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MSPIFF 2011

3 weeks, 5 screens, 50 countries, 170 films

March 10, 2011 at 10:26PM

(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

They've done it again. Photo: Kevin Smoliak. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Three weeks.

Five screens.

Fifty nations.

One hundred and seventy films.

The Minneapolis/St. Paul International Film Festival 2011 is as ambitious and eclectic as ever. Once again the upper midwest's biggest global cinema cavalcade is serving an all-you-can-eat banquet for movielovers.

Running April 14 - May 5, the series will take over all screens of the riverfront St. Anthony Main Theater, SE 115 Main St. in Minnra[olis.

Titles include director John Sayles' Philippines-American War drama "Amigo" and the delightful dancing gumshoe documentary "The Bengali Detective," straight from its Sundance Film Festival world premiere.

There will be new features starring Gerard Depardieu, Ewan McGregor, Christopher Plummer, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Indian megastar Aishwarya Rai.

Also on tap are a steamy Norwegian sex comedy (!), a feel-good movie about a suicidal 11-year-old Parisienne, a documentary about central Africa's only symphony orchestra, and an ironic satire of the Mexican narco trade.

As always, the fest will present a sizable selection of movies made in Minnesota.

"Stuck Between Stations,"a character-driven drama starring Sam Rosen, Zoe Lister-Jones, Josh Hartnett and Michael Imperioli, will be the festival's closing night feature, just days after its Tribeca Film Festival debut.