Schedule of Events:

Thursday, February 8, 2024

4:50 PM: Minnesota Mean

State Theater

A year in the lives of six members of the Minnesota Roller Derby, as they compete to win the Hydra, the top international prize of the sport. When the star of the team gets injured, will her teammates find their own power?

MINNESOTA MEAN is a human drama about the pounding heart of roller derby: powerful, self-sufficient women. It’s a vital and relevant story of triumph, loss, strength, determination, and a search for balance between individuality and community. How do women who pride themselves on their hard-won independence thrive in a sport that requires them to rely on a team? How do they meet the full-time demands of the sport without sacrificing their own dreams for life outside the rink? A meditation on strength: in our bodies, our hearts, our minds, and our friendships.

This screening will be preceded by a live musical performance by the local Ely band "Chicka-dee-dee-dee" in the Festival Lounge from 4-5PM.

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5:05 PM: Wisher Maddox

Greenstone Theater

Growing up in an orphanage, eight-year-old Maddox's sole wish is to be adopted. Thinking God sent him a sign that it would come true, he begins to notice that his wishes for others are granted, but his wish for himself is left unanswered. Frustrated with God, and conflicted with the purpose of his powers, Maddox is left to decide whether to help those he encounters or to selfishly withhold his ability out of contempt for not getting what he thinks he deserves.

5:05 PM: Spirit of Powwow

Greenstone Theater

Amidst tragedy and hardship, discover the enduring Spirit of Powwow as Nibinamik fulfills the wishes of those who have passed on. "Spirit of Powwow" is an awe-inspiring tribute to tradition, resilience, and the eternal bond between past, present, and future.

Explore the profound significance of powwow ceremonies for Nibinamik First Nation in "Mamow-Bimadiziwin (Spirit of Powwow)." This captivating documentary reveals its transformative impact on culture, empowerment, and sharing wisdom.

Mamow-Bimadiziwin means roughly "to live a good life" in Ojibwe.

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7:00 PM: EFF24 OPENING NIGHT PROGRAM

On Christmas Eve, 1967, two young Indigenous girls are forced to battle the elements, confront their darkest secrets and work together in order to return home to their families after a daring escape from the Mohawk Institute Residential School. This harrowing coming-of-age story was developed with survivors of the Mohawk Institute and is based on their real experiences.

This film is a story about the resilience of Indigenous youth, the power of friendship, and the intergenerational impacts of the residential school system on Indigenous people and communities.

7:00 PM: Jonathan Thunder: Good Mythology

State Theater

Filmmaker Sergio Rapu follows Anishinaabe artist Jonathan Thunder as he dives deep into the inspirations behind his surrealist paintings and animations. From the killing of an iconic American hero to critical perspectives of how indigenous people were portrayed in early children’s cartoons, Thunder’s art prompts viewers to take a critical look at our shared mythologies.

7:00 PM: AMKA

State Theater

In 2001, Polar Explorer, Lonnie Dupre and his partner John Hoelscher circumnavigated Greenland. It took them five years to complete the project, traveling the northern half by dog-team and the southern half by kayak. A circumnavigation of Greenland had never been completed before and has not been repeated since.

In 2022, Lonnie returned to Greenland for the first time since his circumnavigation. His aim - to assemble a dog team, train them and travel with them, alongside Inuit hunters throughout northwest Greenland.

Amka, meaning “one with a friendly spirit” in Inuktun, is the story of this return to Greenland. This film looks into the relationship and connection between Polar Explorers, Inuit Hunters and the Greenlandic Sled Dog.

The focus of this story is not a final destination or successful completion of a specific objective on a map. Instead, it endeavours to illuminate how traveling in the Arctic by dog team is a deeply connecting force, no matter what culture or country one started from.

Amka shares the profound and lasting impact such experiences have on a person’s soul and celebrates the integrity of a culture amidst change.

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7:20 PM: End of the Rope

Greenstone Theater

When a sociopathic hired hand murders an entire family, the town of Schafer, North Dakota rises up to take justice into their own hands. Based on the true story of the infamous Charles Bannon case of 1931.

Screening followed by a Q&A with the film's director Charlie Griak.

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Friday, February 9, 2024

9:50 AM: One With the Whale

State Theater

The Apassingoks are a typical American family. They watch the NBA, have a dog named Blue, and are often glued to social media. They live on St. Lawrence, a tiny Alaskan island in the Bering Sea, with their son Chris, a shy teenager. But, unlike mainland kids, he must regularly cut school and head out in -20°F into the deadly waters to provide food for his family and his village. Because on this island, if you don’t hunt you die.

