APRIL 27 - MAY 1
ZEITGEIST ZINEMA 2 | 222 E SUPERIOR ST, DULUTH, MN
TICKETS AND BADGES ON SALE NOW A
https://zeitgeistarts.com/zinema2/north-by-north-film-festival/nxn-films/
https://zeitgeistarts.com/zinema2/north-by-north-film-festival/nxn-films/
Community is at the core of our film festival. Our goal is to support local artists while introducing independent films to our region. Collaborating with the Duluth NAACP, Twin Ports Asian Pacific Islander Desi Collective, American Indian Community Housing Organization, Minnesota Discovery Center and the Minnesota Environmental Partnership has been a great boost to our programming. We are honored to be working with organizations from all over northern Minnesota and northern Wisconsin and incredibly thankful to our sponsors and supporters.
Our ethos for programming reflects the tenacious spirit of the north and has a focus on sharing under-represented regions, communities and people from all over the world. Through the film festival, year-round programming, grant funding opportunities, and actively engaging and
listening to our community, our mission is to cultivate an independent film scene by connecting our local community to the world through film and helping to share our diverse local stories.
My team and I have proudly introduced a new pitch competition, which further supports local filmmakers. We have $18,000 in pocket to underwrite their work, and are excited to help bring ideas from the drawing board to fruition. We support filmmakers who do not have access to the industry’s institutional money and attention. The Northland has so many stories to tell and this is just the start.
None of this would be possible without my amazing team of programmers and staff at North X North and Zeitgeist, and our supportive community.
Thank You, Matthew Koshmrl North x North Director
OPENING
FILM!
https://zeitgeistarts.com/zinema2/north-by-north-film-festival/nxn-films/
Sun, May 1
Zinema 2 | 1:30 pm
Directed by Tyler Paul Hudson and Gregory Alan Paape | USA | 73 min
Captured over the last four months of 2020, this is a look back at the tumultuous and historic events of the year, filtered through the lens of the Northeast Minneapolis Community.
Wed, April 27
Zinema 1 | 8:00 pm
OPENING NIGHT FILM!
Presented by Twin Ports Asian Pacific Islander Desi American Collective (TPAC) Directed by David Siev (in attendance!) USA | 101 min
https://zeitgeistarts.com/zinema2/north-by-north-film-festival/nxn-films/
Sun, May 1
Zinema 1 | 5:00 pm
Directed by Lance Todd (in attendance!) USA | 59 min
Raw, unedited footage recovered from the iPhone of a YouTuber who went missing while filming in a mysterious forest. “Beyond the North Woods” is a Duluth, Minn., based found-footage horror experience. Followed by Q&A session session.
Sat, April 30
Zinema 2 | 2:00 pm
Presented by American Indian Community Housing Organization (AICHO)
Directed by Leya Hale (in attendance!) USA | 56 min
“Bring Her Home” follows three Indigenous women — an artist, an activist and a politician — as they work to vindicate and honor their relatives who are victims in the growing epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. As they face the lasting effects of historical trauma, each woman searches for healing while navigating the oppressive systems that brought about this very crisis. Film followed by Q&A session.
https://zeitgeistarts.com/zinema2/north-by-north-film-festival/nxn-films/
Sat, April 30
Zinema 2 | 6:00 pm
Directed by Ryan La Via (in attendance!) Canada | 42 min.
“Cup Confidential” is a 43-minute documentary that tells the true story about how a scrappy, semi-pro hockey team won the hearts of the blue-collar city they represented while on their way to winning the very first Colonial Hockey League championship. Film followed by Q&A session.
Sun, May 1
Zinema 1 | 1:30 pm
Presented by American Indian Community Housing Organization (AICHO)
Directed by Brooke Swaney | USA | 66 min
“Daughter of a Lost Bird” explores the ethics surrounding Native American adoption, via a singular story as an entry point into a more complicated national issue. In many ways, Kendra Potter is a perfect example of cultural assimilation, a modern representation of the painful phrase, “Kill the Indian, save the man.” She is a thriving woman who grew up in a loving, upper middle-class white family, and feels no significant loss with the absence of Native American culture or family in her life. And yet, as a Blackfeet/Salish woman, director Brooke Swaney could not imagine that Kendra could be content or complete without understanding her heritage. So together they embark on a 7 year journey.
https://zeitgeistarts.com/zinema2/north-by-north-film-festival/nxn-films/
Sun, May 1
Zinema 1 | 12:00 pm
Presented by Minnesota Environmental Partnership (MEP)
Directed by Ian Planchon and Lynn Melling | USA | 51 min
“Freshwater” is a documentary that dives into the cold waters of Lake Superior along Minnesota’s North Shore. Despite the fact that it contains 10 percent of Earth’s freshwater, this massive force of nature remains largely unexplored. One group of people, however, is intimately aware of its power. From the surfers who catch its waves to the scientists who study its depths, learn why Lake Superior is a precious resource that should never be taken for granted.
Sat, April 30
Zinema 1 | 8:30 pm
Directed by Nicole Rodenburg and Colin Froeber (in attendance!) | USA | 105 min.
