Kare11
11 Must watch films at the Twin Cities Film Fest
With stars like Daisy Ridley, Matt Dallas, and Josh Duhamel in attendance, you won’t want to miss the 2024 Twin Cities Film Fest.
ST. LOUIS PARK, Minn. — Celebrating its 15th year, the Twin Cities Film Fest is bringing over 100 films to the metro over the next 10 days.
Here are the ones you won’t want to miss.
Written, directed, and produced by Jesse Eisenberg, “A Real Pain” is a dramedy following cousins David and Benji Kaplan, who reunite for a tour through Poland. On the trip to honor their beloved grandmother, the adventure takes a turn as old tensions resurface.
“A Real Pain” had its U.S. premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, where it was received positively by audiences and eventually picked up for distribution by Searchlight Pictures. The film stars Eisenberg and Kieran Calkin as the aforementioned Kaplan cousins, as well as Will Sharpe, Jennifer Grey, Kurt Egyiawan, Liza Sadovy, and Daniel Oreskes.
Saoirse Ronan was ready to take a break from work, but Sir Steve McQueen pulled her out of her “semi-retirement” for “Blitz,” she told Josh Horowitz on a recent episode of Happy, Sad, Confused.
“Blitz” tells a familiar story but in a way many haven’t seen before. It is told mostly from 9-year-old George’s perspective as he is sent to the English countryside for safety during World War II. George, however, is determined to get back to East London to be with his mother and grandfather thus he defiantly embarks on an adventure back to his family– finding himself in peril while Rita searches for her missing son.
Ronan, who stars as Rita, told Horowitz that because the script was still coming together a lot of the character was influenced by who Ronan is as a person, her experience with her mother, and her relationship with children. The film also stars Harris Dickinson, Benjamin Clementine, and Elliott Heffernan.
“We Strangers” is described on IMDb as “an addictive and haunting study of race, class and assimilation.” The film tells the story of Rayelle Martin who works as a commercial cleaner. When she is approached by Dr. Neeraj Patel to be his housekeeper she innocently agrees, not realizing she’s going to find herself in a strange position of power after lying about being able to speak to the dead.
Kirby Howell-Baptiste stars as Ray alongside Tina Lifford, Sarah Goldberg, and Hari Dhillon. “We Strangers” was written and directed by Anu Valia, it is also her directorial debut.
When an ambitious new mother puts her career on hold to be a stay-at-home mom, her imagination starts to get the better of her. As time passes, she begins to notice physical transformations that lead her to have a secret identity.
In the year that it seems like horror is making a comeback, Marielle Heller is bringing audiences “Nightbitch“—a comedy-horror film based on the novel of the same name by Rachel Yoder. Amy Adams stars alongside Scoot McNairy, Zoë Chao, and Jessica Harper.
When the Pope dies or resigns, the Catholic Church’s College of Cardinals gathers at the Vatican for general congregations, the predecessor to the Conclave to vote for a new Pope. Voting, by secret ballot, is held four times a day until a candidate receives the majority of votes. Once a candidate receives two-thirds of the vote and accepts the nomination, the ballots of that final round of voting are burned in a stove near the chapel with chemicals to produce white smoke to signal the world a Pope has been elected.
Cardinal-electors place their hand on the Gospel and promise to observe absolute secrecy and to “never lend support or favor to any interference, opposition or any other form of intervention … in the election of the Roman Pontiff.” During these conclaves, the Cardinals don’t have contact with the outside world.
These practices make “Conclave” such an interesting film—as far as this author knows, the vow of secrecy of the Conclave has only ever been broken once when Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger released his diary which described the events of 2005.
The film stars Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, and John Lithgow as Cardinals at Conclave when one of them discovers secrets left by the previous Head of the Catholic Church that could shake the foundations of the Church. “Conclave” is directed by Edward Berger and written by Peter Straughan and Robert Harris.
Described as a comedic and tragic tribute to the “invisible” people who keep our restaurants running, “La Cocina” captures a bustling Times Square kitchen during a lunch rush. When money goes missing, the suspicions and emotions flare causing conflict between co-workers.