Chris is one of the last subsistence hunters of his generation, an ancient practice of providing food for the entire community, but a way of life which is becoming infinitely more difficult due to climate change. So, when Chris becomes the youngest person to ever harpoon a whale, the village is ecstatic. His proud mother posts photos of the hunt on social media to share with other Alaska Native communities. But, to their horror, instead of praise, this vulnerable kid receives thousands of hate messages and death threats from Paul Watson and his international army of environmental activists.

Emotionally distraught and struggling to graduate high school, Chris falls into a dangerous tailspin and looks to his family, especially his older sister Nalu, for help to counter these attacks. But Nalu faces her own challenges, she is secretly gay and must leave the island and its restrictive religious morality to find love and happiness.

ONE WITH THE WHALE unravels the multiple challenges that Chris, Nalu, and their family face. Caught in the crosshairs of climate change, food security, social media and centuries of racially motivated attacks from outsiders, the Apassingoks and their entire village are on the cusp of losing everything. That is, unless they can find a way to navigate these precarious times and strike a balance between being modern Americans and prehistoric hunter-gatherers.

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10:05AM: Shorts Block - Dibaajimowin

Greenstone Theater

Storytelling is the way knowledge, lessons, and teachings are passed on in Indigenous cultures. These stories take us back to our roots and share the values of our communities, local and abroad, using a variety of techniques.

Screening followed by a Q&A with filmmaker Ginew Benton.

-Supa Hair
-Shells of Wisdom: Lessons from Ajijaak
-NiiSoTeWak
-"Waynaboozhoo and Bugwudjinini: A Lesson from The Mishomis Book"
-Madweyaashkaa: The Waves Can Be Heard

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12:20 PM: Ojibwa Warrior

State Theater

The year is 1968. Nowa Cumig, better known by his English name Dennis Banks, has started a movement with a few friends that would soon make ripples through history : the American Indian Movement.

The taking of Alcatraz, the Custer Riots, the B.I.A. takeover, and the Wounded Knee siege are all events that have since marked the rise of indigenous rights in the United States. Leonard Peltier, Floyd Red Crow Westerman, Russell Means, the Bellecourt brothers, Sacheen Littlefeather... all names that would go into the history books. But where did Dennis Banks -or Nowa Cumig- get this fire to lead the fight? What came before these events, and most importantly what followed them?
This film endeavors to look at the bigger picture by opening a door into the life of one of the most influential men in Native American history, using archival footage from films such as "Last Stop Before Wounded Knee" and " The Drum Will Never Stop", photographs by Richard Erdoes and excerpts from his and Dennis’ book, “Ojibwa Warrior”. The film is narrated by actor, artist and activist Michael Horse.

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12:50 PM: Shorts Block - Good Mythology

Greenstone Theater

Culture is powerful, the very essence of who we are in community. These films embody a broad range of cultural creativity, while utilizing humor, everyday interactions, painful pasts, the power of the land and language, to show the essence of what it means to be Indigenous.

Screening followed by Q&A with filmmakers in attendance.

-How Did I Get Here?
-Love Lessons in a Time of Settler Colonialism
-Oswe' Ge: Our Land, Our River, Our Way
-Language Keepers
-Jonathan Thunder: Good Mythology

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2:30 PM: RELENTLESS

Greenstone Theater

A Deadly Invader Destroying People’s Lives...
Tenacious Scientists Determined To Defeat It

Oscar-winning actor J.K. Simmons narrates RELENTLESS, the fascinating true story told in a procedural style about remarkable people tackling an exotic species invasion that nearly destroyed the largest freshwater ecosystem on Earth: the Great Lakes. The silent predator devastated jobs and businesses, threatening the survival of cities, towns and indigenous communities across the region.

The film traces how tenacious scientists identified the menace then struggled to control it. Their work continues to influence the Great Lakes region’s economic fortunes and sounds a warning about how invasive species threaten the future of vital natural resources and the prosperity of millions around the world today.

Followed by a Q&A with the film's director, Thomas Lindsey Haskin.

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2:50 PM: Kid Candidate

State Theater

A loyal citizen is called into a government office to answer a life or death question: why does the census only have one person?

