Indigo Girls Documentary, LGBTQ Content Highlight MSP International Film Festival

This year’s MSP International Film Festival is set to run from April 13 to 17 with a slate of films set to engage with its audiences. Included on this year’s program is ten films with LGBTQ themes.

For this year’s festival, most of the screenings will take place at The Main Cinema in Minneapolis. Other festival showings will take place at the Capri Theater in Minneapolis, the Landmark Center in St. Paul, and the Pop’s Art Theater in Rochester.

Starting from the closing program of the festival is the long-awaited biopic of The Indigo Girls called It’s Only Life After All. This film compiles 40 years of “home movies, raw film archive, and intimate present-day verite” of the lives of career of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers. While showing the story of how they became our music heroes, Ray, Saliers, and director Alexandria Bombach also take us through the journey on how they took on homophobia, misogyny, and the cultural landscape of their lives through music and activism. 

We’re also thrilled to be closing the festival with [It’s Only Life After All],” said Jesse Bishop, Programming Director of the MSP International Film Festival. “The film spans their entire career, capturing Ray and Saliers’ beginnings in small clubs in the South to the hits that brought them legions of fans. Ray and Sellers are so refreshingly genuine and frank about their careers, their sexuality, the industry, and their passions. They co-founded Honor the Earth with Winona LaDuke here in Minnesota, and have continued to be powerful champions for climate justice. Director Bombach and Winona LaDuke will be attending the Closing Night Screening and Party that follows!”

Transgender topics are also part of the program through two films. One is an American film, Monica, starring Trace Lysette from the television series Transparent and Oscar-nominated actress Patricia Clarkson. According to the film’s description, it “delves into Monica’s internal world and state of mind, her pain and fears, her needs and desires, to explore the universal themes of abandonment and forgiveness.” Themes set to resonate with all of us.

Another American film, Kokomo City, spotlights the lives of four black transgender sex workers in New York and Georgia. This is the directorial debut of Grammy-nominated D. Smith, who guides through these lives by focusing on the challenges they have through race, gender identity, and vocation.

After dealing with his parents and their frustration with not fathering any children, the protagonist in the Pakistani film Joyland runs off to be a backup dancer to a performer who is a transgender woman. What happens next will not shock us, but it does expose a lot of the issues over cultural values in Pakistani society. 

“It is very important for the festival to elevate and make space for Trans storylines and characters for all audiences,” Bishop explained.. “Film is one of the most accessible and humanizing art forms available to us. In a world where Trans people and communities are targeted and made political pawns, offering authentic Trans perspectives and artistic expressions is part of the mission of the festival to build community and understanding.”

“Plus, the range of Trans perspectives on screen at MSPIFF42 are broad and exciting,” Bishop further explained, “from the confusion and bittersweetness of first love in L’Immensita, to the powerful experience of family acceptance in Monica, a delicate romance in Pakistan’s Oscar-submission Joyland, and the truly fearless women of Kokomo City. These beautiful stories take their rightful place alongside all of the diverse and illuminating films in the MSPIFF42 festival lineup.”

Also on the program are films that give you a historic perspective of a time and place where our community were challenged by laws prohibiting us to coexist in society. A prime example of this is the British film, Blue Jean. In the context of the late 1980s and Britain’s Section 28 law, a closeted gym teacher and her girlfriend have been navigating through their relationship on two ends of the spectrum in terms of being out and proud. Add a new student to the teacher’s school, and the conflict is set aflame. 

The remainder of LGBTQ-theme films come from various other places around the world. Productions from Sweden, Norway, Morocco, France, Israel, Italy, and Brazil give a global perspective of LGBTQ lives through drama and comedy.

Tickets are available through the MSP International Film Festival website. You can get an All Access pass for $500 or a six-pack for $75. Individual show tickets will soon be on sale. 

If you love film, this is your destination. 

MSP International Film Festival
April 13-17, 2023
The Main Cinema, 115 S Main St., Minneapolis and other venues.
https://mspfilm.org/festivals/mspiff/tickets-passes/