The Twin Cities Film Festival returns for it's 16th year starting Thursday night and running through the weekend.
Executive Director Jatin Setia says it feels amazing to be a part of this from the beginning.
"I was thinking about it, from day one, where we are now and the growth the we have had," says Setia. "And the community support has been incredible. It's with gratitude that I take the support that I've gotten and celebrate the offerings that we give to our community through storytelling."
And this year, Setia and his team are setting records. They've received the most ever submissions and will screen the most ever selections.
"We had about 600 submissions slash curation films, and then out of those we selected 152 features and shorts," says Setia. "Yeah, the most ever. Most ever submissions, the most ever films that we're curating."
And for the first time ever, screenings and events will take place at two theaters, the Marcus West End Cinema and Edina Mann Theatre.
And included in one of the Educational Panels and events is a Pitch-A-Thon.
"Three Minnesota filmmakers who have been selected to pitch their TV shows that they want to get made, and it'll be right in front of the audience," says Setia. "The three filmmakers will take turns and pitch their shows. They'll have five minutes and then there'll be about seven minutes of live feedback from the judges. And then at the end of the day we'll select one winner.
This takes place this Sunday from 1:15 to 2:15 at the Edina Mann Theater.
Thursday night saw two showings of "Hamnet" which has gathered a lot of early buzz. Both Thursday shows were sold out. From Academy Award winning writer/director Chloé Zhao, "Hamnet" is the story of love and loss that inspired the creation of Shakespeare's timeless masterpiece, Hamlet.
One of the other films being screened is from WCCO's own Dave Schrader who hosts Paranormal 360 every Sunday from 7:00-9:00 p.m.
His film is titled "The Outer Edge" and has Setia very excited.
"It's all about connecting beyond and hearing the voices and talking to talking to individuals who have passed on, and it's just, it's a, it's a, it's like, I can't even describe how awesome this film is, and I'm not even somebody who, you know, goes out there, hunts for ghosts."
That showing will be this Saturday night at 9:30 at Marcus West End Cinema.