Just days away from the St. Paul Winter Carnival premiere of his second St. Paul Frozen Film Festival, Jose "Joe" Ruiz Jr. has had little time to pause, let alone relax.
There are screenings to finalize, tickets to print, press passes to distribute, parties to organize and last-minute fires to put out. His festival team is so small, it wouldn't be surprising if Ruiz, a native of St. Paul's West Side, even vacuums the red carpets before the doors open.
When you're the co-founder and director of a fledgling film festival with a minuscule budget, passion means never resting.
"St. Paul has a vibrancy to it that I think a lot of people should see," said Ruiz, a graduate of Humboldt High School who has sunk about $25,000 into the project over each of the last two years, most of it his own. "I'm just a guy trying to do something to help give filmmakers a platform."
The festival, which opens with a party Feb. 1, is an official Winter Carnival event. It will screen 36 films from across the country and around the world at two venues: the F.K. Weyerhaeuser Auditorium on the lower level of St. Paul's Landmark Center and at TPT Street Space, in the Fourth Street headquarters of Twin Cities Public Television.
Ruiz, who got his start in film as an actor and screenwriter, began promoting independent film 11 years ago when he helped launch the Manhattan Film Festival. Last year, it seemed to him that St. Paul was ready to become part of the independent film universe, so he approached Winter Carnival officials with the idea.
Carnival officials warmed to the idea. "I think it brings in a different audience," said Rosanne Bump, president and CEO of the St. Paul Festival and Heritage Foundation, which runs the Winter Carnival. "It expands the reach of the carnival."
The festival screened 56 films last year. This year, the 36 films include eight features and five feature-length documentaries, plus comedies, student films and others. More than 500 films were submitted.