“La Cocina” is Spanish for “The Kitchen,” the 1957 stage play by Arnold Wesker the film is based on. The film was written and directed by Alonso Ruizpalacios. The film stars Raúl Briones Carmona, Rooney Mara, Anna Diaz, and Oded Fehr.
“Queen of the Ring”
Mildred Burke was a trailblazer in women’s sports; she was the first ever million-dollar female athlete and a champion pro wrestler at a time when all-girl wrestling was banned in most of America.
“Queen of the Ring” is a biographical sports drama written and directed by Ash Avildsen based on the book by Jeff Leen. The film chronicles the life of Burke, a young single mother going against societal norms.
Emily Bett Rickards stars as the pioneer for women’s wrestling, alongside Walton Goggins, Josh Lucas, Deborah Anne Woll, Gavin Casalegno, and Adam Demos.
Another wrestler bio-pic coming to the screen is “Unstoppable.” The film follows the life of Anthony Robles, who was born with one leg and won a national championship while wrestling at Arizona State University in 2011.
This is the directorial debut of Oscar-winning editor William Goldenberg, best known for his work on “Argo” and “Zero Dark Thirty,” who previously stated that he found the perfect project for his directorial debut after reading Robles’ autobiography.
“Unstoppable” stars Jennifer Lopez, Shawn Hatosy, Michael Peña, and Don Cheadle. Robles is portrayed by Jharrel Jerome (Moonlight).
When their father dies, Lucy and Paige are forced to reunite after years of estrangement. Paige is a reckless alcoholic who has lived off their father’s charity, while Lucy has always taken care of everyone but herself. The pair have to face resurfacing resentments, past trauma, and well-kept secrets while trying to mend their broken relationship.
“Inheritance” is the indie directorial debut of Emily Moss Wilson who is known for her work on Christmas T.V. Movies such as “Hometown Christmas,” and “Rescuing Christmas.” The film stars Austin Highsmith Garces, Rachel Noll James, Wes Brown, and Chris Mulkey.
Probably the most anticipated of TCFF this year is “Magpie” starring Daisy Ridley, who will be in attendance.
When Ben and Anette’s daughter is cast in a film, Ben goes along to chaperone while Anette stays home with their newborn child. Quickly the couple’s lives are turned upside down as Ben is drawn into the world of a controversial movie star, causing Anette to be pushed to her breaking points.
Ridley stars as Anette alongside Shazad Latif, Matilda Lutz, and Hiba Ahmed. “Magpie” is directed by Sam Yates and written by Tom Bateman, who will also be in attendance at TCFF. Ridley and Bateman will be on the TCFF red carpet ahead of the film, at 5:45 p.m. on Monday, October 21, 2024.
Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name by Colson Whitehead, “Nickel Boys” is set in Jim Crow era Florida and captures the story of the powerful friendship between two young African American men at reform school.
The film was directed by RaMell Ross, who co-wrote the screenplay with Joslyn Barnes. Starring Sam Malone, Najah Bradley, as well as Ethan Herisse, Ethan Cole, and Daveed Diggs as Elwood at different stages of his life.
Mayor Melvin Carter says the ballot question facing St. Paul voters amounts to a $110 million promise the city can’t keep to low-income families.
ST PAUL, Minn. — A ballot question up for consideration in St. Paul right now would authorize the city to raise property taxes by $110 million over the next ten years in order to help pay for childcare for some low-income families.
But regardless of how that vote goes, Mayor Melvin Carter said he has no plans to follow through.
“I am telling our community that, based on my judgment, it can’t be done, so we’ll continue to do the work that we’ve been doing,” Carter said. “If our voters say yes to this, they’ll say yes to authorizing us, not directing it to be done. Those two things are actually opposites.”
St. Paul city council member, Rebecca Noecker, who supports and helped craft the 2024 Early Care and Learning Proposal, said the Mayor’s stance is concerning.
“I find it very alarming to hear an elected leader in a democracy say that he would not accept the results of an election,” she said. “That’s just, that’s really concerning from a democracy standpoint to me.”
