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Well, there goes — theoretically — the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival, with President Donald Trump recently announcing 100% tariffs on foreign-made films.
So what is the point of this new policy? Who knows, but it likely has to deal with Hollywood movies made in other countries particularly to save costs. In many of the cases, these films take place in the U.S. but were filmed in other countries, especially Canada.
One example would involve the long running “Final Destination” franchise — five of the six movies in the horror staple were actually filmed in the Vancouver area. Another would have been the recently released film “The Long Walk,” which takes place in a dystopian America and features mainly American actors like Cooper Hoffman, Mark Hamill, Judy Greer and Minnesota native Ben Wang. However, the whole thing was shot in Manitoba, which can be noted since the sign of a hotel is seen in the film and the hotel is actually in a rural part of the province outside Winnipeg.
Another example is the recently released “Dead of Winter,” starring Emma Thompson and Judy Greer. The narrative supposedly takes place in northern Minnesota but was actually filmed in Finland. Yes, Finland.
However, there are some problems here. First, many Hollywood films are filmed overseas because of the need for exotic locations for fantasy films such as the “Lord of the Rings” or “Star Wars” franchises. (Mark Hamill again!) Second, many stories take place overseas. It would make no sense to film the original “Harry Potter” franchise anywhere but England, since that is where the stories take place.
Finally, there are the non-Hollywood films that are made internationally. Usually, these are the films you would see at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival or the ones that are nominated for Best International Film at the Oscars that are spoken in languages other than English. These are also some of the most important films in cinema, because they take the viewer to other parts of the world. In doing so, they open viewers’ eyes to experiences they might never have or places they might never visit otherwise.
