The 44th annual Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival returns to the Twin Cities Wednesday. The festival began in 1981, which dates back prior to Sundance.
That makes it one of the longest-running and more prestigious film festivals in the country.
"And we are also unique in that there are not many of those film festivals that focus on bringing film from every corner of the globe to their community once a year," says Executive Director Susan Smoluchowski.
And of the 1,000 submissions they received?
"We select about 25," says Smoluchowski. "The others, we are out pounding the pavement looking for them."
Aside from a couple retrospective films, all of them are brand new. They do end up showing around 200 movies from across the globe. However, it's the film "Free Leonard Peltier" which premieres opening night and is getting a lot of attention.
"The story of Leonard Peltier has many things to teach us," Smoluchowski explains. "Essentially though, that we need to be vigilant in the face of injustice and if we ever needed to be that, it's right now. So the story of his is so much about what we have to be careful of in this country."
The festival runs through April 13 with renowned Director Ang Lee to make a special guest appearance on Sunday.
You can find a full schedule and festival brochure here.