The mayor’s argument for ignoring a voter-authorized tax hike centers on the language of the ballot question itself, which reads:
“In order to create a dedicated fund for children’s early care and education to be administered by a City department or office that provides subsidies to families and providers so that early care and education is no cost to low-income families and available on a sliding scale to other families, and so as to increase the number of child care slots and support the child care workforce, shall the City of Saint Paul be authorized to levy property taxes in the amount of $2,000,000 in the first year, to increase by the same amount each year following for the next nine years ($4,000,000 of property taxes levied in year two, $6,000,000 in year three, $8,000,000 in year four and so on until $20,000,000 of property taxes are levied in year ten).”
“If I’m a voter, I think, if we vote yes on this, then childcare will be available in the city at no cost to low-income families,” Carter said. “This proposal would serve an average of only 404 children per year, at a total cost of $110 million in property tax increases.”
“We can’t ask (St. Paul voters) to pass the largest single property tax increase that I can ever remember on the basis of making a promise that explicitly says all children, and then turn around and say, ‘Oh, of the 20,000 children in our city under age five, we only meant 404 of them.”
The mayor isn’t the only one who has been clear about their stance for more than a year.
Advocates for the ballot question say they have been clear about who is – and isn’t – covered by the proposal since the council voted to override his veto.
“There’s never been a claim that this would cover every single child on day one,” Noecker told KARE11 back in the summer of 2023. “This is to provide low-income families with free child care, and to make it more affordable for families above that.”
Even though the proposal doesn’t come close to covering all low-income families, she stands by the language on the ballot and the information that supports it.
“Even if this does move forward, there’s just no scenario in which the city can administer this program as it’s currently framed,” Mayor Carter said during a news conference in the summer of 2023.
“I think that the ballot question is really clear as to who is going to be eligible for the program. But I think that in any ballot question, you only have so many words and so much space, and that’s why it’s so important to have accompanying information that goes along with that ballot question,” Noecker said. “This program will not meet the entire need. And that’s, that’s the case with every single public program that we have in our country.”
Despite her concern with the Mayor’s latest comments, Noecker said she remains hopeful that voters will be given the ultimate say.
“I haven’t really contemplated what happens after Nov. 5 if the mayor is not ready to respect the results of the election,” she said. “That’s something that my council colleagues and I will need to talk about and we’ll need to discuss what our options are in that situation.”
If it does pass, Mayor Carter said he’s not the only one who will have questions to answer.
“The folks who put this plan together by ignoring every concern, by ignoring everything my team and I have brought forward, those are the folks who should tell us what they plan to do if this passes,” Carter said. “The council member seems to have, essentially at this point, a two-part plan number one is ignoring all of my input and number two is counting on me to do all the work and they’re going to need a better plan than that.”
Virginia-based political action committee launches misleading mailers blaming Democrats for PFAS, dirty water.
MINNEAPOLIS — Democratic candidates are being targeted with hit pieces that distort their record on clean water and PFAS “forever chemicals” in Minnesota.
The Virginia-based Make Liberty Win political action committee has flooded mailboxes and doorknobs with mailers and lit pieces, accusing Minnesota Democrats at the State Capitol of being so busy passing a “radical agenda” that they’ve abandoned clean water efforts.
The mailers come complete with photos of trash in a lake, a mysterious green substance in a sink, and a poison warning skull symbol with the letters “PFAS” inside it.
The pieces are landing in the Lake Minnetonka area, where Democrat Tracy Breazeale is running in House District 45-A and Democrat Ann Johnson Stewart is running in a special election in Senate District 45.
“I’m a strong proponent of making sure we continue to keep our lakes clean, free of aquatic invasive species, that we’ve got clean drinking water alongside of that,” Breazeale told KARE.
She was shocked to see the mailers linking her to dirty water and PFAS, part of an onslaught of campaign literature arriving in the district in one form or another.
“Some have been hung on doors, some have been coming out through the mail. Some have been e-mail. Some have been other forms of electronic distribution,” Breazeale explained.
To start with, Breazeale has not been in the legislature. She’s serving her second term on the Minnetonka Beach City Council, which voted to build a new water tower that captured the iconic look of the old one. The council also supported a new water treatment plant that will filter PFAS beyond what’s required by the EPA.
“I’ve learned more about water infrastructure, PFAS, what it takes to build a new water tower, what it takes to build new water plant and all that goes into that,” she said.
The facts don’t support the claim that Democratic lawmakers have abandoned clean water efforts.