While performing two-person low-budget children’s theatre out of a minivan across North Dakota and the frozen Upper Midwest, two aimless thirtysomething strangers — a repressed gay man and an enigmatic woman with a wild streak — struggle to overcome their fears of inadequacy and intimacy in order to survive that lonely tundra called life. “Glob Lessons” is about the stories we tell to others, and the stories we tell ourselves. Film followed by Q&A session session.
https://zeitgeistarts.com/zinema2/north-by-north-film-festival/nxn-films/
Thu, April 28
Zinema 1 | 8:00 pm
Presented by TPAC
Directed by Martin Edralin (in attendance!) USA | 94 min.
“Islands” is a coming-of-middle-age film about a timid Filipino immigrant struggling with the care of an elderly parent while managing his first experience of puppy love. Film followed by Q&A session.
Sat, April 30
Zinema 1 | 6:30 pm
Presented by NAACP Duluth Branch
Directed by Kevin Shawn (in attendance!) USA | 87 min
When a thriving, top-ranked African American elementary school is threatened to be closed and replaced by a new high school that favors the community’s wealthier residents, parents, students and educators fight for the elementary school’s survival. Film followed by Q&A session.
https://zeitgeistarts.com/zinema2/north-by-north-film-festival/nxn-films/
Sat, April 30
Teatro | 3:30 pm
Directed by Taja Will (in attendance!) | USA | 54 min
Queer ceremony. Tierra. Fuego, Agua, Viento. Reclaiming connection to bloodlines through the guidance of plant and land ancestors on Dakota and Anishinaabe land, Mni Sota Makoce. We find ourselves right where we are, as we listen deeply to the plantita ancestors near us. This dance film is the biomythology of bodies in Latine diaspora, Boricua, Chicana, Chilean. We journey with the archetypes which support/guide/ mask/empower us, we are LOVER, VIRGEN, SHADOW, SERVANT, SIREN and ALCHEMIST. We are here now, and ancient, elders in training and millennials, we are stress, and meditation, we are tired and we are growing. Film followed by Q&A session.
Sat, April 30
Zinema 1 | 12:00 pm
Directed by Anuradha Rana and Laurie Little (in attendance!) | USA | 75 min
“Musher” follows four female sled-dog racers as they prepare for the annual Copperdog150, bonding with their dogs, and passing the torch between women and girls and their dogs and puppies. As each musher prepares for the race, we reveal their community, devotion to the lifestyle, and how women influence the sport.
simply the best in the twin ports.
https://zeitgeistarts.com/zinema2/north-by-north-film-festival/nxn-films/
Sat, April 30
Zinema 1 | 4:00 pm
Presented by AICHO + NAACP DULUTH BRANCH
Directed by Yasmine Mathurin Canada| 88 min
Josiah Wilson was adopted as a baby in Haiti and raised in an Indigenous family in Calgary, Canada. Years later, when Josiah is racially profiled at an Indigenous basketball tournament and refused the right to play a sport he deeply loves, his experience makes the news. In the aftermath of this hurtful rejection, Josiah is left to examine his identity, his shaken sense of belonging and the complex relationships he has with this family and community. With the unwavering support of his loved ones, Josiah embarks on the difficult path of healing from his past and finding his footing in the world. With deep compassion for Josiah’s journey, this honest portrayal of complicated family dynamics boldly asks us to create space for non-linear paths to self-acceptance, while revealing the empowering experience of being accepted and loved by your community. Film followed by Q&A session.
Fri, April 29
Zinema 2 | 4:00 pm
Directed by Anstein Mikkelsen and Harry Johansen | Norway | 60 min
Living in Norway on the border of Russia and Finland, Venke Tørmænen has seen her Skolt Sámi culture being crushed between world events. For a long, long time, perhaps since the dawn of time, the Pasvik Sámi managed their small borderless area in harmony with nature. Then Norway, Russia and Finland divided the area between them. Mining and power plants changed the landscape and the river. On the Norwegian side, the language and culture were almost obliterated. But they never managed to eradicate the East Sami genes. In the film, we follow Venke Tørmænen who wants to learn to sew the Skolt Sámi womenś hat her great-grandmother wears in an old picture. – “I feel that when I can sew it and put it on my head, the ring is closed. I want the world to know that we exist. We are here and we live here.”
https://zeitgeistarts.com/zinema2/north-by-north-film-festival/nxn-films/
Thu, April 28
Zinema 1 | 10:00 pm
Directed by Blair Smith (in attendance!) USA | 101 min
Russel, mid-30s, has wasted his whole life. Devoid of purpose or ambition, all he has to claim as his own, is the bar left to him by his father, a father who never approved of him. All seems to be moving into a positive light for Russel, until he realizes what lives in the loft about the bar. Film followed by Q&A session.
https://zeitgeistarts.com/zinema2/north-by-north-film-festival/nxn-films/
Sat, April 30
Zinema 2 | 12:00 pm
Directed by Chris Newberry (in attendance!) USA | 56 min
As the world still grapples with COVID-19 and herd immunity eludes us, vaccine skepticism poses a huge obstacle. During the early months of the vaccination effort, filmmaker Chris Newberry and his crew followed a diverse ensemble of dedicated health care professionals as they set out to gain the trust of at-risk communities across Minnesota. The resulting documentary is a tribute to the doctors, nurses, organizers and influencers who are embracing community-led efforts to overcome vaccine hesitancy. Film followed by Q&A session.
