For its 15th year, the Twin Cities Film Fest in Minnesota released its 2024 film slate of more than 140 movies set to screen October 17-26, 2024. More than 70 films will also simultaneously stream online via the TCFF STREAMS platform.

The 2024 TCFF lineup includes a record number of local productions and Minnesota-connected feature films, accepted from a historic slate of submissions from filmmakers across the country. Nearly 40% of TCFF’s features and shorts programming this year are works that were either filmed in the state or are tied to Minnesota talent on both sides of the camera.

“From the very first year of this festival, our focus has been on showcasing, celebrating and elevating local talent,” said TCFF Executive Director Jatin Setia. “For the 15th anniversary, our programming team cast the widest net in our history, seeking out the Minnesota productions, stories, actors and producers who are reshaping the movie industry. I couldn’t be prouder of the program they’ve come back with, and I can’t wait to experience these films alongside local audiences. There’s so much joy, creativity and talent on display here, it’s truly overwhelming.”

Focus Features’ thriller, “Conclave,” starring Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, and John Lithgow and directed by Edward Berger, opens the festival on Thursday, October 17. The film tells the story of Cardinal Lawrence who is tasked with selecting a new pope only to discover that he is at the center of a secretive conspiracy that threatens to shake the very foundation of the Roman Catholic Church.

This year’s closing night gala will will celebrate the Minnesota-connected feature “Days When The Rains Came,” in a sneak-preview. The film tells the story of a stalled actress mired in the monotony of family life who heads back to her hometown to care for her ailing father, only to be drawn back into her dysfunctional family history and to her first love who got away. Writer and actress Marisa Coughlan, a Minnesota native, will be present for a post film discussion alongside actors Beau Bridges and Eliza Coupe.

Between those tentpoles, TCFF’s 2024 Centerpiece will be Shout Studios’ “Magpie,” a new psychological noir thriller set to screen October 21. Based on an original idea by Daisy Ridley, written by Tom Bateman, and directed by Sam Yates, the film stars Daisy Ridley, Shazad Latif, Matilda Lutz, Pippa Bennett-Warner, Hiba Ahmed, Cherrelle Skeete and Alistair Petrie. Magpie is a stylish thriller centered on married couple Anette (Ridley) and Ben (Latif), whose lives begin to fracture when their daughter is cast alongside a glamorous movie star, Alicia (Lutz). As Anette’s suspicions of Ben’s infatuation with Alicia intensify, their secrets and lies threaten to burst to the surface and destroy them all. Producer and actress Daisy Ridley, and producer and writer Tom Bateman, will be in attendance to receive the TCFF Indie Vision Awards.

This year’s “TCFF Changemaker Series” will again showcase several social issues that have been championed across the organization’s 15 years, with new films specially curated for 2024. Among the key topics this year: Addiction, affordable housing, veteran support, homelessness, education, and mental health. Many of this year’s films will be made available to audiences for free both in person and online.

The 2024 TCFF NorthStar Award will be bestowed to Emmy winner Josh Duhamel, who will appear during the festival for a special “In Conversation” spotlight event.

Other acclaimed entries in this year’s program: “Nightbitch,” “Unstoppable,” “Blitz,” “A Real Pain,” “On Becoming a Guinea Fowl,” “Superboys of Malegaon,” “Don’t Move,” “Schirkoa: In Lies We Trust,” “La Cocina,” “Luther: Never Too Much” and a special event spotlighting the creator of Mystery Science Theater Joel Hodgson as he presents “A Thousand Clowns”.

The festival returns for in-person events to The Shops at West End, forging a new partnership with both the Marcus West End Cinemas and presenting sponsor Stearns Bank, with some 90 programs set to take place in St. Louis Park, Minn. More than 70 films will also simultaneously stream online via the festival’s TCFF STREAMS platform.