Since 2009 your tax dollars have gone to the Clean Water Fund, to protect and restore water quality in lakes, rivers, streams, and groundwater. Part of your lottery money has gone to the outdoors, which includes water quality initiatives.
In the 2023-2024 session, the DFL-controlled legislature voted to spent $318 million from the Clean Water Fund to clean water projects for 2024 and 2025. Those include environmental mitigation as well as assistance with water treatment plants.
In the same budget cycle, lawmakers devoted $25 million in lottery proceeds to water quality projects. In the current two-year budget cycle, Democrats also devoted $45 million to PFAS mitigation and filtering projects across the state.
Lawmakers passed some of the toughest laws in the nation regulating PFAS in products.
“This is a beautiful community. Water is really important. Lake Minnetonka is literally the centerpiece of our district,” Ann Johnson Stewart told KARE.
She’s a civil engineer who specializes in environmental engineering and infrastructure, who served two years in the Senate in 2021 and 2022, when Republicans controlled that chamber.
“I’ve already met with all the engineers, and the public works directors and the mayors, because when you have small communities like this, they have to share water, or they share sewer interceptors, or they share maintenance kinds of activities.”
She was surprised by the messaging in the mailers, looking to pin dirty water and PFAS on her and her fellow Democrats. It’s especially significant because the battle for control of the legislature is largely fought in mailboxes and doorknobs.
“I mean, water is the whole reason that I’m really motivated in my job to make sure everybody has clean water, and that we don’t have PFAS. So, it was pretty ridiculous and just one of many pieces we’ve seen.”
Make Liberty Win has not responded to KARE’s inquiry, as of the deadline for this story.
Here’s a summary of the PFAS-related provisions from HF 2310, the 2023 Environment and Climate Budget bill, as prepared by the nonpartisan Minnesota House Research staff:
- $2,070,000 each year from the environmental fund for the Pollution Control Agency (PCA) to develop and implement a program related to emerging issues, including Minnesota’s PFAS Blueprint.
- $500,000 for a report on firefighter turnout gear and firefighter biomonitoring (see below for more information).
- $50,000 from the remediation fund for a work group to develop recommendations for PFAS manufacturer fees (see below for more information).
- $63,000 in fiscal year 2024 and $92,000 in fiscal year 2025 for the commissioner of health to amend the health risk limit for PFOS.
- $25,000,000 for grants to support planning, designing, and preparing for solutions for public water treatment systems contaminated with PFAS and for the PCA to conduct source investigations of PFAS contamination and to sample, address, and treat private drinking water wells.
- $4,210,000 in fiscal year 2024 and $210,000 in fiscal year 2025 for PFAS reduction grants, which includes $4,000,000 for grants to industry and public entities to identify sources of PFAS entering facilities and to develop pollution prevention and reduction initiatives.
- $1,163,000 in fiscal year 2024 and $1,115,000 in fiscal year 2025 from the environmental fund for rulemaking and implementation of the new PFAS information requirements and product bans (more information on the policy below).
- $478,000 from the environment and natural resources trust fund (ENRTF) for the University of Minnesota to develop novel methods for the detection, sequestration, and degradation of PFAS in Minnesota’s lakes and rivers.
That legislation also contained the following policy provisions, according to the memo from nonpartisan House Research staff:
- Article 3, Section 1, requires manufacturers of a product containing intentionally added PFAS to submit certain information to the PCA by Jan. 1, 2026. The section also bans certain categories of products (carpets or rugs, cleaning products, cookware, cosmetics, dental floss, fabric treatments, juvenile products, menstruation products, textile furnishings, ski wax, and upholstered furniture) containing intentionally added PFAS beginning January 1, 2025. The PCA is given authority to ban additional products through rulemaking and a total ban on products containing intentionally added PFAS becomes effecting January 1, 2032, with exceptions for products where the use of PFAS is currently unavoidable as determined by the commissioner.
- Article 3, Sections 18 & 19 modify PCA reporting requirements related to the 3M settlement and east metro private well testing for PFAS.
- Article 3, Sections 25-27 & 31 prohibit the use of firefighting foam containing PFAS effective January 1, 2024. Certain exceptions would apply, including exceptions for airports and oil refineries and terminals.
