Courtesy of Marcelo Valdes (Architectural Rendering)
Marcelo Valdes illustration
See The (new) Main in high-def when it officially reopens later this month.
Most people’s small-screen film and TV show consumption went through the roof the past two years. But now that the world is reopening, the MSP Film Society and its new/old movie theater are hoping to lure some folks back to the big screen.
“Over the past couple of years, people have settled into their various forms of media entertainment, and it’s sparked a curiosity,” says MSP Film Society’s programming director, Jesse Bishop. “We hope that when people think about what they want to do when they want to have a night out, we’re part of that picture.”
Considering that the film society is just finishing renovations of Northeast Minneapolis staple St. Anthony Main Theatre—now called MSP Film at The Main—Bishop’s wish feels relatively pragmatic. In late 2021, the film society signed a long-term lease to officially operate the theater where they’d been programming content on one screen since 2010 and on all five screens during the society’s annual MSP International Film Festival.
The new agreement means the film society will handle basically everything in and related to the theater itself, even though longtime owner John Rimarcik will technically still own the place. The renovations, which include new flooring throughout; fresh paint; updated screens, servers, and sound equipment; and upgraded concession options (soon, you’ll be able to sip a glass of wine or a beer as you take in the latest showing), aren’t meant to strip the 1985 theater of its Nordeast charm but just to give it a bit of a face-lift and bring it into the 21st century.
“We’re doing this refurbish in stages,” says MSP Film Society executive director Susan Smoluchowski. “This is phase one—getting rid of the old and bringing in the new so it looks more polished but welcoming to the neighborhood. So, it’s not going to look like a suburban multiplex.”
And when the theater officially reopens in late April, its screenings won’t look anything like a suburban multiplex’s, either. The film society will screen international films representing different communities housed in Minnesota, social justice–oriented selections, and movies made by—and for—middle schoolers, teens, and young adults via the society’s youth initiative, along with other indie and locally made films.
But that’s not to say they’ll never show a blockbuster, either.
“Not every blockbuster or commercial film would fit our mission, but many of them do,” says Smoluchowski. “Take, for example, Dune—Denis Villeneuve. We’ve shown many of his films over the years. We will be making every effort to appeal to broad and diverse audiences.”
Audiences’ first chance to see that broad offering of films will be during the MSP International Film Festival, this year held May 5–19. Many films will play right at The Main, but others will spread to the Northside’s Capri Theater and St. Paul’s Landmark Center, which has a 200-seat theater in its basement, along with a few other locations around town and even a theater in Rochester. Festival attendees will also have opportunities to catch certain films virtually if they’re not ready to sit in crowded theaters just yet.
“This will be the first time we do a regular in-person, in-theater festival with virtual offerings, so this is new for us,” Bishop says—2020’s film fest pivoted to a totally virtual experience in COVID’s early days, and 2021 was mostly virtual with a few outdoor screenings.
At press time, the festival’s full lineup wasn’t ready for release yet, but Bishop did give us a sneak peek of a few titles the film society’s excited to screen. National Geographic and Ron Howard’s We Feed People about chef José Andrés and his World Central Kitchen, which brings meals to community members after national disasters, looks promising. Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down, from the same directors of Oscar-nommed RBG, pays tribute to former Arizona senator Gabby Giffords, who, after she was shot in 2011, became a steadfast advocate for gun control. And Klondike, winner of this year’s Sundance Film Festival’s Directing Award for World Cinema, follows first-time expecting mom and dad Irka and Tolik as tensions and threats from Russia rise in their Ukrainian village—which now hits closer to home than ever.
MSP Film Society (We Feed People Film Still)
We Feed People Photo
We Feed People is (so far) one of this year’s MSP International Film Fest’s most highly anticipated flicks.
“There was a big fear that the film festival world was going to almost go away when SXSW cancelled in 2020—we were like, Oh, is this it?” Bishop remembers. “But it’s thrived. And there’s been a lot of surprising work that’s been a reflection of the pandemic, in literal ways and more creatively. I’m excited to see how audiences react to that—just this artistic expression of our moment.”
That moment starts playing out at MSP Film at The Main on May 5.
Visit mspfilm.org for an updated lineup, COVID protocols, and theater reopening details.