Fri, April 29
Zinema 1 | 5:30 pm
Directed by Iliana Sosa (in attendance!) USA | 71 min
At the age of 89, Julián takes one last bus ride to El Paso, Texas, to visit his daughters and their children — a lengthy trip he has made without fail every month for decades. After returning to rural Mexico, he quietly starts building a house in the empty lot next to his home. In the absence of his physical visits, can this new house bridge the distance between his loved ones? Over several years, director Iliana Sosa films her grandfather’s work, gently sifting through Julián’s previously unspoken memories brought up by the construction project and revealing both the daily pragmatism and poetry of his life. “What We Leave Behind” unfolds as a love letter to her grandfather, as well as an intimate and insightful exploration of Iliana’s own relationship with him and his homeland. Film followed by Q&A session.
https://zeitgeistarts.com/zinema2/north-by-north-film-festival/nxn-films/
11:30 AM SATURDAY, APRIL 30 | ZEITGEIST TEATRO
But what’s it really like? Three feature filmmakers share what it’s like to shoot in the Northland. Would they do it again? What is the future of the industry in our area? We’ll talk all things including the benefits and hurdles of shooting here. Shari Marshik, executive director of Upper Midwest Film Office (UMFO), will be on hand to field questions on incentives (yep - they are stackable!). The event will be moderated by Riki McManus, chief production officer of UMFO.
Featured Filmmakers:
Chris LaFleur, “The Hand That Feeds”
Max Selim, “Abroad”
Matt Roy, “Bough Brothers”
1:00 PM SATURDAY, APRIL 30 | ZEITGEIST TEATRO
Join representatives from WDSE•WRPT, this region’s PBS station, to hear more about the opportunities of public television. From what public media is, to how to have your work featured on the station, get all your questions answered.
The panel will include Patricia Mester, general manager; Ramona Marozas, senior producer of Native Report; Megan McGarvey, associate producer of Almanac North; Isaac Quick, producer of The Slice; and Mike Scholtz, an independent local producer who has worked with WDSE•WRPT on projects like Iron Opera and Minnesota Historia
Wednesday Opening Night Mixer at Zeitgeist Restaurant and Bar
10:30 p.m. at 222 E. Superior St., Duluth
Come celebrate our opening night and meet David Siev, the director of Bad Axe, our opening night film.
Thursday North X North Mixer at Sir Benedicts Tavern on the Lake
10:30 p.m. at 805 E. Superior St., Duluth
Enjoy a bite or cocktail after seeing our Thursday night film-, Islands with visiting filmmaker Martin Edralin.
Friday - North by North Film Festival
After-Party presented by the NAACP
Celebrate with us at Zeitgeist on Friday, April 29, immediately following the festival Awards Ceremony. Don’t miss this epic night of fun featuring live music by Mayyadda, visual art by Delphin Starr, comedian Greg Coleman, Renegade Improv, DJ Mark with Diamond MC Entertainment, karaoke and more!
Complimentary to festival badge holders. Tickets are $10 for walk-ups at the door (space is limited). Door sales begin at 9:15 p.m., performances start at 9:30 p.m. and continue into the night.
Friday Award Night After After Party at Sir Benedicts Tavern on the Lake
Midnight at 805 E. Superior St., Duluth
Continue the Friday night celebrations at Sir Ben’s!
Saturday Night Party at Dubh Linn Brew Pub
11:00 p.m. at 109 W. Superior St., Duluth
Come meet and mingle with visiting and local filmmakers!
Closing Night Party at The Caddy Shack Indoor Golf & Pub
6:30 p.m. Sunday, May 1, at 2023 W Superior St., Duluth
Celebrate our 5 days of films at the Caddy Shack-the set of local film The Hand That Feeds!
https://zeitgeistarts.com/zinema2/north-by-north-film-festival/nxn-films/
The Zeitgeist North by North Film School, in partnership with the Minnesota Discovery Center, is an affordable option for the Northland’s diverse creative community ranging from filmmakers, graphic designers, multimedia artists, and theatrical artists to learn, work, create, and connect. With teaching hubs in Chisholm and Duluth, we will add important contributions to the regional film ecosystem.
Our goal is to empower, support, and educate Northland community members ages 16+ as active participants in shaping our culture, and engage diverse communities to rethink the way we view film, art, and local storytelling. We provide access and a platform to work, learn, create, and experience filmmaking and media production in our community.
Benefits include access to iMac computers loaded with creative design and editing software, meeting rooms, multi-media studios, film/video equipment for on-site photo/video shoots & projects, digital tools, and more.
Registration is available available now for Fall Classes at Zeitgeistarts.com.
Take a week, or a weekend,anddiscover alltheIronRange hastooffer. Find yournewfavoritetrail,enjoyaneverendingsunsetandmake yourselfathomeatourunique lodging choices.Makeplansnow, visitironrange.org
https://zeitgeistarts.com/zinema2/north-by-north-film-festival/nxn-films/
10:30 A.M.