- Article 3, Section 30 requires the PCA to establish a work group to review options for collecting a fee from manufacturers of PFAS in the state and submit a report to the legislature by February 15, 2024.
- Article 3, Section 32 requires the PCA to submit a report to the legislature regarding PFAS in turnout gear by January 15, 2024, including recommendations and protocols for PFAS biomonitoring in firefighters.
- Article 3, Section 33, requires the PCA to adopt water quality standards for six PFAS by July 1, 2026.
- Article 3, Section 34, requires the commissioner of health to amend the health risk limit for PFOS by July 1, 2026.
- Article 9, Section 9, allows St. Louis County to use a portion of its environmental trust fund for projects to protect Lake Superior and other waters in the Great Lakes watershed from PFAS contamination from landfills.
EDINA, Minn. — The Edina football team fell just a few yards short of winning the Minnesota State 6A Football Championship last season.
Coach Jason Potts and his team are off to a great start again this fall — and hoping to make it back to US Bank Stadium.
But at the end of the day, the Hornets said it’s the journey of one of their teammates that inspires them to keep moving forward.
“All of the doctors that I’ve had in the past doubted me a lot. It felt good to finally put on pads for the first time,” said Edina junior John Liddicoat.
Friday nights in the fall illuminate the beauty of a dream being achieved.
“I love the feeling of Friday night. Looking at the student section right before running out the tunnel, getting that adrenaline rush,” said Liddicoat.
For Liddicoat, Fridays at Kuhlman Stadium transform into a canvas of joy, inspiration and bravery.
“He’s one of the most brave guys that I’ve ever coached,” said Potts.
Pushing limits is something John has done since day one.
“John was diagnosed with Williams syndrome when he was 5 months old,” said Mary Liddicoat, John’s Mom.
“It was devastating. We were devastated. We’d never heard of the syndrome, and he was super little and it was super scary,” she added.
Williams syndrome is a rare genetic disorder that impacts many parts of the body, including cognitive delay, speech and motor skills.
“The day he was diagnosed, the geneticist said he’ll never ride a bike, and I think we both made a mental note: We’ll see,” said Liddicoat’s dad, also named John. “He can ride a bike; he didn’t learn at 3 like his brother, but he learned at 10 and he says it’s his mode of transportation now.”
John handled the handlebars… up next? A bigger challenge to tackle.
“It’s kind of a big dream of mine when I was younger to play football,” said John.
“More than any other sport, he’s always wanted to play football. Every year, when I would drive him to school, and the register for tackle football youth football signs would go up, and John would look at me in the car and say, ‘Mom, I want to play football!’ And I would say, ‘We’re not sure that’s a safe option for you,'” said Mary.
Safety concerns gave way to John’s bravery and a coach who refused to say “no” to a kid’s dream.
“One of my goals is to have access to a football program for everybody, and I didn’t want any excuses for someone to not play football, and that’s why I’m here at Edina, is to help young people chase their greatest potential,” said Potts.
“Putting on pads for the first time. Putting on a helmet for the first time. Just getting on the field, seeing my buddies, it was just a wow moment. Like, wow, I’m in pads and cleats, I’m playing football!” said John.
For the past three years, John has played football alongside his brothers, like QB Mason West.
“I’ve known him since probably first grade, and ever since, he’s just been a really smiley and happy dude. It’s honestly really fun to be around him. All of my friends love him, and it’s so good having him as part of this team,” said West.
“Just to have him on the field in the program is something special, and what he accomplishes, I don’t think he understands what he brings to the program,” said Potts.
John’s enthusiasm radiates along the sidelines every Friday night, starring in his role, encouraging teammates and coaches alike.
“You know, I might get down on myself and maybe I made a bad play call or geez, it’s raining — what do we do? And all of the sudden, you bump into John, and he just kind of flips you. And he does that to other players as well. When things get tough, it’s like you bump into John, and he’s there to lift you,” said Potts.
Lifting and inspiring others to achieve their dreams as well.
“I like to play for the other kids with disabilities that can’t do much. For me, I see kids with worse disabilities than mine, and I always feel like I need to show the world that not only can kids with disabilities do stuff, but they can play high-impact sports like football or wrestling or whatever sport they want to do,” said John.
