Notes from MSPIFF44
Some of my favorite festival films of 2025!
I had the wonderful opportunity to take some time off work and devote my full-time energy to this year’s Minneapolis Saint Paul International Film Festival. I saw 43 films (plus a conversation with the incredible Ang Lee!), and I wanted to share some highlights. Every film was like entering a portal into another world for 90+ minutes, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to see so much international film right here in my local theater in Minneapolis.
So here are 15 of the films I can’t stop thinking about. (For a full list with micro reviews for all the films I saw, visit my Letterboxd: https://boxd.it/G7AM)
Event Films
While most of the films I saw were events (in that they had yet to have a wide release, and often filmmakers or actors or subjects were special guests), there were a few showings that were a cut above that I want to highlight.
Free Leonard Peltier, Dir. David France and Jesse Short Bull
This was the opening night feature, and what a way to start! I did not know much about Leonard Peltier before going into this film, but this documentary does an excellent job of condensing over 50 years of history into an impactful two hours. Leonard Peltier was accused and convicted of executing two FBI agents during an attack by the state against Native American activists in 1975. The best evidence against Peltier is flimsy, if not outright falsified. Despite this, the FBI led an unceasing campaign of prejudice against him that kept him from release—Let me tell you: nothing makes you hate the FBI more than learning the history of the FBI!
I am sorry to say I have to dock a few points for this film using generative AI, and for not, as far as I saw, making clear where the AI was used in the film. Still, it was a powerful viewing experience.
The highlight of the evening was after the film. The filmmakers came up to share about their project, and then they introduced a couple of special guests via Zoom call: Dino Butler (a friend of Peltier’s who was also accused but acquitted of the killings) and Leonard Peltier himself, whose double-life sentence was commuted by President Biden just 16 minutes before his term ended. Peltier is under home confinement, and this was one of the first times he had spoken to a public audience since his release. It was a very special thing to hear directly from him after witnessing a summary of his life and plight.
Right in the Eye: Live Movie-Concert of Georges Mélies Films
Chances are decent that you’ve at least seen clips of the films of Georges Mélies, perhaps our first true narrative filmmaker. (If you’ve seen Scorsese’s lovely family film Hugo, then you know a little bit about Mélies!) I had the pleasure of seeing 12 of Mélies’ astounding shorts set to live music by a skilled band of DIY artists whose score fully embodies the spirit of Mélies’ work. Many of the shorts are from the 1890s(!), and I was still left asking “how did he do that?!” at many moments during the show. The whimsical creativity of his work is astounding even in 2025—especially in the age of AI slop.
Ang Lee Double-Feature: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon + Brokeback Mountain (with introduction by Ang Lee)
I haven’t seen too many of Ang Lee’s films (the two that come to mind are the amazing Life of Pi and the perhaps less-than-amazing Hulk (non-MCU)), so it was a treat not only to have a chance to see two of his most beloved films for their 25th and 20th anniversaries, respectively, but to also hear directly from him about his life and work, and to see him introduce Brokeback Mountain!
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon stunned me by how beautiful the choreography and special effects are. I expected it to look dated, but the entire film is leagues better than most “action/adventure” movies in 2025. The beauty and poise of this film was something to behold. While I’m sad it’s taken me this long to see it, what a joy to experience it on the big screen!
Having grown up in early-2000s conservative evangelicalism, my teenage self is probably terrified to find out that I watched Brokeback Mountain—and worried at how much I loved it! A tender, beautiful film with a stacked cast of stellar actors early in their careers. It also breaks my heart that Heath Ledger is not with us today. What a treasure. And Ang Lee gave a special introduction to this showing!
Favorite Documentaries
I am not much of a documentary guy, but I’m trying to change that. Honestly, I prize print media—primarily books and long-form journalism—when it comes to learning about real life things. But I think I’ve given short shrift to documentary as a genre, so I’m trying to be more open-minded about it, while also being sensitive to its limitations.
Middletown, Dir. Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss
This documentary about a group of high school students who uncover a toxic waste conspiracy in their community in the 90s is a powerful testament to civic action—and, at times, a discouraging examination of complacency and complicity. There is a moment when the high school teacher who encouraged these students in their endeavors says something like, “We acted as if democracy was real.” As someone who has protested three times in the last two weeks and who has been calling his congresspeople regularly, this is how I am trying to act. And it still feels like an open question of whether acting in such manners is enough.
2000 Meters to Andriivka, Dir. Mstyslav Chernov
This was one of the hardest films to watch. It follows Ukrainian troops as they try to retake the small village of Andriivka in the Ukrainian counter-offensive of 2023. Most of the footage in this film was taken from GoPro cameras mounted on the helmets of Ukrainian soldiers.
There are some deeply poignant, even mundane, conversations between the Mstyskav Chernov (the journalist and documentarian) and the soldiers he follows while they are in foxholes waiting for a pause in the shelling before they can move forward. These conversations are so incredibly human. And then, inevitably, at some point in the conversation a voiceover from the Chernov cuts in and informs us that this soldier he is speaking with dies five months later, either wounded and never recovered, or succumbing to wounds from a future battle.