“FOR THE FAMILY” SHORTS BLOCK
5:30 P.M. OPENING CEREMONY
12:00 P.M.
“MUSHER”
FEATURE FILM
11:30 A.M.
UMFO PANEL DISCUSSION
6:30 P.M.
“CREATIVE THERAPY” SHORTS BLOCK, FOLLOWED BY Q&A
“FAMILY HERITAGE”
BLOCK, FOLLOWED BY Q&A
8:00 P.M.
“ISLANDS”
FEATURE FILM, FOLLOWED BY Q&A
10:00 P.M.
“THE HAND THAT FEEDS”
FEATURE FILM, FOLLOWED BY Q&A
“RESILIENT VULNERABILITY” SHORTS BLOCK
5:30 P.M.
“WHAT WE LEAVE BEHIND”
FEATURE FILM, FOLLOWED BY Q&A
5:30 P.M.
“ONCE UPON A TIME” SHORTS BLOCK, FOLLOWED BY Q&A
SATURDAY, APRIL 30
2:00 P.M.
“TIME, PLACES, AND SPACES” SHORTS BLOCK, FOLLOWED BY Q&A
12:00 P.M.
“TRUSTED MESSENGER”
FEATURE FILM, FOLLOWED BY Q&A
1:00 P.M.
WDSE PANEL
4:00 P.M.
“ONE OF OURS” FEATURE FILM, FOLLOWED BY Q&A
2:00 P.M.
“BRING HER HOME”
FEATURE FILM, FOLLOWED BY Q&A
3:30 P.M.
“LÍNEAS DE SANGRE”
FEATURE FILM, FOLLOWED BY Q&A
6:30 P.M.
“LET THE LITTLE LIGHT SHINE”
FEATURE FILM, FOLLOWED BY Q&A
4:00 P.M.
“TRUTH TO POWER”
SHORTS BLOCK, FOLLOWED BY Q&A
6:00 P.M.
“CUP CONFIDENTIAL”
FEATURE FILM
4:00 P.M.
“SAAMSIK: GREAT GRANDMOTHERS HAT” FEATURE FILM
P.M. NXN AWARDS CEREMONY IN THE GREYSOLON MOORISH ROOM | 231 E. SUPERIOR STREET, DULUTH
• Masks are no longer required for patrons in the Zeitgeist Arts Building, regardless of vaccination status.
P.M. NXN AFTER PARTY AT ZEITGEIST
• Proof of full-course COVID-19 vaccination completed at least 14 days prior or a negative COVID-19 test result taken within the previous 72 hours is required for entry to public events in the Zeitgeist Arts Building. *This excludes private rentals and regular bar & dining service.
• Patrons must also present a photo ID which matches their proof of vaccination or negative COVID-19 test.
SUNDAY, MAY 1
8:30 P.M.
“GLOB LESSONS”
FEATURE FILM, FOLLOWED BY Q&A
12:00 P.M.
“FRESHWATER”
FEATURE FILM
1:30 P.M.
“DAUGHTER OF A LOST BIRD”
FEATURE FILM
3:00 P.M.
“WDSE”
SHORTS BLOCK, FOLLOWED BY Q&A
5:00 P.M.
“BEYOND THE WOODS”
FEATURE FILM, FOLLOWED BY Q&A
7:00 P.M.
“HORROR”
SHORTS BLOCK, FOLLOWED BY Q&A
12:00 P.M.
“EXCUSE ME, WHAT?” COMEDY
SHORTS BLOCK, FOLLOWED BY Q&A
1:30 P.M.
“A NORTHEAST PASSAGE”
FEATURE FILM, FOLLOWED BY Q&A
12:00 P.M.
“HOME ON EARTH”
DOCUMENTARY/PERFORMANCE
This course coversthebasicsofnarrative fictionfilmmaking.Graduatesofthe course willhave aworking comprehensionofpreproduction,production,andpostproduction filmpractices.Thisincludesscreenwriting, professionaldigitalcameraoperation, lighting,sound recording,directing ac tors, editing,andmastering.Eachgraduate leaves theprogramwiththe experienceofworking with asmallcrew to producetwo narrative fictionshor tfilmseachsemester.
Eveningclassesstarting September2022
Classesareoncea week fortwo andahalf hourseachsession.
Forages16+
Non-refundable registration feeof$25
Class feeof$200perstudent
https://zeitgeistarts.com/zinema2/north-by-north-film-festival/nxn-films/
Director: Peter Groynom
Genre: Narrative MN/13 min
Starting in 1997, Jane’s life changes every time a mysterious comet enters the solar system.
Director: Kevin Obsatz
Genre: Narrative MN/8 min
Science fiction or everyday reality? An intimate, wordless portrait of a couple riding out the pandemic in a small cabin in the woods – filmed entirely from outside the cabin with long lenses.
Director: John Klein and Kate Black-Spence
Genre: Narrative IL/28 min
When Jamie’s quiet rural life is disrupted by a signal from Noa’s one-woman space shuttle, they find a powerful connection. Can it be sustained even though they’re worlds apart?
