiz, a celebrated scientist — and virulent racist — could “prove” the superiority of the white race. Free Renty: Lanier v. Harvard documents Lanier’s years-long quest […]

https://vimeo.com/357218890 Director Jo Rochelle Attending Jasmine is a 16-year-old Minneapolis girl, determined to make a mark on the world. She has albinism (which causes a lack of pigment in the hair, skin, and eyes) and wants to be a model–no, a supermodel!--and represent Black girls and people with this condition. And she’d also love nothing […]

Age 11+, coming of age drama On the island coast of Curaçao, 11-year-old Kenza lives on a plot of land that has been with their family for generations. As Kenza approaches adolescence, she longs for the mother she never knew. Meanwhile, her father and grandfather clash over the future of their family’s land and ancestry. […]

Director Khadar Ayderus Ahmed and Actor Omar Abdi Attending In Djibouti City, Guled literally chases ambulances–he’s a gravedigger who competes with others to procure a cadaver for a meager wage. It’s a living… until his wife, Nasra, is diagnosed with kidney failure, forcing Guled and his young son, Mahad, to take desperate measures to raise […]