It is brutal. But we cannot afford to look away at the great injustices of our time.
Checkpoint Zoo, Dir. Joshua Zeman
Another documentary set in Ukraine, this one follows a group of caretakers and volunteers from a zoo in Kharkiv (right on the border of Ukraine and Russia) who work to save the animals there. It captures compellingly the frailty and beauty of our collective creatureliness.
Crowdpleasers
These are the films I expect will find the widest audience and will need the smallest festival boost, but are still really worth a watch!
The Surfer, Dir. Lorcan Finnegan
Nicolas Cage has been weird enough long enough that he has been invited to play a starring role in Nicolas Cage commentary (see The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent). But with that honor has come some pretty tame roles. Well, The Surfer is a pell-mell sprint into Cage’s best unhinged-ness, and I love it. Cage, whose character is unnamed, just wants to surf with his son on the Australian beach he grew up on. But when a gang of local surfers refuse to let him, he begins to unravel completely. The whole story basically takes place in a parking lot, and without spoiling too much, you do get to see someone slurp up a gross beer puddle in an attempt to rehydrate. There is also a bloated rat carcass involved in one of the funniest gags. Just go see it!
Friendship, Dir. Andrew DeYoung
If you are a fan of the Netflix sketch comedy show, I think You Should Leave, all you need to know is that Tim Robinson is at his best in this film. If you are NOT a fan of ITYL, that’s also all you need to know. Apologies to my wife for how much this movie has already infected my vernacular.
Favorite Narrative Films
By narrative films, I mean: not documentaries.
By the Stream (수유천), Dir. Hong Sang-soo
Paul Schrader wrote a whole book about what he identified as “Transcendental style in film,” and that’s what we have right here. Transcendental film, put simply, uses simple, static shots, absence of nondiegetic music or sounds (that is, anything “outside” the world of the film, like a score), slowness in pacing, preference for image over action or exposition, and other such techniques to guide the viewer into a spiritual, or transcendental, encounter. This is a film that lures you in and enchants you with its calm, slow, no frills approach (it looks like it was filmed on a DV camcorder). Most of the film is a collection of conversations over a meal, conversations that go on longer than you would expect and take you to places you may not have thought were ahead of you: such unpretentious beauty.
Beloved Tropic (Querido Trópico), Dir. Ana Endara Mislov
This was one of the films I walked into unsure whether I would enjoy it or not, and it completely captivated me. I’ll be vague because I think you should see it without knowing too much, but it is about a pregnant woman in Panama City who is an immigrant in need of papers; she finds work as an in-home caretaker of an elderly woman with dementia, and the two form a special bond. It’s a lovely, surprising film that takes its time to wonder at the unexpected grace we can be to one another.
Harvest, Dir. Athina Rachel Tsangari
If you’ve ever seen Caleb Landry Jones in anything, you know he excels at playing weird little freaks. But this film, featuring the first starring role I’ve seen him in, showcases the breadth and depth of his acting abilities. Don’t get me wrong: he’s still a weird little freak in this film, but he’s also much more. Set in a medieval village, Harvest is a marvelous and sometimes disturbing examination of how community functions under the stress of powerful entities seeking to force rapid and destructive change.
Also, this film looks like a lost Fleet Foxes music video, circa 2009 A.D. So it has that going for it, too.
Misericordia (Miséricorde), Dir. Alain Guiradie
Think Martin McDonagh (In Bruges, The Banshees of Inisherin) but make it so French. I’m still working out what I think this film is doing; right now, my best take is that it captures something of the sheer offensiveness of grace. Grace is a breathtakingly powerful theological reality. Grace is also, in many ways, an affront to notions of fairness, even (forms of) justice, that is hard to reckon with at times. This is a film I’ll be mulling over for a long, long time.
Souleymane’s Story (L’histoire de Souleymane), Dir. Boris Lojkine
If you like the work of the Safdie brothers (Good Time, Uncut Gems), have I got a great new stress-watch for you. Souleymane’s Story is about a Guinean immigrant in France preparing for the impending interview with immigration authorities that will determine whether he receives asylum. The film follows Souleymane in the 48 hours leading up to his interview as he desperately tries to hold everything together long enough to make it through the interview and convince the Parisian authorities to let him stay. Abou Sangare gives one of the best performances I saw all festival, and I cannot wait to see this film again!
Kill the Jockey (El Jockey), Dir. Luis Ortega
This is a film worthy of the overused adjective “Lynchian.” To try to sum up the story would do it injustice, but let me just say that this film has style in spades. It has a delightfully indelible dance number, befuddling characters, flummoxing story arcs, and stunningly surreal moments that have left imprints on my eyeballs. Another film I am excited to revisit!
MSPIFF44 was an absolute blast! I’m excited to see what they have in store for next year.
One of my favorite parts, though, was just talking with people while waiting in line. The Twin Cities is full of lovers of film, and it was a joy to connect with folks!
Were you at MSPIFF44 (or another regional festival)? Have you seen any of these films, and what are your thoughts? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!