Director: Rodney Johnson
Genre: Narrative MN/9 min
Lloyd Kennedy is frustrated, failing, going in circles… literally. He needs to adapt and to work smarter if he is ever going to become the world’s first professional Sasquatch photographer. It would be a good start if he could find a Sasquatch.
Director: Kayla Arend (in attendance!)
Genre: Narrative WY/9 min
Lorena wakes up on a strange planet. She discovers that she is the captain of a Mars exploration troop.
Director: Josh Cisewski (in attendance!)
Genre: Narrative MN/8 min
Twin brothers conduct a series of electrochemical experiments in an attempt to transfer skills by linking minds.
https://zeitgeistarts.com/zinema2/north-by-north-film-festival/nxn-films/
(Imaginative Remedies) 50min | 6:30 PM | Zinema 2 | Followed by Q&A session
Director: Kendra Shoemaker (in attendance!)
Genre: Documentary
Duluth, MN/12 min
In this film I wanted to show how I go about my daily life with ADHD and to help educate others, as it is still a widely misunderstood condition.
Director: PaChia Vang (in attendance!)
Genre: Experimental MN/4 min
A Hmong American woman finds healing and solace in sewing Paj Ntaub while persevering through traumatic events during the COVID pandemic.
Director: Crystal Coreen
Genre: Dance OH/4 min
A dysfunctional relationship with America depicted through movement, song, and spoken work.
SPINNING PLATES & RAZZLE DAZZLE
Director: Jeremy Nelson (in attendance!)
Genre: Documentary
TX/MN/13 min
This documentary follows a musical conversation between producer and artist, chronicling the stages of fully realizing a song from demo to produced and recorded over the course of a day.
Director: Kate Raney
Genre: Animation OH/3 min
Consumption considered, the din of dining. Using reference videos from my front yard, I created animations and collaged them with cyanotypes of garden material and audio field recordings from travels near and far.
HEHE’E
Director: Hwa-Jeen Na (in attendance!)
Genre: Music Video MI/5 min
Official music video for Patty PerShayla & The Mayhaps’ song SLO MO off their new album “Cheap Diction.”
Director: Keoloha Ferreira (in attendance!) Genre: Dance | MN/8 min
Dance film directed and performed by Kealoha Ferreira for Red Eye Theater’s New Works 4 Weeks Festival. He‘e is an octopus; a line that supports the mast; it is the process of melting, flowing, spreading; an avalanche; a softening. What is the sickness you wish to cast away?
Director: Sean A Skinner
Genre: Documentary/Recon MN/8 min
Hastings, Minnesota 1987…Steve was helping a neighbor tear down a home. During the demo process, Steve discovered logs under the siding of the home that dated back to the 1850s. Instead of continuing to demolish the structure, Steve saved the cabin and moved it to his farm.
AWAKENING
Director: Julie Koehnen (in attendance!)
Genre: Narrative MN/14 min
When a young social elite at the turn of the 19th century explores life as a modern woman, she risks losing the man she loves and a certain future.
SADIE BREAKS THE SILENCE
Director: Tom Brandau
Genre: Narrative MN/13 min
When the director is drunk and a producer demands results, the gutsy scenario writer on a 1920s movie shoot is determined to start and finish the film, even when she’s faced with pushback from her cast and crew.
Director: Shane Rock Nelson (in attendance!)
Genre: Narrative MN/9 min
The spirits of a cranky 97-year-old man are lifted when he plays the piano for memory care patients. His music eases their angst and elicits indelible memories, momentarily freeing them from the trap of dementia.
Director: Eve Van Dyke
Genre: Narrative CA/8 min
Five friends come together for their yearly ritual they call the Digestif.
Director: Martin King
Genre: Narrative Thunder Bay – Sister City/9 min
Brad does not know if he wants to leave his family and friends behind for his dream of being a sailor.
Director: Samantha Erkkila
Genre: Documentary Duluth, MN/9 min
For many, deer hunting in Minnesota is a tradition passed down to mostly the men in the family. But this deer shack in Aitkin County tells a much different story.
https://zeitgeistarts.com/zinema2/north-by-north-film-festival/nxn-films/
Director: Sky Hopinka
Genre: Experimental WA/15 min
This film is a reflection on descendants and ancestors, guided by a 50-year-old audio recording of my grandmother learning the Pechanga language from her mother.
Director: Ida Lasic
Genre: Animation CA/3 min
An experimental tribute film to the artist’s relationship between her father and how they contradict yet blend together.
Director: Dairys Escoto De León
Genre: Stop Motion CA/4 min
An encounter between two cultures, the joys and hardships, and sharing a meal.
Director: Joe Tufte
Genre: Narrative OH/9 min
Alex is tasked with cleaning up his late father’s house the day before the funeral, and deals with how to present himself come time for him to attend.
Director: Xiaolu Wang
Genre: Documentary MN/3 min
One overseas phone call, but one phrase was lost to the receiver of the call.
Director: Lex Kimbrough
Genre: Narrative NC/18 min
An eerie yet touching story of a son’s unyielding love for his immobile father.
Director: Kamari Bright
Genre: Documentary 5 min
A girl’s baking lesson from her grandfather teaches her acceptance as she learns the similarities between ingredients and people.
