Schedule

Februrary 4, 2024

Water Set

5:30 PM : School of Fish - Minnesota Marine Art Museum

Indigenous people and salmon have been intertwined for thousands of years in Bristol Bay, Alaska. Today, kids learn from elders to fish but must also learn to fight, as pollution from Pebble Mine threatens this pristine ecosystem. Can the next generation defend the most prolific salmon run left on earth.

5:30 PM : WindShipped -  Minnesota Marine Art Museum

What started as one man's quixotic dream has turned to reality. For the past three years, the 65-foot Schooner Apollonia has been delivering goods up and down the Hudson River by sail sans fossils fuels - a throwback to a day when there were 1200 such boats on the river each day. It turns out buyers prefer the non-polluting, anti-Amazon way of making deliveries.

5:30 PM : Inseparable: Ava - Minnesota Marine Art Museum

5:30 PM : The Black Mermaid - Minnesota Marine Art Museum

Throughout history, Black communities have had a treacherous relationship with water, depicted as a powerful yet destructive entity by African folklore. This is a story never told before, but necessary now more than ever: a modern day tale of the Black Mermaid, Zandile Ndhlovu, who is changing the perception of the ocean in her community since 2016, when she overcame her fears and fell in love with freediving.

Following Zandile’s expedition to see the Sardine Run, this intimate story shows us the danger of incomplete narratives, particularly around Black people and water; unpacking the challenges faced by minorities, who are living one step away from the ocean but often excluded from enjoying its natural wonders. Meanwhile Zandile’s grandmother and a skipper named Rob who has traversed the ocean for the past 20 years, offer their view on who the ocean is for and what happens when one person decides to take racial justice into their own hands.

5:30 PM : Mussel Grubbing: A Citizen Science Treasure Hunt - Minnesota Marine Art Museum

Following a citizen scientist's journey of discovery, the film explores the treasure hunt for finding freshwater mussels in the upper Sangamon River. Everyday people in Illinois are supporting science in ways that are important to the well-being of their local environment. Finding a diverse collection of healthy mussels means a healthy river, which in turn means healthy people in the community. The film also shows how people come together around these experiences to ensure a healthy community. "The goal of this film will be to demystify the overall process of scientific research,” said RiverWatch Director and Stream Ecologist Danelle Haake. “We also want to show that community science projects are for everyone and no experience in science is required to participate.”

5:30 PM : Chicas al Agua - Minnesota Marine Art Museum

You can count the number of female paddlers in Futaleufú, Chile on one hand... and they want to change that. After many riverside matés and floating conversations, the idea to create a kayak course for local teenage girls was hatched. Thanks to a committed group of women from around the globe, what started as a dream is now an inspirational contribution to the local community.

Februrary 5, 2024

7:00 PM : Greener Pastures - Winona Arts Center

Greener Pastures captures the day-to-day lives of four small, Midwestern, multigenerational family farms over the course of three years. Through an intimate, observational lens, we examine various farm stressors, policies, and politics that farmers must maneuver to survive, connecting the dots between mental health, industrialization, food production, and climate change. It is a story of perseverance, patience, and determination that tackles nothing less than the future of farming in America.

Februrary 6, 2024

4:00 - 5:30 PM : Workshop - Lighting for Film - Winona Arts Center

Local film experts Blake Darst and Dr. Danielle Schwartz will lead you through a hands-on workshop that covers the basics of lighting for documentaries, focusing on quality lighting for interviews. You will get the chance to handle basic lighting equipment and learn about affordable “hacks” to adapt lighting you may have at home to create a professional looking interview.

Dr. Danielle B. Schwartz is Assistant Professor of Film Studies and English at Winona State University, where she teaches courses on transnational cinema, teen films, and film production.

She spent five years working across many facets of the film industry, including development, production, and Behind-The-Scenes marketing content on both independent films and mainstream Hollywood productions. One of Danielle’s main goals is giving back to the community, and as such she has instructed youth and adult filmmaking workshops in association with Frozen River Film Festival and Winona State University.

She is currently producing a documentary on the history of the FRFF.

Blake Darst provides video production and technical photography for arts and community organizations and small businesses in SE Minnesota. His multimedia background spans photojournalism and several design agencies in Winona. Along the way, professional video functions came to digital cameras, and Blake's workflow followed suit. He favors a Blackmagic cinema rig but is eyeing Panasonic's latest Lumix offerings. Blake served one term on the Frozen River Film Festival board of directors and remains an active friend of the festival. His young family lives in town. They love the Winona Public Library and their cowboy corgi, Annie Oakley.

Februrary 7, 2024

7:00 PM : Space, Hope and Charity - Page Theatre at Saint Mary's University

"Space, Hope and Charity" follows the remarkable journey of Charity Woodrum as she overcomes poverty and then tragedy while chasing her dream of becoming an astrophysicist. Charity was a first generation high school graduate, a young mom and wife, when she returned to college to study physics. Her life felt perfect. It was suddenly thrown into chaos when her husband and son died tragically. With help from mentors, childhood friends and perfect strangers, she got her life back on track. The film highlights resilience and the life-changing power of human connection.

