The Whiskey Creek Film Festival in Wadena has released the schedule for its Sept. 9-15 screenings.
Along with the usual independent feature films, there will be free screenings of children's films and local short films.
Short films by Minnesota filmmakers will be screened Saturday, Sept. 10 at 5 p.m. with no admission charge. Whiskey Creek Film Festival is still taking submissions - they must be received by Tuesday.
"The Red Balloon" and "White Mane," both directed by Albert Lamorisse in the 1950s, comprise this year's free family screening. Together, the two short movies make a feature-length presentation. They will be screened Friday, Sept. 9 at 5 p.m. and Saturday, Sept. 10 at 1:30 p.m.
"They're classic movies that have been remastered into 35-mm prints, and they're really wonderful movies without much dialogue," Jamie Robertson of the New York Mills Regional Cultural Center said.
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"The Red Balloon" is about a boy who goes around Paris with a balloon that has a mind of its own. "White Main" is about horses in the wild desert region of southern France. The films are dubbed in English.
Robertson said the two films are entertaining for adults as well as kids, and "The Red Balloon" took the top honor Palme d'Or at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival.
Since its inception, the Whiskey Creek Film Festival has shown limited release films that usually do not get screenings in rural Minnesota.
The surrealist drama "The Tree of Life," directed by Terrence Malick and starring Brad Pitt, Sean Penn and Jessica Chastain, will be shown Friday, Sept. 9 at 7:05 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 10 at 1:05 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 11 at 7:05 p.m. and Tuesday, Sept. 13 at 7:05 p.m. It is rated PG-13 with a runtime of 139 minutes.
"Terence Malick has only made [five] movies in the last 40 years," Robertson said. "It's a kind of impressionistic story about a farm family in Texas ... the first 15 minutes of the film are images from the Hubble telescope."
The romantic comedy "Midnight in Paris," directed by Woody Allen and starring Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams and Kathy Bates, will be shown Saturday, Sept. 10 at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 11 at 1 p.m., Monday, Sept. 12 at 7 p.m. and Thursday, Sept. 15 at 7 p.m. It is rated PG-13 with a runtime of 94 minutes.
"A lot of the critics have written that this is the best movie that Woody Allen has made in the last 20 years," Robertson said.
The documentary "Cave of Forgotten Dreams" will be screened Friday, Sept. 9 at 7 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 10 at 1 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 11 at 7 p.m. and Tuesday, Sept. 13 at 7 p.m. It is rated G with a runtime of 90 minutes.
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"It's a documentary by Werner Herzog, who is the director of 'Grizzly Man,'" Robertson said. "It's about the Chauvet Caves in southern France which were discovered in 1994. They have never been visited by any human beings for 11,000 years."
A coming-of-age comedy "Terri," directed by Azazel Jacobs and starring John C. Reilly and Jacob Wysocki, will screen Friday, Sept. 9 at 9:30 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 10 at 9:30 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 11 at 3:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. and Wednesday, Sept. 14 at 7:05 p.m. It is rated R with a runtime of 105 minutes.
"It was a very popular film at this year's Sundance Film Festival," Robertson said.
The French drama "Sarah's Key," directed by Gilles Paquet-Brenner and starring Kristin Scott Thomas, will be shown Friday, Sept. 9 at 9:30 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 10 at 9:15 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 11 at 3 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. and Wednesday, Sept. 14 at 7 p.m. It is rated PG-13 with a runtime of 111 minutes.
"It is two different stories back and forth - one happens in 1942 and the other happens in the present," Robertson said. In the film, an American journalist discovers the story of a young girl whose family is targeted in the Holocaust.
The documentary "Buck," directed by Cindy Mehl and starring Buck Brannaman and Robert Redford, will screen Saturday, Sept. 10 at 3:30 p.m. and 7:05 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 11 at 1:05 p.m., Monday, Sept. 12 at 7:05 p.m. and Thursday, Sept. 15 at 7:05 p.m. It is rated PG with a runtime of 88 minutes.
Robertson said the film is about a real-life horse whisperer.
"That was also a really popular movie at this year's Sundance Film Festival," Robertson. "What he oftentimes discovers is that the problem isn't so much with the horses, it's with the owners."
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Tickets can be purchased at the Cozy Theatre box office, An Open Book, Harvest Thyme Bistro and the New York Mills Regional Cultural Center.
A 2-for-1 Harvest Thyme dinner special is offered for people who purchase tickets at the Bistro or at the Cultural Center, and the Bistro will be open Friday and Saturday after evening screenings past its normal hours for filmgoers to mingle over drinks and desserts.
Admission is $6.50 per film for adults, $5.50 for seniors and $4.50 for youth. Festival pass for all six films is $30.
More information can be found at whiskeycreekfilmfestival.org.
