The Fargo Film Festival announced its 2011 program schedule complete with screening times and locations. The festival opens on Tuesday, March 1 with “The Lutefisk Wars,” a regionally produced feature film, shot in a faux documentary style, which follows the comic misadventures of a neighborly Norwegian, a heated rivalry and a mysterious recipe.
Sojourner Pictures, Los Angeles, Calif., is presenting the Midwest premiere of “The Lutefisk Wars,” a regionally produced feature film, shot in a faux documentary style, which follows the comic misadventures of a neighborly Norwegian, a heated rivalry and a mysterious recipe.
The film will be featured as the opening picture of the 2011 Fargo Film Festival Tuesday, March 1, at 8 p.m. at the Historic Fargo Theater, located at 3154 Broadway in Fargo.
Starring an eclectic and talented cast of nationally recognized actors including Regan Burns, “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” Deb Hiett, “The Office,” Stewart Skelton, “Parks and Recreation,” Joel McCrary, “The Princess Diaries”, and Haynes Brooke, “Nip/Tuck,” along with local talent Steve Poitras, KFGO, and Scott Horvik, Theatre B, and written, produced and directed by industry professionals David E. Hall and Christopher Panneck, originally of Grand Forks, “The Lutefisk Wars,” is a colorful, can’t-miss comedy.
Documentary filmmakers examine the troubles which escalate in Newford, North Dakota, a small town with a large number of people of Norwegian descent. On a quiet afternoon on his farmstead, Schwan’s delivery man and aspiring chef, Karl Larsen, receives an unexpected visitor. Before the stranger can deliver an important message about an ancient lutefisk recipe, he falls face first into Karl’s homemade hotdish and dies. Intent on solving the mystery of the expired old man, Karl gathers local law enforcement, the resident undertaker, and his feisty fiancée, Gail, to unravel a twisted yarn that leads back to two warring Norwegian mafia families and the fishy dish that set them at odds hundreds of years ago. In a side-splitting story of mistaken identity and mounting mayhem, Karl and the townsfolk find themselves on a humorous journey of love, loss and lutefisk. Before this is over, somebody’s going to eat it.
Other highlights of the Fargo Film Festival, all at 7 p.m. each evening, include: Wednesday, March 2, “Fantasy and Reality,” featuring award-winning animation and the documentary “Made in India;” Thursday, March 3, In person and on screen “Doug Jones: the Man Behind the Make-up – Character Actor Extraordinaire,” star of “Pan’s Labyrinth,” “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer,” and the “Hellboy” movies; Friday, March 4, “An Evening with Guy Maddin” featuring screenings of “The Heart of the World,” and “Cowards Bend the Knee;” Saturday, March 5, “Best of Fest” featuring award winners in each category, presentation of the Ted M. Larson Award to David Filipi and the Volunteer Spirit Award to Marty Jonason.
Tickets are available at www.fargofilmfestival.org, 701-239-8385 and at the door.
The 2011 Fargo Film Festival runs March 1 thru March 5, 2011.