Februrary 8, 2024

7:00 PM : King of Kings: Chasing Edward Jones - Winona Public Library

A filmmaker searches for the truth about her grandfather Edward Jones, a charismatic African American who rose to the heights of financial and political prominence in Depression-era Chicago. In shaping the destiny of a city, Ed Jones could not however escape discrimination. In conflict with both the mob and the Feds, he was forced into a life on the run.

Exploring the rise and fall of the most famous ‘Policy King’ of all times, the filmmaker uncovers an unparalleled story, while showing the lasting repercussions of his untold story, both within her family, and for Chicago’s South Side where he once embodied the American dream.

Love, success, violence, revenge, mafia, murder, betrayal, prison, kidnapping... Edward Jones’ story holds all the best ingredients of gangster movies. Add segregation and you have a very explosive cocktail!

Industry titans Quincy Jones and Debbie Allen have teamed up as executive producers to tell 60 years of an American story through the eyes of one family who almost had it all.

Oddball Set

9:30 PM : The Deaners of Fairmount - No Name Bar

An intimate look into the lives of James Dean fans who have moved to the hometown of James Dean. They have found a place where they belong within this family of common fandom. Fairmount a character in the film that joins them all together.

9:30 PM : Peace Pipeline - No Name Bar

9:30 PM : Song From a Cage - No Name Bar

Starting with a confrontation with a caged bird, a man confides his impressions, reflections and memories about the place where he is, the temporal confluences that occur there and the fragility with which memory is sustained.

Little by little the man will build an imaginary that will allow him to shape a personal map in order to capture a humming that is lost in time.

Februrary 9, 2024

3:30 PM : Workshop - Stop Motion Animation

Come learn how inanimate objects come to life in a fun 1 1/2 hour stop motion animation talk and workshop facilitated by filmmaker Erika Valenciana! We'll start by chatting about Erika's experience of making La Mitad del Mundo, her short documentary about young survivors of sex trafficking in Ecuador, told through a mixture of live action and stop motion animation. The film's clips shown will include animation created in a workshop taught by Erika with survivors at the safe house.

Afterwards, we're going to play around and learn the basics of stop motion as we create our own Frozen River themed animation. Using ourselves as the puppets, we're going to use this original form of special effects to make an indoor winter wonderland scene. Feel free to jazz it up by bringing additional wintery activity props and costumes to incorporate into the animation!

Erika Valenciana is a Chicana filmmaker from Chicago. She is a Film & Video graduate of Columbia College Chicago. Her award winning short films have screened at festivals internationally, recently receiving Best Documentary Director at DTLA Film Festival & Festival Internacional Independiente Madrid, Best of Fest at Ocean City Film Festival, Female Filmmaker Best Documentary at Reading Film Fest, and Special Mention at Festival Internacional Cine de Quito.

Valenciana’s work has been supported by Tribeca Film Institute, Cine Qua Non Lab, Stowe Story Labs, Puffin Foundation, Kartemquin Films, Chicago International Film Festival, DC Environmental Film Festival, Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs, Illinois Arts Council, Ragdale Foundation, and Full Spectrum Features.

Valenciana amplifies the voices of her local community of women and non-binary filmmakers of color through Mezcla Media Collective. She uses film to share underrepresented stories building towards a media landscape where diverse experiences are visible and celebrated.

7:00 PM : 40 Below - The Toughest Race in the World - Winona State University Campus

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.

Februrary 10, 2024

9:30 AM : Family Set

Soundscape - Winona State University Campus

Soundscape features Erik Weihenmayer, a global adventure athlete and author who is fully blind, as he ascends a massive alpine rock face deep in the Sierra Nevada. Using expert camera work and emotive, novel animation to bring to life a concept by adaptive climbing pioneer Timmy ONeill, the film is a surprising and soulful adventure.

Paddle Tribal Waters - Winona State University Campus

When the largest dam removal project in history begins, a group of indigenous youth learn to whitewater kayak in hopes of becoming the first people to paddle the restored river from source to sea. With jaw-dropping aerial cinematography and moving storytelling, Paddle Tribal Waters is a fully immersive experience, showcasing the unbreakable bond between people and their ancestral lands. The film gives viewers a bird’s eye view as an unforgettable group of young people training for the adventure of a lifetime.

Curupira - Mother of the Forest - Winona State University Campus

The Mother of the Forest ~ Curupira ~ is the story of a powerful Amazonian goddess told through the voices of the Borarí people from the heart of the forest in Pará, Brazil. She is the all powerful guardian of all living beings in the forest. And while she is generous and benevolent in her gift… Beware! If you disrespect her home, her punishments are merciless.

Her warnings are more relevant than ever in a contemporary reality where the forces of agri-business, logging and mining are decimating the forest faster than we can protect it. Her story reminds us that it is time to listen, respect and rekindle a more balanced relation to nature if we wish to protect our common home.

Camina Conmigo (Walk beside me) - Winona State University Campus

When we are born, we are labeled and separated. But if we walk together, it will be easier to choose our own path.

