SUCCESS!

WITH 200 SCREENINGS, 23 U.S. PREMIERES, 13 SOLD-OUT SHOWS
AND 30 NEAR SELL OUTS,
THE 24TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL DEEMED HUGE SUCCESS
______________________________________________ 

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn., May 18, 2006:  The box office reports are in, the audience polls are tallied, and by all accounts, the 24th Annual Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival was a huge success. Highlights from this year’s Festival (which ran April 20 – 30, followed by a week-long “Best of Fest”) include:

  • 135 films from 40 countries
  • 200 screenings in five Twin Cities venues (The Riverview Theater, Oak Street Cinema, Bell Auditorium, Crown Theaters-Block E, and The Landmark Edina Theater)
  • 13 sold-out shows and 30 Near Sell outs.
  • More than 27,000 attendees
  • 63 Sponsors
  • 23 U.S. Premieres, one World Premiere, and three Midwest/Minnesota Premieres
  • 1.9 million hits to the mspfilmfest.org website in April and a 35% increase in online ticket sales over last year
  • Visits from 15 filmmakers, celebrities and special guests, including Al Franken for the Opening Night screening of “Al Franken: God Spoke”; renowned Mexican director Arturo Ripstein for a retrospective of his work; and Ned Beatty for the Closing Night/April 30 screening of “Sweet Land”
  • The support of four international consulates (The Consulate General of Finland, The Norwegian Consulate General, The Consulate of Mexico in St. Paul, and The Canadian Consulate General)

The success of the Festival –– which turned a profit this year –– bodes well for the Festival’s 25th Anniversary in 2007 and for future of programming at the Oak StreetCinema and Bell Auditorium.

“Staff, sponsor and audience support pitched in to make this as memorable a festival as ever,” says Festival Artistic Director Al Milgrom. “We surprised even ourselves as to how good the film selections were this year, and Festival attendance and comments reflect this. We look forward to the same audience support as we go forward with plans for the Bell and the Oak. My vote for local hero this year goes to board member and onetime U Film Society stalwart Tim Grady, who financed the whole thing. From the jaws of defeat, victory was snatched.”


The Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival announced today results of its 24th Annual Audience Poll. Festival-goers were asked to rank films on a scale of one to five, with one being “Poor” and five being “Excellent”. The results are in and the winners are:

AUDIENCE PRIZE: Sweet Land (USA), directed by Minnesota’s own Ali Selim (Top Score Overall)

BEST DOCUMENTARY: Fire and Ice: The Winter War of Finland and Russia, (USA/Finland), directed by Ben Strout

BEST CHILDISH FILM: Hoppity Goes to Town (USA/Revival), directed by Dave Fleischer

BEST OF FEST: Cave of the Yellow Dog, (Mongolia) directed by Byambasuren Davaa

(The next best 10 films, in descending order)

Live and Become (Israel/France), directed by Radu Mihaileanu

Mother of Mine (Finland), directed by Klaus Haro

Tapas (Spain), directed by José Corbacho, Juan Cruz

Syrian Bride (Israel/France/Germany), directed by Eran Riklis

As it is in Heaven (Sweden), directed by Kay Pollak

Luna de Avellaneda (Argentina/Spain), directed by Juan José Campenella

A Touch of Spice (Greece/Turkey), directed by Tassos Boulmetis

Look Both Ways (Australia), directed by Sarah Watt

Al Franken: God Spoke (USA), directed by Nick Doob, Chris Hegedus

“This year’s line-up proved to be one of the strongest ever,” says Festival Artistic Director Al Milgrom. “With 13 sold-out shows, including two sold-out screenings for Sweet Land, the 24th Annual Fest was a resounding success.”

“Nearly half of the films shown in this year’s Festival scored in the ‘excellent’ or ‘very good’ categories, with scores of 4.0 or higher,” continues Milgrom. “The Scandinavian films did particularly well, with two films making our Best of Fest list, and Fire and Ice winning Best Documentary. The sold-out screening of our Minnesota Documentaries program also deserves honorable mention.”