Films + Director/s

24 Days Without You, Rebecca Rizzio
376 Days: Nick Cave Keep it Movin’, Claude-Aline Nazaire-Miller
A Decent Home, Sara Terry
A Letter From The Fathers Chapter II, Tristan Barrocks
A Little Family Drama, Nadia Zoe
A Real Pain, Jesse Eisenberg
A School Grows in Watts, Ryan S. Porush
A Sea Change for Superior: The Warming of the World’s Largest Lake, John Thain
Adventure Tom, Miguel Duran
Ain’t Got Time to Die, Martin Krafft
All We Carry, Cady Voge
Antarctic Voyage, Kevin Schreck
Back on Track: Rebuilding the Waupaca Train Depot, Max Hauser
Band on the Run, Jeff Hupp, Brian Cusac, Merritt Fritchie
Basketball State – The Land of 10,000 Hoops, Gabe Hostetler
Ben and Suzanne, A Reunion in 4 Parts, Shaun Seneviratne
Black Outside, Gary Wilkerson, Jr. and Mary Jeanes
Black Table, John Antonio James, Bill Mack
Blitz, Steve McQueen
Bob Trevino Likes It, Tracie Laymon
Body Electric, Nick Demos
Boundary Waters, Tessa Blake
Broken Eyes, Dana Conroy
Camp RicStar, Sam McConnell
Canyon Chorus, Chris Cresci
Community Collage: The Bright Side of Community, Josh Madson
Conclave, Edward Berger
Days When The Rains Came, J Mills Goodloe
Dirty Boy, Doug Rao
Don’t Move, Adam Schindler & Brian Netto
Farming While Black, Mark Decena
Figures, Rhett Cutrell
For the Living, Marc Bennett and Tim Roper
Ghost From The Machine, Matt Osterman
Good Men, Bobby Roth
Green Works, Julio Palacio
Hauntology, Parker Brennon
Hidden In Plain Sight, Rachel Levy
His Name Is Ray, Michael Del Monte
home • less Episode 1: The Life, Brandon Ferdig
Hope in the Water, Brian Peter Falk
If That Mockingbird Don’t Sing, Sadie Bones
Incompleteness, Part 3, Dave Ash
Inheritance, Emily Moss Wilson
Joel Hodgson Presents – A Thousand Clowns, Fred Coe
Juneteenth Reckoning with Slavery: MN African American History, Monique Anya Linder
La Cocina, Alonso Ruizpalacios
Los Frikis, Michael Schwartz & Tyler Nilson
Luther: Never Too Much, Dawn Porter
Magpie, Sam Yates
Men of Character, Isaac Tsai
Minnesota Lynx Commissioner’s Cup, Adrian Wilson
My Town, Cory Hepola
NightBitch, Marielle Heller
On Becoming a Guinea Fowl, Rungano Nyoni
Orca – Black & White Gold, Sarah Nörenberg
Out of Time, Alison Guessou
Owl, Julian Pham
Panda Bear In Africa, Richard Claus
Paper Marriage, Jeff Man
Pops, Sylvester K. Folks
Prayer Warrior: Four Days with Frankie Luvu, Song Johansen
Qatar Stars, Danielle Beverly
Queen Of The Ring, Ash Avildsen
Scars Unseen, Meredith Yinger
Schirkoa: In Lies We Trust, Ishan Shukla
Sheepdog, Steven Grayhm
Solitude, Jeremy Brown and Mick Strawn
Someone Lives Here, Zack Russell
Superboys of Malegaon, Reema Kagti
The Activated Man, Nicholas Gyeney
The Ballad of a Hustler, Heitor Dhalia
The Donn Of Tiki, Alex Lamb & Max Well
The Drive, Samuel Harvey
The Fishing Hat Bandit, Mark R Brown
The Kids’ Table, Stephen Folker
The Midway Point, Lucca Vieira
The Minnesota Integration Story, Derek Francis
The Power of Intention, Karolis Spinkis
The Ultra Pickle Juice Project, Jeff Berg
Unstoppable, William Goldenberg
We Strangers, Anu Valia
When Does Freedom Begin, Linda Genereux
Wild Hope: Mission Impossible, David Murdock