10:30 AM : Resilient Communities Set

Miles to Go - Winona State University

Dad Bod - Winona State University

A relentlessly upbeat father of four revisits the traumatic event from his childhood that forever changed him. A short documentary about exercise, mental health, and second chances. [Trigger warning //self-harm]

Nuestra Promesa - Winona State University

The bicycle connected Asurina and Angela with their father. When Covid swept through their village in Colombia, that bond was forever changed. Now two wheels help the sisters fulfill their promise—to their father and themselves.

The Forest Beyond - Winona State University

The Shipibo people of the Peruvian Amazon have lived in relationship with the rainforest for millennia. In recent years, loggers, colonizing settlers, and palm plantations have increasingly devoured these Indigenous lands, pushing the forest farther from villages and homes. In this film, Senen Kaisi, a young Shipibo woman from Santa Isabel de Bahuanisho, makes her first journey to the retreating edge of this ancestral forest, which once stretched all the way to her village.

Twin Oaks - Winona State University

"Twin Oaks" chronicles the Hoyt family's multi-generational trail building experiences in the Pacific Northwest. Through breathtaking visuals and intimate interviews, the film explores the profound connection between humans and nature. Avery, Daryl, and Krista Hoyt reflect on their personal journeys, revealing how trail building serves as a medium for finding solace and connecting with the natural world. The documentary delves into the challenges they've faced, including mental health struggles and addiction, while emphasizing the unwavering support within the family. "Twin Oaks" showcases the transformative power of nature, the spiritual aspect of trail building, and the enduring legacy it leaves behind.

Ultimate Citizens - Winona State University

Jamshid is an Iranian who came to study in 1970’s America, and due to the Revolution, never went “home.” As a guidance counselor in Seattle Public Schools, some of Jamshid’s best work takes place on a playing field with “his kids,” the children of refugees and immigrants. Their parents are in the grips of their own struggles to make a living and home in a strange land. Mr. Jamshid is the charismatic, fiery, funny human with a Frisbee in hand, who is the first to show that love wins on the field, in the classroom, at home with family, or boldly forging a new community, in a new country - one kid, chicken, extreme mile and friend at a time.

10:30 AM : Jack Has a Plan - Winona State University Campus

Jack Tuller’s career as a budding San Francisco musician was altered in 1994 when he was diagnosed with a terminal condition and given six months to live. Jack Has a Plan tells the story of the following 25 years as Jack dodges one bullet after the next. How is it possible to be terminal for two decades? But Jack somehow turns his predicament into a Left Coast art-performance project complete with experimental movies, diaries, and funky dance moves. Finally, Jack engineers a graceful exit from life’s stage. But not if his family and friends have anything to say about it. San Francisco Examiner: “As joyous, thrilling and funny as any film about death could be.”

10:30 AM : Arts and Ideas Set - Winona State University Campus

Beat - Winona State University Campus - SLC 120

Beat delves into the world of Saul Eisenberg, a London based musician, artist and performer who transforms the discarded junk of our city into extraordinary instruments that make unique and beautiful sounds.

Aris Demetrios: Sculpture From The Heart - Winona State University Campus - SLC 120

This short film explores the life and work of the renowned sculptor Aris Demetrios, known for his innovative use of materials and his quest to create art that engages with the natural world. Through historical interviews with Demetrios himself and current interviews with those who knew him best, we gain insight into his creative process, his inspirations and his legacy. The film takes us on a journey through some of his most iconic pieces, from his towering outdoor sculptures to his delicate mobiles, revealing the beauty and complexity of his art. Ultimately, the film celebrates the life of a true visionary whose work continues to inspire and captivate audiences today.

The Orchestra Chuck Built - Winona State University Campus - SLC 120

In 2016, the League of American Orchestras conducted a study that revealed a shocking statistic: only 1.8% of the professional orchestra workforce in the US is Black. From an old church rec room in the inner city of Los Angeles, former lawyer-turned-conductor Chuck Dickerson is on a mission to change that.

Through ICYOLA - The Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles — the largest majority Black orchestra in the country — Chuck is creating life-changing opportunities for his community that did not previously exist. The Orchestra Chuck Built is a loving portrait of a tireless mentor and a testament to the transformative power of music.

Dance With Me - Winona State University Campus - SLC 120

Imagine putting on a blindfold on a busy street corner and inviting strangers to dance with you. That's what Gabriel Diamond did in Berkeley in 2018. Two years later he finally got the courage to revisit the footage and create this touching short documentary about the potential of strangers to meet in unique ways using the power of dance and trust.

The Space Between Us - Winona State University Campus - SLC 120

Sarah Crowell and Keith Hennessey are both dancers, teachers, and activists in the Bay Area. They have known each other for nearly 30 years. But they’ve never collaborated or connected deeply, until now.

The Space Between Us is a radical experiment in the power of bearing witness, inviting vulnerability, and sharing movement, in a time of social distancing and racial reckoning.

The Exchange Girl - Winona State University Campus - SLC 120

The Exchange Girl is a short documentary about women working in dangerous conditions in silent film post-production. Those positions did provide women with an entry point to film work, but those jobs suddenly disappeared with the coming of sound.

