Gallery • 4 Photos

Natalie Sanford

Foreign film exhibition: St. Anthony Main Theater lights the Riverside Street on the opening night of the International Film Festival. The two week long event features films produced in various countries and languages as well as other activities.

The Film Society of Minneapolis and St. Paul will host its 34th annual Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival April 9-25, giving local movie enthusiasts the opportunity to explore films outside of mainstream cinema.

Eric Wilson, the festival coordinator and director of strategic partnerships, said the festival features 314 films from more than 60 countries, including Germany, Korea, India and Mexico.

“Whether you like music documentaries, or late-night horror movies, or dramedies ­— drama comedies, or romance films, there’s really something for everybody,” Wilson said.

Because these films are from around the world, many have very little distribution across the United States. The festival is the first time many of these films will be shown in Minnesota, providing a unique experience for film-goers, Wilson said.

The festival separates the films into a number of programs including the newly added Cine Global program featuring films about a variety of the growing international communities across Minnesota.

Junior Joe Villano said he likes the films give viewers an inside look at different groups of people that reside in the Twin Cities.

“I think it could introduce some interesting perspectives on the different groups that live here,” Villano said.

Additional film categories include LGBTQ Currents, Images of Africa and Culinary Cinema. Certain films will also be judged in categories such as emerging filmmaker and documentary, according to the Film Society of Minneapolis/St. Paul’s website.

In addition to movie screenings, the festival hosts a number of other events, including panels discussing topics such as music composition for films, women in the film industry and creating music videos.

Junior Charlie Berg, a former IB film student, said he’s interested in attending a number of panels to learn more about making films, a career he is interested in pursuing after high school.

“There’s one for cinematography that I want to go to. There’s another one for music in film, another about crowd source funding, which is kind of specific, but for anybody that wants to go into film as a career it’s looking like it’s going to be a new frontier for producing,” Berg said.

Additionally, the festival offers many opportunities for movie-goers to interact with directors and actors, Wilson said.

“We have lots of parties where people are encouraged to come meet the filmmakers,” Wilson said.

These parties have various themes, including cartoons, film trivia and a celebration of Minnesota-made films, according to the Film Society of Minneapolis/St. Paul’s website.

Villano said he thinks the international film festival will provide students with an opportunity to experience types of films they’ve never seen before.

“They are probably going to be very different from what you regularly see in theaters, so it’d probably be fun to experience something new with friends,” Villano said.

Movies will be screened at theaters across the Twin Cities and in Rochester, primarily at St. Anthony Main Theater in Minneapolis. Individual tickets for movie screenings can be purchased online or at movie venues. Discounted tickets for students cost $6.

For more information on movie screenings, ticket purchases and other festival events, visit www.mspfilm.org.