The Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival kicks off on Thursday with over 200 films from 70 countries spanning two weeks of showings. The festival has a number of LGBT-themed films being screened. Here are trailers for those films:

52 TUESDAYS
16-year-old Billie’s reluctant path to independence is accelerated when her mother reveals plans for gender reassignment and their time together becomes limited to Tuesday afternoons. Filmed over the course of a year, once a week, every week—only on Tuesdays—these unique filmmaking rules bring a rare authenticity to this emotionally charged story of desire, responsibility and transformation. Sophie Hyde’s debut narrative feature is an incredibly compassionate and honest look at Billie’s mom’s transition, as well as Billie’s exploratory path as an invincible teenager.

Director:
Sophie Hyde

Producer:
Sophie Hyde
Matthew Cormack
Bryan Mason
Rebecca Summerton

SHOWINGS
St. Anthony Main Theatre 3. Fri, Apr 10 9:50 PM
St. Anthony Main Theatre 4. Wed, Apr 15 4:40 PM

More information available at MSP Film Fest

MARGARITA, WITH A STRAW
Undeterred by her cerebral palsy, Laila is a young free spirit living in Delhi ready to explore the world. An aspiring writer, she receives a scholarship to study in New York City, and her world opens up to new experiences including opportunities of sexual discovery. At a Occupy protest she meets and becomes fast friends with a fiery activist.

Director Shonali Bose treats Laila personal journey—from her disability to her blossoming relationship with another woman—with an honesty and respect that is rare on the big screen.

Director:
Shonali Bose

SHOWINGS
St. Anthony Main Theatre 5. Wed, Apr 15 9:50 PM
St. Anthony Main Theatre 3. Fri, Apr 17 12:45 PM

More information available at MSP Film Fest

THE NEW GIRLFRIEND
Childhood best friends Claire (Anaïs Demoustier) and Laura are utterly inseparable, so it comes as a particularly devastating blow when Laura becomes ill and dies, leaving her husband, David (Romain Duris), to raise their newborn daughter Lucie by himself. As she stops by the house one afternoon, door unlocked, she finds a strange woman holding Lucie, who, on closer inspection, turns out to be David in a blonde wig and one of Laura’s dresses.
Director François Ozon, no stranger to taboos, creates an absurd yet touching psychological thriller.

Director:
François Ozon

SHOWINGS
St. Anthony Main Theatre 2Sat, Apr 25 7:00 PMBUY TICKETS

More information available at MSP Film Fest

OUT IN THE NIGHT
A group of young friends, out and proud African American lesbians, are verbally assaulted by an older man. When the man turns violent—yanking hair out of the head of one woman and choking another—Patreese Johnson pulls out a knife to defend her friends from being killed. The fight breaks up, the cops are called, and the women are accused of a gang attack.

blair dorosh-walther’s daring documentary serves as a clear indictment against sensationalized media (who label the women “Gang of Killer Lesbians”) and ineffective justice that assumes guilt until proven innocent.

Director:
blair dorosh-walther
Producer:
Abigail E. Disney
blair dorosh-walther
Giovanna Chesler
Mridu Chandra

SHOWINGS
St. Anthony Main Theatre 2. Sat, Apr 11 2:15 PM
St. Anthony Main Theatre 2. Sun, Apr 12 3:30 PM

More information available at MSP Film Fest

THE ROYAL ROAD
A cinematic essay in defense of remembering, The Royal Road offers up a primer on the Spanish colonization of California and the Mexican American War alongside intimate reflections on nostalgia, butch identity and Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo — all against a contemplative backdrop of 16mm urban California landscapes, and featuring a voiceover cameo by Tony Kushner.

Deceptively simple California urban landscapes serve as the framework for the film’s lyrically written voiceover which combines rigorous historical research with a stream-of-consciousness personal monologue and relates these seemingly disparate stories from an intimate, colloquial perspective to tell a one-of-a-kind California tale. Shot on 16mm film and contemplatively crafted of long takes, The Royal Road is a film about landscapes and desire, memory and history – and the stories we tell.

Director:
Jenni Olson
Producer:
Julie Dorf
FILMMAKER JENNI OLSON ATTENDING.

SHOWINGS
St. Anthony Main Theatre 5. Fri, Apr 10 7:45 PM
St. Anthony Main Theatre 5. Sat, Apr 11 5:00 PM

More information available at MSP Film Fest

THE SECOND LIFE OF THIEVES
Tan, well past middle age, discovers that his wife has disappeared with his friend Lim. The mystery of their sudden disappearance is slowly patched together through flashbacks that divulge Lim’s adult daughter’s version of the past and finally Tan’s own memories of the past—and together they embark on an emotional journey that will open old and new wounds alike. Inspired by his uncle who lived a secret life in the closet, pioneering Malaysian producer and director Woo Ming Jin weaves a meditation on love, loss and regret.

Director:
Woo Ming Jin
Producer:
Ming Jin Woo
Edmund Yeo

SHOWINGS
St. Anthony Main Theatre 1. Sat, Apr 11 11:00 AM
St. Anthony Main Theatre 5. Wed, Apr 15 5:00 PM

More information available at MSP Film Fest

THE SUMMER OF SANGAILE
Seventeen-year-old Sangail is fascinated by stunt planes. Afraid of heights, she has never dared to even enter in one of the cockpits at a summer aeronautical show. Nearby her parents’ lakeside villa, she meets Auste, a local girl of her age who, unlike Sangaile, lives her life to the full with creativity and daring. As the two girls become lovers, Sangaile allows Auste to discover her most intimate secret, and finds in her teenage love the only person to truly encourage her interest in flying.

Director:
Alanté Kavaïté
Producer:
Zivile Gallego
Antoine Simkine

SHOWINGS
St. Anthony Main Theatre 1. Thu, Apr 23 2:30 PM
St. Anthony Main Theatre 3. Sat, Apr 25 2:10 PM

More information available at MSP Film Fest

THEY ARE ALL DEAD
Lupe (Elena Anaya) is a former punk rock star who now lives in a valium induced agoraphobic state, slowly losing her touch with her teenage son. Lupe’s mother (Angélica Aragón) sees little option but to solicit the help of Diego—Lupe’s deceased brother and bandmate—by way of a Day of the Dead ritual.

With large doses of offbeat humor and compassion, Beatriz Sanchis’ debut takes an adventurous leap to cinematically explore one woman’s path to healing catharsis.

Director:
Beatriz Sanchís
Producer:
María Zamora
Stefan Schmitz

SHOWINGS
St. Anthony Main Theatre 1. Mon, Apr 13 9:30 PM
St. Anthony Main Theatre 1. Mon, Apr 20 3:15 PM

More information available at MSP Film Fest