Filmmakers of color are launching a new festival this weekend in St. Paul spotlighting short films by queer, trans, Black, Indigenous and filmmakers of color. This Sunday, Queer Voices MN will host its first-ever art, writer and maker market in Minneapolis, featuring local queer and trans artists alongside live music performances and poetry readings. Meanwhile, the O’Shaughnessy Education Center at the University of St. Thomas will host a screening of the Hmong American film “Bitterroot” and North Hennepin Community College will showcase portraits of immigrants from Burma, Bhutan, Eritrea, and Somalia. 

Film fest features emerging voices

The Cinefilmu Film Festival, a grassroots initiative led by a coalition of Twin Cities filmmakers, will launch Saturday at the St. Paul Neighborhood Network, featuring over 25 short films, centering the voices of queer, trans, Black, Indigenous and people of color (QTBIPOC). The festival’s genres include Afro-horror, Native dramas, experimental feminist films, Black spirituality, movement-based queer cinema, and Palestinian stories.

“Cinefilmu was born out of a need to center QTBIPOC filmmakers,” said Tahiel Medina, the festival’s co-director and head of programming. “I think it’s important to have spaces where we can see our films and celebrate with each other, especially when there’s so many spaces that tend to limit our voices.”

Mamá Papaya, a nonprofit led by Medina to support emerging queer BIPOC filmmakers, will showcase five filmmakers from its StorySeeds Fellowship, who will read their original short screenplays during the event. 

“Growing up in Minnesota as a Colombian immigrant queer filmmaker, I entered a lot of spaces where I didn’t feel supported or seen,” Medina said. “We’re trying to change that for future generations.” 

The festival opens with two Palestinian-centered shorts by Kamal Aljafari and Sami Al-Salamoni. Alijafari’s film “XXXI, 108” uses archival footage of Israeli military training to deconstruct war narratives, while Al-Salamoni’s “Cowboy” blends scenes from American Westerns with footage of Palestinian liberation movements. 

“We’re very much aligned with the current and historical crisis in Palestine and the occupation that’s happening there,” Medina said. “The issues we face globally are connected to our local struggles and we want to create solidarity.”

Cinefilmu aims to provide a platform for community-driven programming and decolonized storytelling, showcasing films that challenge Western-centric narratives and reflect the experiences of marginalized communities in an industry that has historically overlooked BIPOC creators. 

“Over the past few years, organizing community-driven spaces for film, it has often felt like we were waiting for validation from the white-centered film industry in Minnesota,” said Ryan Stopera, the festival’s director of partnerships. “Now, we’re not waiting for permission or validation from anyone. We’re building something for ourselves and for each other.”

A key theme of the festival is “digital ancestry,” which the team uses to describe how filmmakers within marginalized communities are shaping the future while honoring their histories.

“The festival is really about getting queer, trans, and BIPOC filmmakers together to ideate on who we are and where we come from through our films,” said Mariah Hanson, the festival’s creative director and scenic designer. “This isn’t just about watching films but also engaging with each other and the people who are telling these stories.”

Hanson designed the festival to feel like a community celebration, featuring interactive visual art installations by QTBIPOC artists, and Za’Nia Coleman’s multimedia installation “Wayward Fragments,” which takes visitors through fragments of films and archival footage to honor marginalized women.

The festival’s programming also includes interactive community events, such as talkbacks with filmmakers and spaces for quiet reflection in rooms filled with visual art.

“I hope it feels like home and encourages people to not only come back and continue to support these filmmakers but hopefully inspires them to work on that screenplay, work on that film, and feel like they are a part of this community,” Stopera said. 

‘Bitterroot’ explores Hmong identity

The O’Shaughnessy Education Center at the University of St. Thomas will host the Minnesota premiere of “Bitterroot,” a film by Vera Brunner-Sung. The movie stars Minnesota actor Wa Yang as Lue, a Hmong man coming to terms with a difficult divorce while caring for his mother in Missoula, Montana. As Lue navigates his personal struggles, he also confronts the cultural divide between his Hmong heritage and American life.

A question-and-answer session with Brunner-Sung, Minnesota-based producers Kazua Melissa Vang and Yeej, and cast members Yang and Phasoua Vang will follow the screening. 

Queer art, music and poetry at Open Book

Queer Voices MN, a Minneapolis-based LGBTQ literary group, is hosting its inaugural “Art, Writer, and Maker Mart” at Open Book, featuring more than 40 queer and trans artists offering prints, zines, textiles, paintings, wearable pieces, and more.

The market will include a sensory-friendly shopping hour from 10 to 11 a.m., offering a quiet environment with low lighting, no music, and no programming for those seeking a more subdued experience. 

The event will kick off with live performances at 11 a.m. by singer-songwriter Kira Bunkholt and soul-pop artist Autumn Brown, followed by music from DJ Yonci. Poetry readings by local writers Danez Smith, Tarik Dobbs, and Junauda Petrus will begin at noon. 

Photos capture refugee experience

North Hennepin Community College is hosting “The Ache for Home. A Selection of Photographs” by Mexican photographer Selma Fernández Richter, highlighting the stories of refugee communities in the Twin Cities.

Over the course of five years, Richter documented the lives of immigrants from Myanmar, Bhutan, Eritrea, and Somalia who fled their home countries due to violence. The exhibit offers a glimpse into the experience of individuals and families as they navigate the challenges of rebuilding their lives in the United States. 

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