Director: Seokyoung Yang Genre: Experimental | CA/9 min
Director: Prakshi Malik (in attendance!)
Genre: Narrative MN/13 min
Disaster brews when Seher gets accepted to a boarding school-a dream come trueon the evening of a big family dinner.
After experiencing the prolonged illness and eventual loss of my father, I went through a mental and physical breakdown. In particular, I suffered from an eating disorder. I sometimes binge eat and other days, I barely eat. I think fasting is the only way to get closer to my father and punish myself by suffering from guilt. While attempting to manifest his presence through his absence, how do I use the cinema to express something unseeable and immaterial?
https://zeitgeistarts.com/zinema2/north-by-north-film-festival/nxn-films/
(Exploratory Edits) 62min | 4:00 PM | Zinema 1
PARKED
Director: Yoon Hei Cho
Genre: Animation CA/4 min
An incident of an inconvenient attack at a parking lot. Panic attacks sometimes strike at an unsuspected moment.
RESILIENCY IS INHERITED
Director: Sequoia Hauck (in attendance!)
Genre: Experimental MN/5 min
MNI SOTA MAKOCE IS THE ANCESTRAL LAND OF THE DAKOTA PEOPLES. THIS LAND LOOKS VERY DIFFERENT NOW THAN IT ONCE DID.
Director: Lindsey Martin
Genre: Animation OH/10 min
Pottero uses a reflexive framework. It’s a folktale within a folktale featuring my family monster, a violent beast who suffers from a disturbing anatomical abnormality.
Director: Jingjing Tin
Genre: Narrative NY/10 min
A reclusive senior citizen seeks a release from reality as she struggles to say goodbye to a loved one.
WATER
Director: Lily Berg (in attendance!)
Genre: Animation MN/3 min
Arianna jumps off a bridge and is saved by the Water Lady, who gives her a choice between life and death.
Director: Cristin Stephens
Genre: Documentary TX/13 min
“Men Who Talk” sits with the stories of Brazilian men who grapple with new understandings of race that validate their experiences and traumas.
Director: Ryan Clancy (in attendance!) Genre: Experimental | MI/14 min
An attempt to regain attachment following a period of heroin addiction, near-death experiences, and oxytocin deficiency. The camera shifts between moments of fragile devotion as it searches for a higher power in threads of shared suffering. Oliver, is heaven only for the high?
https://zeitgeistarts.com/zinema2/north-by-north-film-festival/nxn-films/
55min | 10:30 AM | Zinema 1
Director: Rachel Garrick
Genre: Animation
Thunder Bay – Sister City/4 min
A lesson in compassion and generosity results in a lifelong gift. Set in a small Northwestern Ontario town, a father takes an opportunity to pass on important teachings to his daughter.
Director: Philip Watts
Genre: Animation Australia/8 min
A tiny dinosaur dreams she is a scary big dinosaur. When danger strikes, she learns it’s what’s on the inside that counts. Literally.
Director: Franka Sachse
Genre: Animation
Germany/7 min
A white bird living in a black world encounters a black cat living in a white world. The moment they meet, their backgrounds literally collide. An animated short film for the whole family.
Director: Tiffany Burgess and Stanley Aughtry
Genre: Animation GA/8 min
“Skin Like Mine” describes young Brittany’s courageous journey from self-doubt to self-love and acceptance.
Director: Camrus Johnson
Genre: Animation
UK/10 min
Gerry lives a monotonous, daily routine led by her optimistic great-nephew and caretaker. Although he tries to make her smile, she’s rarely in the mood. Gerry’s already found her new source of joy, but she can’t access it while awake.
Director: Dana Pellebon (In attendance!)
Genre: Narrative Youth WI/14 min
Rayna and Nora are teammates on a high school volleyball team, but will Rayna’s intolerance over Nora’s friendship with Cole, who is trans, cost them a championship?
Director: Hannah Goodrich Genre: Animation | MN/3 min
“Something About the Stars” is a short, animated, poetic documentary that depicts my memory of looking at the stars in the Cook Islands. Through silhouette stop-motion, this film explores the juxtaposition of the reality of memory versus the perception of memory.
https://zeitgeistarts.com/zinema2/north-by-north-film-festival/nxn-films/
80min
Director: Gillian Waldo
Genre: Experimental WI/15 min
“Diary” is an essay film that uses personal reflections and landscapes of the city to document the larger forces acting on Baltimore during the summer of 2020.
Director: Janelle Vanderkelen
Genre: Experimental WI/6 min
In “A Valley Without Trees,” the lowly onion that burrows into the soil and spends most of its life underground is cast as an interpreter or potential sensory prosthetic that offers a different way of understanding (and perhaps communicating with) the land, planet, and cosmos in which it grows.
Director: Sofia Theodore-Pierce (in attendance!)
Genre: Experimental WI/7 min
Catamenial seizures, tidal correspondences, a sonic EEG, and a lullaby in partial translation. Highlighting the seams with the darts. An exploration of epileptic rhythms and sensations through moving image practice.
