Month: September 2013

The Highway 61 Film Festival is proud to announce our list of official selections and 2013 film schedule.

Films are being reviewed by judges, and winners will be announced shortly before the first night of the festival on Oct. 4. The schedule below may be subject to change.

Congratulations to all the filmmakers!

FRIDAY 6:00 P.M.

Pine Technical College Auditorium

Language, mild violence

 

Tales of the Road: Highway 61  58 min

Director: Cathy Wurzer

 

Les Esclaves  16 min

Director: Jesse Mast

 

Useful. Valid. True 11 min

Director: David Golden

 

Sled Dogs to St. Paul 43 min

Directors: Kelly Schoenfelder and Patrick Knight

 

Total 130 minutes (2h10m)

 

FRIDAY LATE NIGHT 10:30 P.M.

Danny C’s BeachRocks Pub & Supper Club

Language, violence, sexual content

 

Honor Among Thieves  12 min

Directors: Jack Beiderman and Gabriel Strauss

 

Maze  2 min

Director: Marianna Mankowska

 

Our Killing Time 13 min

Directors: Kirk Eckstine and Nate Johnson

 

Two Stiffs  13 min

Director: David Hoh

 

Rocket Surgeons 13 min

Director: Wes Fischer

 

Deadly Love 18 min

Director: Doug Phillips

 

The Healing Musical 8 min

Director: John Gigrich

 

79 minutes (1h20m)

 

SATURDAY 1:00 P.M.

FAMILY FRIENDLY SHOWS

Pine Technical College Auditorium

 

Iter Ad Terram Promissionis  8 min

Directors: Nathanile Kavaler and Robert Newman

 

Coffea – The Coffee Fairy 1 min

Director: Susan Shay Brugger

 

Syren  9 min

Director: Will Nelson

 

The American Road  110 min

 

Total 128 minutes (2h8m)

 

SATURDAY 6:00 P.M.

Pine Technical College Auditorium

Language, violence

 

The Information Thief  10 min

Director: John Gigrich

 

Aakhir (At Last) 16 min

Director: Tarun Jain

 

Not Like the Commercials 9 min

Director: Wyatt Cagle

 

The Panhandler 30 min

Director: Kevin Horn

 

McMeta 6 min

Director: Zach Hammill

 

Small Steps 18 min

Director: John Gigrich

 

Lima Syndrome 11 min

Director: Ryan Becken

 

The Elevator 11 min

Director: Rachid Jnane

 

For Ashley 8 min

Director: Zach Hammill

 

Total 126 minutes (1h59m)

 

SATURDAY LATE NIGHT 10:30 P.M.

Danny C’s BeachRocks Pub & Supper Club

Language, violence, sexual content

 

Another Saturday Night 5 min

Director:Zach Jansen

 

Problem Solving the Republic 94 min

Director: Elliot Diviney

 

Sunrise’s Favorite Son 124 min

Director: Toney Ehrnriter, Dennis Walters and Lee Wilcox

 

223 minutes (3h43m)

 

SUNDAY 12:00 P.M.

SPECIAL PRESENTATION WITH FILMS SELECTED BY AL MILGROM

Pine Technical College Auditorium

Includes international selections, some subtitles

 

Escape from Schwartz’s Bakery 1 min

Director: Susan Shay Brugger

 

“Al Milgrom Selects”… approx. 90 min

 

Total 121 minutes (1h31m)

 

SUNDAY 6:00 P.M.

Pine Technical College Auditorium

Mild violence, horror themes

 

Keeper 15 min

Director: Mike Gainor

 

Misiek and the Bloody Monitor 2 min

Director: Marianna Mankowska

 

Hairdo or DIE: The First Cut 33 min

Director: Jerome Erickson

 

The Giant Spider 71 min

Director: Christopher R. Mihm

 

Total 121 minutes (2h1m)

Award-winning Minnesota journalist Cathy Wurzer is heading to Pine City on Oct. 4 to show her film “Tales of the Road: Highway 61” at the Pine Technical College Auditorium for the opening of the third annual Highway 61 Film Festival.

Wurzer’s documentary takes viewers rolling down Highway 61 in a 1946 Cadillac for an entertaining ride through Minnesota’s past and present. She followed up that film with a companion book of the same name.

Wurzer is the host of Morning Edition for Minnesota Public Radio News. She is also the co-host of Almanac, a weekly public affairs program produced by Twin Cities Public Television for Minnesota’s statewide public television network.

On Facebook, Wurzer said it’s both “cool” and “scary” to see her film on the big screen, and that she’s looking forward to coming to Pine City.

“Honored to be asked to be present,” Wurzer said. “Hope folks can come to Pine Technical College.”

What exactly is a film festival?

The third annual Highway 61 Film Festival, coming to Pine City on Oct. 4, 5 and 6, is sure to be a fun bunch of shows for those who attend, but others are wondering if it’s worth their time – what exactly is a film festival, after all?

Basically, a lot of filmmakers are out there making movies just for the love of it – though some are making a living in the business, and others have high hopes to join them.

A film festival is a chance for these folks, working outside the Hollywood system and using small budgets, to show their movies in front of an audience.

For the film festival audience, it’s about discovery. All of the films have been selected by judges to make sure the best ones get on the screen. And the ones that do make it have something special about them – great acting, an amazing story, big laughs or powerful drama. Sometimes it’s all of the above.

And who comes to a film festival?

Everyone who loves going to a theater, getting a drink and a bag of fresh, hot popcorn and watching great movies.

Shows will be held at the Pine Technical College Auditorium and at Danny C’s BeachRocks. Tickets for each show are $5, or purchase an all-access weekend pass for only $20.