11:00 AM : Duo Set: Ibach and Iron Opera

Ibach - Winona State University Campus - Somsen Auditorium

An Ibach piano receives a makeover after surviving an international move and playing for four generations of pianists.

Iron Opera - Winona State University Campus - Somsen Auditorium

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 still runs deep in their veins. Watch as a renowned 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.

12:30 PM : Blurring Borders: Cinema & Home

Showcasing Arab and SWANA (Southwest Asian and North African) artists and filmmakers, this set of short films challenges documentary form as well as common narratives/images of immigration and displacement. The makers featured in this segment use cinema to expand visibility both within and outside their ancestral homelands, interrogating the policies that enforce borders and mass displacement. The films in this program depict home, place, identity, and belonging, as well as loss, scattering, and letting go, and in addition to challenging the arbitrary lines on maps, they challenge the boundaries between documentary and narrative cinema and between reality and fiction. Inviting participants and audience members to consider new ways of looking at home, immigration, and exile, this film program reflects on both past and present to consider a different future, one that can be found through art practice. A short discussion with local artists and programmers will follow the films.

Presented in partnership with The Cedar Tree Project, Frozen River Film Festival, and Mizna.

12:30 PM : 45th Parallel - Winona Arts Center

45th Parallel?focuses on the Haskell Free Library and Opera House—a unique municipal site between the jurisdictions of Canada and the United States. Constructed in 1904 under the patronage of the local Haskell family, this building was deliberately designed to straddle the frontier between Canada and the US as a symbolic act of unity in the transnational town of Stanstead.?The performance about one border conflict is set on the site of a grey legal area and looks at how each border implicates the other, and how borders are not lines but, rather, richly layered spaces.

12:30 PM : Teta Nijmeh and Laila

This short film explores the bond between a grandmother, Teta, and her granddaughter, Laila, emphasizing the role that elders play in transmitting history, culture, and traditions to their grandchildren, shaping their identities.

12:30 PM : Echolocation

The word Echolocation implies reverberance, reflection, reaction, and blindness — or, in the cinematic sense, the lack of visuals. Yet, there is a lot to see and hear: the rain in Oakland, the grandmother’s home in Baghdad, the aunts’ voices in Whatsapp, a little girl learning to count to 10. The story is told through scattered photographs, as well as random voice notes. The film redefines the notion of “home” and expands the meaning beyond a physical structure by accessing it through the words that, aided by the abstract collages, paint an image of a territory that can be dubbed as homeland, even after the visual recollection is lost. A heart-aching testimony on diaspora and homesickness.

12:30 PM : Memory's Consolation

An exploration of the past and history of the Hilton Cinema in Al-Mreijeh district in Lebanon, long since closed and inactive. The theater stands as a silent witness to ongoing political and economic struggles.

12:30 PM : ON Bayt

A film comprised of visual and textual fragments, on bayt explores memories as frozen, moving, and existing outside of time. The body is presented as a metaphor for home and movement as a metaphor for memory. The footage was captured in the filmmakers’ ancestral Lebanese village, Ma‘asser el Chouf.

12:30 PM : Earth and Environment Set - Winona State University - PAC Black Box

12:30 PM : Paddle Tribal Waters - Winona State University - PAC Black Box

When the largest dam removal project in history begins, a group of indigenous youth learn to whitewater kayak in hopes of becoming the first people to paddle the restored river from source to sea. With jaw-dropping aerial cinematography and moving storytelling, Paddle Tribal Waters is a fully immersive experience, showcasing the unbreakable bond between people and their ancestral lands. The film gives viewers a bird’s eye view as an unforgettable group of young people training for the adventure of a lifetime.

12:30 PM : The Butterfly Effect - Winona State University - PAC Black Box

The Butterfly Effect is a documentary film about hope, beauty, transformation and resilience. This wild romp through the prairie landscape is about bringing wildness back into our gardens and restoring the balance of ecological diversity for butterflies and scores of beneficial insects like bees, beetles, and dragonflies. The film interweaves a personal narrative, experimental film, and animation with the inspiring stories of those determined to change the world one milkweed at a time.

12:30 PM : The Last Damn - Winona State University - PAC Black Box

The Last Damn explores the origin and sociocultural impact of The DAMn, a 240 mile, 24 hour, point-to-point gravel bicycle race also known as the Day Across Minnesota, set against the backdrop of its find rendition in 2021.

As a meteor shower streaks overhead, Nick Grabis explains his “Meteor Theory” for cycle racing, while poet Ben Weaver shares his philosophy of using a bicycle as a time machine. Beth and Cory Rood attempt to finish the DAMn on a tandem…and you know what they say, "Wherever your marriage is heading, it’ll get there faster on a tandem." And the “Brooklyn Three” escape the city to ride under endless sky and alongside the miles of cornfields of southern Minnesota, a landscape that is completely foreign to them.

While hundreds have attempted the DAMn over the years, the final running stays true to its name and raises the stakes to test riders in a way they’ve never experience before on Minnesota gravel.

