Area Attractions: Twin Cities Film Fest

Twin Cities Film Fest (TCFF) announces its full schedule for their 2019 festival, set to take place October 16-26 at the Kerasotes ShowPlace ICON Theatres at The Shops at West End. Coming off an electrifying September gala that celebrated filmmaker and Minnesota native Jim Burke, the producer behind Green Book which took home both this year's Academy Award for Best Picture and last year's top festival prize, TCFF 2019 marks the organization's 10th anniversary and arrives with a special focus on both female filmmakers and films that advance this year’s social justice cause: environmental sustainability.

Among the top awards contenders from the festival circuit set to land at TCFF next month are Taika Waititi's Holocaust dramedy Jojo Rabbit (Oct. 16) which last weekend took home the top prize at the Toronto International Film Festival — often considered an early harbinger of what could contend for Best Picture in the winter — as well as Noah Baumbach’s marital drama Marriage Story, headlined by Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson and recognized as this year’s TCFF Breakthrough Vision (Oct. 19), and Trey Edward Shults’s lauded family drama Waves, starring Kelvin Harrison Jr. and Lucas Hedges and honored as this year’s Virtuoso Selection (Oct. 26).

Other notable studio entries include the new Eddie Redmayne-Felicity Jones hot air balloon adventure The Aeronauts (Oct. 17); Terrence Malick’s war epic A Hidden Life (Oct. 20); the star-studded Edward Norton-directed crime drama Motherless Brooklyn (Oct. 24); and the stunning Shia LaBeouf-penned biopic Honey Boy with Director Alma Har'el in attendance (Oct. 21).

This year’s kickoff double feature on Oct. 16 will spotlight both the lauded Jojo Rabbit and Robert Jury’s Working Man, the official 2019 Opening Night Selection. A humble and heartfelt independent feature about a Rust Belt town coping with the closure of its last factory and the emergence of an unlikely hero who partners with his neighbors to break his way back into the shuttered shop, the film stars Peter Gerety from The Wire and two-time Academy Award nominee Talia Shire (The Godfather: Part II and Rocky), who will both be in attendance. TCFF’s 2019 Centerpiece is Inside the Rain, Aaron Fisher’s autobiographical directing debut about a bipolar college student facing expulsion over conduct violations who hatches a madcap scheme to prove his innocence. The film co-stars Rosie Perez and Eric Roberts. Both Roberts and Fisher will be in attendance Oct. 18.

The festival closes Oct. 26 with Premature, Rashaad Ernesto Green’s electrifying coming-of-age drama about a teenager in New York City navigating her last summer — and an unexpected romance — before heading to college.  The film has earned rave reviews on the festival circuit, particularly for its vulnerable and hypnotic lead performance from Zora Howard; the Hollywood Reporter hailed the film as “a stirring coming-of-ager with a knockout lead turn.”

Howard will be present for the closing night festivities, marking the culmination of a program that has prioritized projects made by female filmmakers. More than 60 percent of this year’s TCFF selections were directed or produced by women, continuing the organization’s push to create a home for works from a more diverse range of artists.

October 23 will feature Purple Rain night at the festival, with a special free 35^th anniversary screening of the Prince rock musical at 6:45 p.m. and a Prince-themed afterparty to follow. Albert Magnoli, the director of the 1984 hit, will be making a rare appearance after the screening to discuss the film. Although the screening is free, tickets are still required for the reserved seats and can be obtained at ShowplaceIcon.com.

Every year Twin Cities Film Fest identifies a Social Justice Cause and programs a special series of films to call attention to a specific social issue. This year’s cause is “environmental responsibility” and the film series kicks off Oct. 17 with Roger Sorkin’s documentary Current Revolution, which envisions the next generation of America’s aging electrical grid. The series continues with Juice: How Electricity Explains the World (Oct. 18); Youth Unstoppable (Oct. 19); Food Coop (Oct. 19); Salvage (Oct. 23); and Sustainable Nation (Oct. 23).  TCFF Changemaker Partner for 2019 is the St. Louis Park Non Profit, Matter.

Among this year’s slate of “Minnesota-connected” premieres are International Falls (Oct. 19), a look at the fragile life of a touring comic and his chance connection with a hotel worker in a dead-end marriage. The film was shot in northern Minnesota and stars comedienne Rachel Harris (Natural Selection, Suits). On the lighter side, Raising Buchanan (Oct. 25) is a caper-driven comedy about two working women trying to profit from stealing the dead body of President Buchanan, played by notable character actor Rene Auberjonois (Star Trek, Madame Secretary). Rounding out the 18 titles in this year’s Minnesota-connected program is The Truth About Marriage (Oct. 18), the latest thought-provoking documentary from director Roger Nygard (Trekkies).

TCFF’s complete 2019 schedule is listed below.  Tickets will be on-sale September 21, 2019 for TCFF Members and Passholders and to the public beginning September 27, 2019. Ticket prices are $13 for General Admission & $20 for Spotlight Films. Festival Passes can also be purchased as follows: Silver Pass - $55 (5 pack of non-Gala tickets); Gold Pass - $90 (10 pack of non-Gala tickets); Platinum Pass - $130 (12 pack of non-Gala tickets + 2 Gala tickets); Spotlight Pass - $100 (6 tickets to any Spotlight Film). All tickets guarantee admission to that evening’s afterparty in the TCFF Lounge located onsite at The Shops at West End.  

For more information on films and attendees, or to book your reserved seats, visit www.twincitiesfilmfest.org.  

ABOUT TWIN CITIES FILM FEST

Twin Cities Film Fest (TCFF) is a Minneapolis-based 501(c)(3) non-profit arts organization founded by Executive Director, Jatin Setia. The Twin Cities Film Fest is an annual mainstream film festival that caters to the general public with one simple goal: To offer audiences access to the best films the global industry has to offer, to stimulate economic activity in the Twin Cities and to offer filmmakers a premiere venue at which to premiere their work. TCFF welcomes donations throughout the year from members, individual donors, volunteers, or corporations. To learn more about TCFF, events, film submissions or to donate, visit twincitiesfilmfest.org.

ABOUT KERASOTES SHOWPLACE ICON THEATRES AND LOBBY LOUNGE

Founded in 1909 with a single storefront nickelodeon, Chicago-based Kerasotes Showplace Theatres introduced a “new era of moviegoing” with its Showplace ICON Theatres. Owned and operated by third generation family, Tony and Dean Kerasotes, the Company plans to debut Showplace ICON Theatres in additional major U.S. markets, including Boston, Mass.; Washington D.C. and surrounding suburbs; and Laguna Hills and the Silicon Valley in Cal.  For more information, please visit us online at http://www.showplaceicon.com.

ABOUT THE SHOPS AT WEST END

The Shops at West End is an exciting mixed-use development located in the highly affluent suburb of St. Louis Park, just minutes from downtown Minneapolis. Located at the intersection of I-394 & 100, The Shops at West End features restaurants such as CRAVE, and Coopers, and retailers including Anthropologie and Lululemon Athletica. It is a joint-venture development of Duke Realty, Inc. and Jeffrey R. Anderson Real Estate, Inc. For a complete list of West End tenants, please visit www.TheShopsAtWestEnd.com.