Kid Candidate tells the story of Hayden Pedigo, a 24-year old experimental musician and his unlikely run for city council in Amarillo, Texas after his Harmony Korine inspired spoof campaign video went viral.

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4:30 PM: Shorts Block - We Are Nature

State Theater

"Documentaries and creative films that capture a range of perspectives about human nature and belonging. These films feature local and national stories that explore the challenges, the beauty and the politics of our relationships with the outdoors."

-Wacipi
-Swimming Through
-Longleaf Forever
-"Freeze/Thaw: Ice Climbing in a Changing Climate"
-Bears Ears: Echoes of Time
-"Reclaimed: A Short Film About Redhead Mountain Bike Park"
-Inward
-Belonging

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5:00 PM: Love & Irony

Greenstone Theater

The search for an authentic life leads an existential bike mechanic to discover the universal truths and transformative powers of love.

Screening followed by a Q&A with filmmaker John Biesack of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

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7:00 PM: Finding Her Beat

State Theater

A master of Japanese drumming and a Korean adoptee from Minnesota boldly convene an all-female troupe to perform Taiko, the Japanese drumming art that has been off-limits to women for centuries. As the early menace of Covid rumbles in the background, the group faces down hurdles to prepare for a historic performance in snowy St. Paul. Buoyed by dynamic drum performances and do-or-die spirit, FINDING HER BEAT is an energizing and uplifting story of music, cultural expression and sisterhood.

In the midst of a frozen Minnesota winter, a Japanese drum master and Korean adoptee from North Dakota join forces to assemble the world’s best Taiko drummers in a bold effort to claim a cultural spotlight that has historically been reserved only for men.

Their rhythm revolution includes rock stars from the world of Taiko: Tiffany Tamaribuchi, Kaoly Asano, Chieko Kojima, Megan Chao-Smith, and Jennifer Weir.

Through grueling rehearsals, Jennifer weaves together their disparate voices and styles. Vulnerability, pain, and joys are shared—and we quickly see the bonds of friendship form as these talented women navigate their way through differences in culture, age, language, and performing styles.

As the clock ticks toward their first performance, it becomes clear that their story has become much larger than Taiko.

Sponsored by Northern Lakes Arts Association, this screeening is followed by a Q&A with the film's Co-Director and Cinematographer, Keri Pickett.

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7:50 PM: Sins of the Father

Greenstone Theater

After the death of his father, Aden and his mother, Sarah, find themselves responsible for the sale of his family home - a place they thought they’d left behind. When Sarah’s friends arrive to help, the task seems almost manageable. However, as they clear out the house, they uncover secrets in Sarah’s past and the sinister nature of the cultivated community Aden was raised in…. And his father’s family is not so eager to let the sins of the past go unpunished.

Screening followed by Q&A with the film's director Vanessa M.H. Powers & Producer Abigail Capaul.

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Saturday, February 10, 2024

9:50 AM: Shorts Block - Fun Shorts for all Ages: Animation, Bots and Chuckles

State Theater

A delightful range of stories that will entertain, educate and amuse. Science, brilliant animation and coming-of-age are all part of this excellent block. Made by kids or for kids, these films are certain to inspire creativity and conversation.

Supa Hair
Jupiter Cove
Deep Trouble
Just Laugh
No Way, Bidet
The Accelerators: Brains, Braids, & Bots
Boots
Savitri
The Heaviest Order

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9:50 AM: The State of Polka

Greenstone Cinema

Polka is still enjoyed all over the country. But where did this unique musical genre originate? And which state can lay claim to being the one true State of Polka?

9:50 AM: Canusa Street

Greenstone Cinema

In a small town absurdly divided by the US/Canada Border, a jaded US Border Patrol agent solves local cases while engaging in a fierce rivalry with her counterpart in the Canadian Mounties: her twin sister.

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12:20 PM: Shorts Block - Complexity of the Human Condition

Greenstone Theater

This collection of shorts is wide in its range of topics and social outreach. The films tell of how we seek connections with one another, how necessary education and access are to building a good life, how our families can drive an outsized hobby, and how in spite of aging, the need for sexual intimacy endures.