12:30 PM : Indomitable Spirit Set

12:30 PM : Literacy for Freedom: Empowering Black Boys in Minnesota - Winona State University Campus - Miller Auditorium

12:30 PM : Sanctuary - Winona State University Campus - Miller Auditorium.

12:30 PM : Who She Is - Winona State University Campus - Miller Auditorium.

Who She Is tells the story of four individual women caught in the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) epidemic. By bringing these missing women to life on screen, through animation and first-person storytelling, the documentary aims to humanize the people behind the statistics.

12:30 PM : Minnesota Meam - Winona State University Campus - SLC 120

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.

12:30 PM : Water Set - Minnesota Marine Art Museum

12:30 PM : School of Fish - Minnesota Marine Art Museum

Indigenous people and salmon have been intertwined for thousands of years in Bristol Bay, Alaska. Today, kids learn from elders to fish but must also learn to fight, as pollution from Pebble Mine threatens this pristine ecosystem. Can the next generation defend the most prolific salmon run left on earth.

12:30 PM : WindShipped - Minnesota Marine Art Museum

What started as one man's quixotic dream has turned to reality. For the past three years, the 65-foot Schooner Apollonia has been delivering goods up and down the Hudson River by sail sans fossils fuels - a throwback to a day when there were 1200 such boats on the river each day. It turns out buyers prefer the non-polluting, anti-Amazon way of making deliveries.

12:30 PM : Inseparable: Ava - Minnesota Marine Art Museum

12:30 PM : Mussel Grubbing: A Citizen Science Treasure Hunt - Minnesota Marine Art Museum

Following a citizen scientist's journey of discovery, the film explores the treasure hunt for finding freshwater mussels in the upper Sangamon River. Everyday people in Illinois are supporting science in ways that are important to the well-being of their local environment. Finding a diverse collection of healthy mussels means a healthy river, which in turn means healthy people in the community. The film also shows how people come together around these experiences to ensure a healthy community. "The goal of this film will be to demystify the overall process of scientific research,” said RiverWatch Director and Stream Ecologist Danelle Haake. “We also want to show that community science projects are for everyone and no experience in science is required to participate.”

3:00 PM : Environment and Health Set

3:00 PM : Children of Lead - Winona State University - PAC Black Box

From the Cerro de Pasco lead mine in Peru, Martin Boudot and his team trace the lead that still pollutes France, particularly in the Nord region.

3:00 PM : Curupira - Mother of the Forest - Winona State University - PAC Black Box

The Mother of the Forest ~ Curupira ~ is the story of a powerful Amazonian goddess told through the voices of the Borarí people from the heart of the forest in Pará, Brazil. She is the all powerful guardian of all living beings in the forest. And while she is generous and benevolent in her gift… Beware! If you disrespect her home, her punishments are merciless.

Her warnings are more relevant than ever in a contemporary reality where the forces of agri-business, logging and mining are decimating the forest faster than we can protect it. Her story reminds us that it is time to listen, respect and rekindle a more balanced relation to nature if we wish to protect our common home.

3:00 PM : The Quest to Save Parasites - Winona State University - PAC Black Box

You may have seen a "Save the Whales" t-shirt, but "Save the Parasites"? Most people are familiar with parasites as a scourge to humans and livestock, and rightly so. But there is a vast unseen world of parasites that have evolved along with wildlife -- the "dark matter" that “holds ecosystems together”. They need to be studied and treated as endangered species in some cases, according to researchers who are on a quest to save parasites.

3:00 PM : PANEL: Minnesota Filmmakers - Winona State University Campus - Miller Auditorium

Visiting filmmakers Mike Scholtz, Lynn Melling, Dawn Mikkelson and Sequoia Hauck will join Winona film/dance artist Sharon Mansur for a discussion about filmmaking in Minnesota. Join us as we ask questions about funding for Minnesota filmmakers, how to chose subjects, the filmmaking process, community engagement and more!

Sequoia Hauck is a queer multidisciplinary artist in the Twin Cities focused on creating theater, film, poetry, and performance art that decolonizes the process of art-making. They have seen first hand how art has the ability to inspire, connect, and build a sense of community. They makes art surrounding the narratives of continuation and resiliency among their communities.

Sharon Mansur is an Arab/SWANA American experimental dance and interdisciplinary artist, curator, educator and community mover and shaker based in Winona, MN, Dakota land. Her performances, visual installations and screendance projects have been shared nationally and internationally. She facilitates The Cedar Tree Project, connecting and amplifying regional, national and international art and artists, and SHIFT~ performance salons which support local collaborations and new contemporary art expressions.

Dawn Mikkelson is a Multi-Regional Emmy Award-winning producer and 2010 McKnight Filmmaking Fellow. Mikkelson’s work has broadcast internationally, with festival screenings including: Cinequest, Galway Film Fleadh, Frameline Film Festival, Cambridge Film Festival, Cleveland Film Festival, imagineNATIVE, and the American Indian Film Festival. Mikkelson has completed five award-winning independent feature documentaries, The Red Tail, Green Green Water, THIS obedience, and Treading Water: a documentary, which illuminate larger societal issues while creating understanding through the intimate stories of individuals. Her fifth feature documentary Risking Light premiered in competition at the 2018 Cinequest Film Festival (listed in Top 10 by San Francisco Chronicle), playing festivals around the world and is currently being broadcast across the united States through American Public Television and Canada through the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation). Her film Minnesota Mean is playing at FRFF this year.

