Twin Cities Film Fest announces lineup

Several of the season’s most-anticipated films will have their regional premiere at the Twin Cities Film Fest. The series, running Oct. 12-20 at the Showplace Icon theater in St. Louis Park, presents locally made films and documentary features alongside studio offerings that are already being mentioned as probable Oscar nominees.

Dustin Hoffman makes his directorial debut with “Quartet,” a character study of retired opera singers starring Maggie Smith, Tom Courtenay, Billy Connolly and Pauline Collins. It screens Oct. 14.

Oct. 16, there’s “The Sessions,” an affecting comedy-drama inspired by the true story of a paralyzed polio survivor and the sexual surrogate who helped him lose his virginity in his late thirties. Alexandria, Minn. native John Hawkes and Oscar-winner Helen Hunt star. Australian director Ben Lewin, who lost the use of his legs to polio, directs with great humor and sensitivity.

The crowd-pleasing “Silver Linings Playbook” starring Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence plays Oct. 18. The oddball love story took the top award at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sunday, a likely indication of more awards to come. Past winners of the Toronto prize include include “Slumdog Millionaire” and “The King’s Speech.”

“Not Fade Away,” a rock ‘n’ roll coming of age tale set in 1964 New Jersey, the feature directing debut from David Chase, creator of HBO’s “The Sopranos” plays Oct. 19.

The festival boasts a total of 60 films, including a special screening of E.T.” The Extra-Terrestrial.” The program opens with the Jeff Bridges hunger documentary “A Place at the Table” Oct. 12 and concludes with the Minnesota-shot Justin Long comedy “Lumpy” Oct. 20.

Ticket options range from $10 individual passes to $120 multi-film and party passes. For more information and to purchase tickets (available beginning Wednesday, September 19) visit www.twincitiesfilmfest.org.   

Filmmakers and cast members attending the screenings will be announced presently. Meanwhile, here’s a rundown of the schedule.

2012 TWIN CITIES FILM FEST SCHEDULE

October 12            

8:30PM: A Place at the Table, directed by Kristi Jacobson & Lori Silverbush, 86m

October 13            

10:30AM: Call Me Kuchu, directed by Katherine Fairfax Wright & Malika Zouhali-Worrall, 87m

1:00PM: The Sapphires, directed by Wayne Blair, 99m

3:00PM: The Iran Job, directed by Till Schauder, 93m

5:00PM: The Eyes of Thailand, directed by Tim Vandersteeg, 65m

7:00PM: It’s a Disaster, directed by Todd Berger, 88m

9:00PM: Bro’, directed by Nick Parada, 89m

October 14            

11:00AM: Crazy & Thief, directed by Cory McAbee, 52m

12:15PM: E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, directed by Steven Spielberg, 115m

2:45PM: We Are Wisconsin, directed by Annie Eastman, 105m

5:15PM: Quartet, directed by Dustin Hoffman, 97m

7:15PM: Stag, directed by Brett Heard, 83m

9:15PM: Dead Man’s Burden, directed by Jared Moshe, 93m

October 15            

7:00PM: Finding Home, directed by Chars Bonin, 90m

9:00PM: The “Lighter” Side (MN Shorts), Various MN Directors 100m

October 16            

6:00PM: Best of MN: Festival Winners!, Various MN Directors, 60m

6:30PM: The Sessions, directed by Ben Lewin, 95m

8:30PM: The Rhymesayers European Tour, directed by Andrew Melby, 105m

October 17          

 6:45PM: Dust Up, directed by Ward Roberts, 90m

7:00PM: Nobody Walks, directed by Ry Russo-Young, 83m

9:00PM: Opposite Blood, directed by Billy Xiong, 120m

October 18            

2:45PM: American Autumn: An Occudoc, directed by Dennis Trainor Jr., 76m

 4:45PM: Field Work: A Family Farm, directed by John Helde, 97m

6:30PM: Silver Linings Playbook, directed by David O. Russell, 117m

6:45PM: Pincus, directed by David Fenster, 79m