-Everything I Learned When My House Burned Down
-Really Good Friends
-Tiny Titanic
-Me. My Eleven Years. War.
-Banana Triangle Six
-Places for People: Safer 6th Ave East
-Literacy for Freedom: Empowering Black Boys in Minnesota
-Avanga

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12:50 PM: Blackwaters

State Theater

Blackwaters encompasses the power of five Black men whose paths have been challenged with loss, defeat, fear, and pain by life’s ups and downs and social injustice challenges black men and black boys face every day. They have fallen into an “endangered species”, only surviving day to day.

Through surviving life’s trials, each man has found grace and success in the outdoors, healed and mended by nature’s medicine to the soul, embracing the art of fly fishing and building brotherhood. Blackwaters is an expedition of a journey in the Gates Of The Arctic Circle National Park, adventure, a vision quest, and a fly fishing adventure that surpasses the color of their own skin connecting to the fundamentals of nature’s, the poetry of life, and prosperous joy.

Like indigenous communities, they find self-fulfillment in being outdoors. They find their own representation, and hold space for everyone, especially inspiring young Black boys. It is a dual survival between black boys who can not make the connection to a black man in the outdoors due to lack of representation and black men finding representation in wild spaces to call their own. Hopefully, these youths can see themselves, and be inspired to embark on their own journeys into the outdoors.

The concept is a tactically crafted story in dialogue and adventure, with emphasis on dismantling the fear for BIPOC and inspiring BIPOC to pursue their journey in the outdoors and uplift black boys’ lives in green spaces.

This story is told in 5 directions; 5 lives and 5 perspectives wrap into a heavy dialogue discussion in nature tackling the heavy topics of masculinity attempting to answer questions such as “ Where do I as a black man fit in nature?” and “ How do we hold space in nature as anglers paving the road for our next generation of young men so they could see us and know this space is for them just as much as for everyone?”

12:50 PM: Rainbows in the Wilderness

State Theater

Rural America has long been a space where Queer folks can anticipate danger and discrimination. Our nation's wilderness areas involve the same hazards. That's why Boundary Waters Outfitter, Jason Zabokrtsky, decided to guide a paddle trip exclusively for Queer identifying participants.

This short Documentary follows a group of 9 LGBTQ+ strangers into the far northern wilderness in search of adventure, safety and belonging. Through painful confrontations with the landscape and self doubt, each individual on this journey encounters beauty and belonging in the backcountry.

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2:50 PM: A Winter Love

State Theater

Blue, a 35 year old, Navajo, singer-songwriter has lost her creative spark to a series of bad relationships and to the harsh Minneapolis winter. But when she meets a younger guy, Eddie, a 25 year-old, Lakota, law school dropout, she feels like she's regained her edge only to find it slip away from her again when she discovers Eddie’s love was never his to give in the first place. A WINTER LOVE is modern day, inter-tribal, love story that shows true love is found in the season you love yourself.

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3:20 PM: Shorts Block - Action! A Behind-the-Scenes look at the Upper Midwest Film Office's Interactive Filmmaking Programs

Greenstone Theater

“Are you curious to watch films and hear from students of the craft of filmmaking? These four short films were created through a series of Hands-On Filmmaking workshops the Upper Midwest Film Office hosts right here on the Iron Range! Students and instructors who participated in the workshops will be curating a conversation about what it takes to make a movie as a team.”

Heritage

Synopsis: A husband and wife exchange letters expressing their love during the iron mining boom in Northern Minnesota in the early 19th century.

Human Resources

Synopsis: A human resources professional must teach a timid new hire how to perform empathy. As she instructs him through a series of social behaviors, they form an unlikely connection. This film asks the question: can genuine connection happen within artificial circumstances?

Grief

Synopsis: A man grieves the loss of a relationship during a trip to a cabin in the woods.

Chess with Tess

Synopsis: A warehouse custodian gets a surprise visit from his niece which turns his normal mundane day into something he never would have imagined.

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4:50 PM: One With the Whale

State Theater

The Apassingoks are a typical American family. They watch the NBA, have a dog named Blue, and are often glued to social media. They live on St. Lawrence, a tiny Alaskan island in the Bering Sea, with their son Chris, a shy teenager. But, unlike mainland kids, he must regularly cut school and head out in -20°F into the deadly waters to provide food for his family and his village. Because on this island, if you don’t hunt you die.

Chris is one of the last subsistence hunters of his generation, an ancient practice of providing food for the entire community, but a way of life which is becoming infinitely more difficult due to climate change. So, when Chris becomes the youngest person to ever harpoon a whale, the village is ecstatic. His proud mother posts photos of the hunt on social media to share with other Alaska Native communities. But, to their horror, instead of praise, this vulnerable kid receives thousands of hate messages and death threats from Paul Watson and his international army of environmental activists.