Mike Scholtz is a documentary filmmaker from northern Minnesota. His first feature-length documentary was "Wild Bill's Run," which followed a charismatic adventurer on a snowmobiling expedition to Moscow during the height of the Cold War. Scholtz also produced the competitive jigsaw puzzling documentary "Wicker Kittens." And he founded the Free Range Film Festival, an annual celebration of independent cinema that takes place in a barn cleverly converted into a movie theater. Mike's film Iron Opera is playing at FRFF this year.

3:00 PM : We Are Not Ghouls -  Winona State University Campus - SLC 120

US Air Force JAG Attorney Yvonne Bradley was assigned to defend a man held at Guantanamo Bay. Believing Guantanamo held ‘the worst of the worst’, her world was turned upside down once she arrived in Cuba and began to untangle an unimaginable case.

3:00 PM : Space, Hope and Charity - Winona State University Campus - Somsen Auditorium

"Space, Hope and Charity" follows the remarkable journey of Charity Woodrum as she overcomes poverty and then tragedy while chasing her dream of becoming an astrophysicist. Charity was a first generation high school graduate, a young mom and wife, when she returned to college to study physics. Her life felt perfect. It was suddenly thrown into chaos when her husband and son died tragically. With help from mentors, childhood friends and perfect strangers, she got her life back on track. The film highlights resilience and the life-changing power of human connection.

5:00 PM : Boycott - Winona Arts Center

When a news publisher in Arkansas, an attorney in Arizona, and a speech therapist in Texas are told they must choose between their jobs and their political beliefs, they launch legal battles that expose an attack on freedom of speech across 36 states in America

5:00 PM : Reaching New Heights Set - Winona State University - PAC Black Box

5:00 PM : Elevated - Winona State University - PAC Black Box

Effective communication is a challenge every climber faces. It’s a sport that requires intense focus, dedication, and overcoming fear. For Deaf climber Sonya Wilson, communication and community is of vital importance. Elevated is a non-verbal film sharing Sonya’s experience as a Deaf woman and outdoor advocate working to bridge the gap between the Deaf community and the outdoor industry, one crag at a time.
 
5:00 PM : Chronoception - Winona State University - PAC Black Box

There are a thousand ways to tell a story. This one follows a different way of experiencing time, one that guides our protagonists all throughout the twenty-two day expedition in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan. Following in the footsteps of the country’s nomadic people and the ancient Silk Road, Thomas Delfino, Léa Klaue, and Aurélien Lardy embark on an adventure to one of the most remote and still unexplored places in Asia: the Kokshaal-Too Mountains.

This dream team, with support from legendary high-mountain guides Hélias Millerioux and Jean-Yves Fredriksen, find themselves thrown into a world where Time and Space appear to stand still.

5:00 PM : Carpenter - Winona State University Campus - Miller Auditorium

An old Kurdish man (Hussein Mahmood) who is a carpenter tries to make artificial legs for people who have lost their legs.

5:00 PM : Brief Tender Light - Winona State University Campus - SLC 120

At America's elite MIT, a Ghanaian alum follows four African students as they strive to graduate and become agents of change for their home countries Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. Over an intimate, nearly decade-long journey, all must decide how much of America to absorb, how much of Africa to hold on to, and how to reconcile teenage ideals with the truths they discover about the world and themselves.

7:00 PM : Crosses in the Dust - Winona Arts Center

At the Arizona-Mexico border, the Sonoran Desert has been weaponized as part of the "Prevention Through Deterrence" policy, which has cost the lives of thousands of migrants since its inception in the mid-1990s. CROSSES IN THE DUST follows a law professor and her students as they assist organizations fighting the ongoing immigration crisis along the border while honoring those who have perished on their journey into America.

7:00 PM : Hardangerfolk - Winona State University Campus - Miller Auditorium

In the winter of early 1943, 12 Norwegian resistance members crossed the Hardangervidda to put a stop to the creation of an atomic bomb, in what has become one of history’s most astounding and beloved adventure tales.

Now, exactly 80 years after the event, an international expeditionary team retrace their footsteps, from the assault on the Rjukan valley, across Europe’s highest and wildest plateau, and over the Swedish border hundreds of kilometres away.

7:00 PM : Sealed in Blood - Winona State University Campus - Miller Auditorium

This short documentary looks at the life of journalist Steven Sotloff, who was kidnapped and killed by ISIS in 2014. Through interviews with his parents, we delve into his backstory, while a former negotiator and terror expert explains how the US no negotiation policy came to be, and why the American and British hostages were killed while all the other Europeans were all released after their governments or families paid ransoms.

This short documentary looks at the life of journalist Steven Sotloff, who was kidnapped and killed by ISIS in 2014. Through interviews with his parents, we delve into his backstory, while a former negotiator and terror expert explains how the US no negotiation policy came to be, and why the American and British hostages were killed while all the other Europeans were all released after their governments or families paid ransoms.