Director: Dick Blau
Genre: Experimental WI/18 min
The distillation of 10 years of looking at one square block in the very middle of an American city. A film made from stills that challenges them to move. Beauty, pathos, and turmoil, all in the course of a Joycean day.
Director: Dan Black (in attendance!)
Genre: Experimental WI/13 min
Encounters at the edges of imperialism. An experimental documentary concerning mega-corp Foxconn’s Wisconsin Deal.
Director: Ben Balcom (in attendance!)
Genre: Experimental WI/10 min
Filmed on the former grounds of Black Mountain College, Looking Backward is a brief elegy to the legacy of a utopian college and other impossible projects.
Director: Jen Boles Genre: Documentary | IL/11 min
The Reversal animates a collection of thousands of glass-plate negatives with an original sound composition to evoke the reverse-engineering of the Chicago River and the invisible and haunted histories of our capital-driven infrastructure and landscapes.
https://zeitgeistarts.com/zinema2/north-by-north-film-festival/nxn-films/
Director: Russell Nichols
Genre: Animation CA/2 min
Based on the poem, “The Boy Who the Bullet Followed” by Russell Nichols, this animated short tells the tale of a boy who could use a friend and finds in the street a stray bullet in need.
Director: Obed Lamy
Genre: Documentary AK/23 min
In summer 1856, the state of Arkansas and lynch mob executed three enslaved individuals: Anthony, Aaron, and Randall. They were accused of killing a white slave owner. Just one side of their story has been told by the white family over successive generations. An oral account of the events preserved in the Black community helps bring out the truth and honor their memories.
Director: Jenny Zander (in attendance!)
Genre: Documentary MN/18 min
On a reservation in Montana where tribal members are outnumbered four to five, the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribal community fight to protect their people during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Director: Brooke Swaney
Genre: Documentary MT/21 min
The distillation of 10 years of looking at one square block in the very middle of an American city. A film made from stills that challenges them to move. Beauty, pathos, and turmoil, all in the course of a Joycean day.
Director: Suneil Sanzgiri
Genre: Experimental NY/18 min
While navigating a virtual rendering of an ancestral home in Goa, 16mm direct animation, digital renderings, and surveillance technologies form a poem-reflection on colonialism’s legacy on a family and land.
Director: Nicholas Stange (in attendance!)
Genre: Documentary IL/17 min
“Rockford to Duluth” is an extension of the “We Demand” series, which takes a raw and intimate look at the May 30th Alliance’s fight to address issues of police brutality and systemic racism in Rockford, Illinois. The goal of “Rockford to Duluth” is to show the parallels that exist between the Duluth Branch of the NAACP and May 30th Alliance in their goal to eliminate racial discrimination so marginalized communites can achieve true political, educational, social and economic equality.
Director: Joseph Schlapsi
Genre: Horror
Thunder Bay – Sister City/2 min
A single guy wakes to the sound of his front door closing.
https://zeitgeistarts.com/zinema2/north-by-north-film-festival/nxn-films/
58 min | 7:00 PM | Zinema 2 | Followed by Q&A session
Director: Wesley Johnson (in attendance!)
Genre: Horror 11 min
After the sudden and surprising loss of her parents, Aurora fights to keep her grasp on reality under the care of her disgruntled uncle.
Director: Anthony Shirk
Genre: Horror OH/6 min
In the middle of the night, a woman is awakened from a deep sleep by a mysterious flashlight that directs her on a dark journey toward clues that reveal glimpses into the night’s events.
Director: Robbie Barnes
Genre: Horror OH/1 min
When a woman jogging at night notices a man stalking her, she flees for her life through a cemetery.
Director: Monika Estrella Negra
Genre: Horror MN/19 min
“Bitten, a Tragedy” follows Lydia, a Black queer woman living in Philadelphia. At a Philly rave, ancestral warfare wreaks havoc on the bloodline of an unfortunate party goer, connecting Lydia to a world of blood, ritual, secrets and vengeance.
Director: Payton Alexa McCarty-Simas (in attendance!)
Genre: Horror NY/3 min
A lonely college student contending with a recent breakup receives a gift from a secret admirer with an ASMR YouTube channel –– only to find her hypnotic online attention more visceral than what she’d been hoping for.
Director: MR Fitzgerald (in attendance!)
Genre: Horror MN/17 min
During a viral outbreak that alters humans into something sinister, a father and daughter risk everything to bring their family back together after an infected loved one is taken by their own kind.
Director: Carlos Omar De Leon
Genre: Horror MN/7 min
When a young woman wakes up from a nightmare, she must confide in her husband and tell him about her tragic past.
https://zeitgeistarts.com/zinema2/north-by-north-film-festival/nxn-films/
SUNDAY, MAY 1
BLOCK – EXCUSE ME, WHAT?
(Comedy block) 51min | 12:00 PM | Zinema 2 | Followed by Q&A session
Director: Dana Reilly | Genre: Documentary | NY/18 min
“Favorite Daughter” is a story of an intergenerational odd couple sheltering-in-place in a lower Manhattan apartment during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Director: Vanessa M Powers | Genre: Narrative | MN/13 min
A comedy of errors that follows a young woman through a day that goes from bad to worse. A series of misadventures leads her to the conclusion that perhaps being a “loser” isn’t so bad.