Emotionally distraught and struggling to graduate high school, Chris falls into a dangerous tailspin and looks to his family, especially his older sister Nalu, for help to counter these attacks. But Nalu faces her own challenges, she is secretly gay and must leave the island and its restrictive religious morality to find love and happiness.

ONE WITH THE WHALE unravels the multiple challenges that Chris, Nalu, and their family face. Caught in the crosshairs of climate change, food security, social media and centuries of racially motivated attacks from outsiders, the Apassingoks and their entire village are on the cusp of losing everything. That is, unless they can find a way to navigate these precarious times and strike a balance between being modern Americans and prehistoric hunter-gatherers.

Buy Tickets

5:20 PM: Flying Lessons

Greenstone Theater

“Flying Lessons” follows two estranged sisters forced together by their mother’s sudden death: Beatrice, an autistic high schooler who wants to learn to fly, and Talia, a queer musician with no interest in teaching her.
Starring and co-written by the autistic actress the story is based on, the film showcases a unique and underrepresented perspective on death and grief.

This screening will be followed by a Q&A with the film's director Sarah Waldron.

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7:00 PM: 40 Below: The Toughest Race in the World

State Theater

It’s been called the toughest endurance race in the world ... why would anyone do this, especially when it’s 40 degrees below zero? Set in Northern Minnesota, we meet Leah, a junk food eating scientist, and Bill, an accomplished ultra-marathoner who just can’t seem to finish this incredibly challenging race. They run, bike or ski 135 miles over three days in the solitary woods, sometimes hallucinating and barely stopping to rest or sleep in the snow without getting frostbite or freezing to death. What can we learn from them about life, love and happiness?

Winner Audience Choice Award Documentary Feature at 42nd Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival (MSPIFF 2023)
Winner Best of Fest at MSPIFF 2023
Winner Special Jury Price at San Francisco Documentary Film Festival (SF DocFest 2023)
Winner Best Documentary Feature at Duluth Superior Film Festival 2023

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7:50 PM: Shorts Block - Sinister

Greenstone Theater

Prepare to be creeped out and entertained. You will never look at a peanut butter & jelly sandwich the same. Warning: Some of these films present disturbing images. Viewer discretion advised.

-The Man in the Yellow Shirt
-The Gorge
-Surrogate
-Shadow Puppets
-Happy Hour
-TAP
-Haunting the Haunted
-Peanut Butter & Jelly
-Firebrand

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Sunday, February 11, 2024

9:50 AM: The Arc of Oblivion

State Theater

THE ARC OF OBLIVION explores a quirk of humankind: in a universe that erases its tracks, we humans are hellbent on leaving a trace. Set against the backdrop of the filmmaker's quixotic quest to build an ark in a field in Maine, the film heads far afield - to salt mines in the Alps, fjords in the Arctic, and ancient libraries in the Sahara - to illuminate the strange world of archives, record-keeping, and memory.

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10:20 AM: Bough Brothers

Greenstone Theater

After the death of their father, brothers Mitch and Tommy decide to carry on the tradition of their family's week-long bough harvest. The grieving brothers work through their personal issues.

Screening followed by a Q&A with filmmakers Nickolaus Swedlund and Matt Roy.

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12:20 PM: Wolves Return

State Theater

The wolf polarizes and fascinates, and it brings disorder into our system. 150 years after the wolf was wiped out in Central Europe, it is inexorably conquering its place. Are wolves dangerous to humans? Is a living together possible? The wolf splits the opinions and his return revives the rejection of humans. Starting from the return of the wolves to Switzerland, we are looking for clues to Austria, Lusatia, Poland, Bulgaria and Minnesota, where free-living wolf packs are not uncommon.

Screening followed by a Q&A with filmmaker Thomas Horat. Join us afterwards for a Learn & Discuss event across the street at the Ely Folk School, 2:30-3:30PM.

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12:50 PM: End of the Rope

Greenstone Theater

When a sociopathic hired hand murders an entire family, the town of Schafer, North Dakota rises up to take justice into their own hands. Based on the true story of the infamous Charles Bannon case of 1931.

Screening followed by a Q&A with the film's director Charlie Griak.

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Date: February 8-11, 2024

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