7:00 PM : War Games - Winona State University Campus - Miller Auditorium

7:00 PM : Citizen Activism Set - Winona State University Campus - Somsen Auditorium

7:00 PM : Peace Pipeline - Winona State University Campus - Somsen Auditorium

7:00 PM : I Am More Dangerous Dead - Winona State University Campus - Somsen Auditorium

The story of a man largely unknown in the west, but who is a household name and hero to Nigerians. Ken Saro Wiwa was a prolific writer and activist who led the ethnic minority of the Ogoni to protest the devastating effects of oil exploitation on their land.

Februrary 11, 2024

10:00 AM : Duo Set: Ibach and Iron Opera (with full subtitles)

10:00 AM : Ibach - Winona Arts Center

An Ibach piano receives a makeover after surviving an international move and playing for four generations of pianists.

10:00 AM : Iron Opera - Winona Arts Center

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 still runs deep in their veins. Watch as a renowned 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.

10:00 AM : Reprise: Local Films - Winona Arts Center

10:00 AM : See You At No Name - Winona Arts Center

This documentary short film delves into the heart of No Name Bar in Winona, MN, not just as a venue for incredible live music but as a vital hub for community and artistic expression. Through dynamic footage of live performances and heartfelt interviews with the bar's owners and local musicians, the film unravels the symbiotic relationship between No Name Bar and the vibrant arts community in Winona. It showcases how this establishment has become more than just a venue; it's a nurturing space that fosters connections, amplifying the voices of local artists and musicians, making it an indispensable pillar in Winona's cultural landscape.

10:00 AM : 40 Below: The Toughest Race in the World - Winona Arts Center

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.

10:00 AM : King of Kings: Chasing Edward Jones - Winona State University Campus - Somsen Auditorium

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A filmmaker searches for the truth about her grandfather Edward Jones, a charismatic African American who rose to the heights of financial and political prominence in Depression-era Chicago. In shaping the destiny of a city, Ed Jones could not however escape discrimination. In conflict with both the mob and the Feds, he was forced into a life on the run.

Exploring the rise and fall of the most famous ‘Policy King’ of all times, the filmmaker uncovers an unparalleled story, while showing the lasting repercussions of his untold story, both within her family, and for Chicago’s South Side where he once embodied the American dream.

Love, success, violence, revenge, mafia, murder, betrayal, prison, kidnapping... Edward Jones’ story holds all the best ingredients of gangster movies. Add segregation and you have a very explosive cocktail!

Industry titans Quincy Jones and Debbie Allen have teamed up as executive producers to tell 60 years of an American story through the eyes of one family who almost had it all.

10:00 AM : Carpenter - Winona State University Campus - Somsen Auditorium

An old Kurdish man (Hussein Mahmood) who is a carpenter tries to make artificial legs for people who have lost their legs.

11:00 AM :Workshop: Home/Place - Creating films about home, family & ancestry

This workshop facilitated by Winona based Arab/SWANA American dance/film artist Sharon Mansur and is a companion to the Filming Borders set co-curated with Michelle Baroody. This workshop invites participants to engage in a creative process to develop a short film study reflecting their sense of home, place and belonging as well as displacement, scattering and letting go. The process will include brief interviews, visual imagery and symbolism development, storyboarding and referencing a new work-in-progress film by Mansur and collaborator Meryl Murman. Participants are asked to bring their phones and 2-3 objects with personal meaning related to home, family and/or ancestry.

Sharon Mansur is an Arab/SWANA American experimental dance and interdisciplinaryartist, curator, educator and community mover and shaker based in Winona, MN, Dakota land. Her performances, visual installations and screendance projects have been shared nationally and internationally. She facilitates The Cedar Tree Project, connecting and amplifying regional, national and international art and artists, and SHIFT~ performance salons which support local collaborations and new contemporary art expressions.

12:00 PM : We Are Not Ghouls

US Air Force JAG Attorney Yvonne Bradley was assigned to defend a man held at Guantanamo Bay. Believing Guantanamo held ‘the worst of the worst’, her world was turned upside down once she arrived in Cuba and began to untangle an unimaginable case.

12:00 PM : Arts and Ideas Set - Winona State University Campus - Somsen Auditorium

Beat - Winona State University Campus - Somsen Auditoriu

Beat delves into the world of Saul Eisenberg, a London based musician, artist and performer who transforms the discarded junk of our city into extraordinary instruments that make unique and beautiful sounds.

Aris Demetrios: Sculpture From The Heart - Winona State University Campus - Somsen Auditoriu

This short film explores the life and work of the renowned sculptor Aris Demetrios, known for his innovative use of materials and his quest to create art that engages with the natural world. Through historical interviews with Demetrios himself and current interviews with those who knew him best, we gain insight into his creative process, his inspirations and his legacy. The film takes us on a journey through some of his most iconic pieces, from his towering outdoor sculptures to his delicate mobiles, revealing the beauty and complexity of his art. Ultimately, the film celebrates the life of a true visionary whose work continues to inspire and captivate audiences today.

The Orchestra Chuck Built - Winona State University Campus - Somsen Auditoriu

In 2016, the League of American Orchestras conducted a study that revealed a shocking statistic: only 1.8% of the professional orchestra workforce in the US is Black. From an old church rec room in the inner city of Los Angeles, former lawyer-turned-conductor Chuck Dickerson is on a mission to change that.

Through ICYOLA - The Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles — the largest majority Black orchestra in the country — Chuck is creating life-changing opportunities for his community that did not previously exist. The Orchestra Chuck Built is a loving portrait of a tireless mentor and a testament to the transformative power of music.

Dance With Me - Winona State University Campus - Somsen Auditoriu

Imagine putting on a blindfold on a busy street corner and inviting strangers to dance with you. That's what Gabriel Diamond did in Berkeley in 2018. Two years later he finally got the courage to revisit the footage and create this touching short documentary about the potential of strangers to meet in unique ways using the power of dance and trust.

The Space Between Us - Winona State University Campus - Somsen Auditoriu

Sarah Crowell and Keith Hennessey are both dancers, teachers, and activists in the Bay Area. They have known each other for nearly 30 years. But they’ve never collaborated or connected deeply, until now.

The Space Between Us is a radical experiment in the power of bearing witness, inviting vulnerability, and sharing movement, in a time of social distancing and racial reckoning.

The Exchange Girl - Winona State University Campus - Somsen Auditoriu

The Exchange Girl is a short documentary about women working in dangerous conditions in silent film post-production. Those positions did provide women with an entry point to film work, but those jobs suddenly disappeared with the coming of sound.

1:00 PM : Workshop - Solo Filmmaking

Visiting filmmaker Curtis Matzke will show examples of his solo filmmaking works. One film, Recuperación de los Caídos, was created as part of his mentorship under Werner Herzog. Matzke will discuss creating films without a team in a limited amount of time as well as how creating fiction films relates to skills that benefit documentary filmmakers.

Curtis Matzke is a director and screenwriter based in Chicago, IL. His work has been recognized at dozens of film festivals, including Athens International, Cinequest, NewFilmmakers Los Angeles, and Chicago International. Curtis recently joined a select group of international filmmakers in the Canary Islands, where they were mentored by legendary director Werner Herzog on new short projects. His full-length documentary (FIRST FEATURE) is fiscally sponsored by Film Independent and his last short film SINK is set to be released by Bloody Disgusting in 2024. Curtis has had three feature screenplays (SPINE, THE ORCHESTRA, and SEA DOGS) and a pilot (TIN CAN) advance to the Second Round of the Austin Film Festival. TIN CAN also advanced to the second round of the Sundance Episodic Lab and THE ORCHESTRA, a horror feature about a young woman haunted at an elite music conservatory, has won several awards and was part of the Chicago International's Feature Development Lab with director Jennifer Reeder consulting on the project. The proof-of-concept short of THE ORCHESTRA has also screened at over two-dozen film festivals. Curtis recently completed writing residencies at Chateau d'Orquevaux, the Vermont Studio Center, Stowe Story Labs, and Reykjavík International Film Festival Talent Lab. He recently branched out his writing to include playwriting, personal essays, and short stories and is adapting one of his scripts (SEA DOGS) into a graphic novel. Curtis enjoys various art forms including painting, drawing, and stop-motion, and is an avid amateur chef who enjoys making his own pickles and brewing his own beer. He holds a B.A. in Media Arts and Technology and an M.A. in Telecommunication, Information Studies, and Media from Michigan State University with a concentration in Television, Cinema, & Radio, a minor in Film Studies, and a Specialization in Design.

2:00 PM : Indomitable Spirit Set

2:00 PM : Literacy for Freedom: Empowering Black Boys in Minnesota - Winona State University - PAC Black Box

2:00 PM : Sanctuary - Winona State University Campus - Winona State University - PAC Black Box

2:00 PM : Who She Is - Winona State University Campus - Miller Auditorium.

Who She Is tells the story of four individual women caught in the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) epidemic. By bringing these missing women to life on screen, through animation and first-person storytelling, the documentary aims to humanize the people behind the statistics.

2:00 PM : Greener Pastures - Winona State University Campus - SLC 120

Greener Pastures captures the day-to-day lives of four small, Midwestern, multigenerational family farms over the course of three years. Through an intimate, observational lens, we examine various farm stressors, policies, and politics that farmers must maneuver to survive, connecting the dots between mental health, industrialization, food production, and climate change. It is a story of perseverance, patience, and determination that tackles nothing less than the future of farming in America.

2:00 PM : Citizen Activism Set - Winona State University Campus - Somsen Auditorium

2:00 PM : Peace Pipeline - Winona State University Campus - Somsen Auditorium

2:00 PM : I Am More Dangerous Dead - Winona State University Campus - Somsen Auditorium

The story of a man largely unknown in the west, but who is a household name and hero to Nigerians. Ken Saro Wiwa was a prolific writer and activist who led the ethnic minority of the Ogoni to protest the devastating effects of oil exploitation on their land.

Date: February 4 - 11, 2024

Location: Various Venue, Winona, MN 55987

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