Director: Sebastian Schnabel
Genre: Narrative | MN/2 min
A group of friends come together for a barbecue in the park. Happiness all around until Kenneth stops smiling.
Director: Cameron Crum Crumley
Genre: Narrative | IL/11 min
We follow two interconnected groups as they’re affected by a mysterious social media influencer: a man in need of confidence, a woman who just wants to see her friend — strangeness abounds!
Director: Penny Pauletich
Genre: Musical | MN/7 min
Detective Drews learns to overcome her fears in an unusual way at her very first crime scene.
https://zeitgeistarts.com/zinema2/north-by-north-film-festival/nxn-films/
1 hr 8min | 3:00 PM | Zinema 1 | Followed by Q&A session
The WDSE•WRPT block of programming aims to showcase the diverse genres of stories told on public media. From the arts to history and storytelling to culture and identity and beyond…public media is a window to the world. It’s not easy to stage an opera in the middle of northern Minnesota. But this is the Iron Range. Where the people are stubborn. And the music of the Old World
The idea of Minnesota hosting the Winter Olympics seems pretty far-fetched today. But back in 1932, Duluth had everything it needed: plenty of snow, sheets of ice and more than a couple of hills. This is the story of an Olympics that never happened in a city that never stopped dreaming.
still runs deep in their veins. Watch as a legendary concert pianist teams up with an Ojibwe language teacher, a skateboarding accordionist and talent imported from every corner of the Earth to pull off the impossible. Because big dreams happen in small towns too.
We explore life for those who identify as Two-Spirit in modern times. Traditionally, Native American two-spirit people were male, female, and sometimes intersexed individuals who combined activities of both men and women with traits unique to their status as two-spirit people (IHS). Today, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Native people throughout North America are reviving the two-spirit role and its traditions (IHS). Do they feel they’re being accepted by their communities, and were others who identify like them accepted historically?
Co-owners Paul David Marturano and Rob Russo of the Iron Range Supper Club Valentini’s Supper Club reflect on their contrasting immigrant heritage from Italy and Vietnam, and the roles that their mothers have played in their culinary careers.
APRIL 27, 2022
NORTH BY NORTH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
https://zeitgeistarts.com/zinema2/north-by-north-film-festival/nxn-films/
SUNDAY, MAY 1 HOME ON EARTH
Directed by Jacob White | Genre: Documentary | Ely/25min | 12:00 PM | Teatro | Followed by performance
When the Coronavirus pandemic hit in 2020, Ely’s Reflections Dance Company adapted their summer show into an outdoor dance film. Witness their creative process and love of community and place in this hybrid documentary / dance film.
FRIDAY, APRIL 29
UMD STUDENT SHOWCASE
4:00-5:30 PM | Teatro | Followed by Q&A
A collection of University of Minnesota-Duluth student films. Free to the public.
https://zeitgeistarts.com/zinema2/north-by-north-film-festival/nxn-films/
Zeitgeist's North by North International Film Festival and Film School champion community-based independent filmmaking and film-going audiences from the Iron Range to the Twin Ports region and the greater midwest. There are financial barriers, cultural barriers, and geographic barriers to filmmaking and we’re trying to break some of those down.
If you want to see more local stories being made into films and help create access to film education and exhibition for our local artist, please donate to our film programs at: https://www.givemn.org/organization/Zeitgeist-1.
In this first annual pitch competition, filmmakers from across the American Midwest have under 10 minutes to pitch their next film production for financial support. Participants present their concepts or works in progress to a panel of judges composed of filmmakers and industry professionals, who will offer constructive feedback to all participants.
This year local filmmakers will receive a total of $18,000 in direct financial support.
The pitch is open to the public to watch: Wednesday, April 27, from 3-5 p.m. and Thursday, April 28, from 3-5 p.m. in the Teatro at Zeitgeist.
Zeitgeist North x North Short Filmmaker Fund: $2,500
Ben Balcom
Angel Habib
UMFO North x North Feature Filmmaker Fund: $4,000
Dawn Mikkelson and Keri Pickett
Mark R Brown
WDSE Northland Filmmaker Fund: $2,500
Marius Anderson
Jeremy Nelson
NAACP Black Filmmaker Fund: $2,500
Kendra Shoemaker
Gerri Williams
AICHO Indigenous Filmmaker Fund: $2,500
Moira Villiard
Khayman Jane Goodsky
IRRRB Iron Ranger Filmmaker Fund: $4,000
Nickolaus
William Swedlund
Judges are:
Andrew Peterson
- Executive Director of Film North
Missy Whiteman
- Local Filmmaker
Karen Sunderman
- Local Filmmaker
The MinnesotaDiscoveryCenter(MDC) servesastheofficialtrailhead to theawardwinningRedheadMountainBikeParkin beautifulChisholm.Offering 25-milesof world-classsingletrackforbikingand hikingandetherealbluewatersfor kayaking,canoeing, paddleboarding,and swimming. Availableonsitestarting JUNE 3rd 2022: fullandhalfdayrentalsfor kayaking,canoeing, andmountainbiking. Discovermoreadventuresatthetrailhead:
