With heavy hearts, we announce the cancellation of the 2020 Fargo Film Festival due to concerns regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and government health officials’ recommendations against gathering large crowds at this time. The 20th annual FFF was scheduled to run March 17-21 at the Fargo Theatre.
“This was a difficult decision, but protecting the health of our audiences, filmmakers, volunteers, and community must always be our top priority” said Fargo Theatre Executive Director Emily Beck.
Fargo Theatre staff and volunteers will plan an event for summer 2020 which will feature a portion of the festival’s film programming and awards presentations.
All online sales will be refunded automatically in the next seven days. Online ticket holders do not need to take any action. Tickets purchased in person can only be refunded in person at the Fargo Theatre’s box office. Patrons must bring their original ticket or receipt for a refund to be processed.
“The Fargo Film Festival is the Fargo Theatre’s largest annual fundraiser. This cancellation will have a significant impact on our organization. If you appreciate the Fargo Theatre or the Fargo Film Festival, we would encourage you to make a donation at www.FargoTheatre.org. We are so grateful to the community sponsors who are standing by us at this challenging time. We hope our beloved hometown stays safe and healthy,” said Beck.
The Fargo Film Festival and Fargo Theatre remain committed to supporting independent film and offering a platform for independent film artists.
For questions regarding ticketing, please call the Fargo Theatre at 701-239-8385
Despite the cancellation of the in-person Fargo Film Festival this year, we proudly honor the movies and moviemakers who received awards from our jurors. Even though we were unable to share our excitement with so many of these wonderful filmmakers in person, the Fargo Film Festival is proud to announce the Best in Show and special award recipient class of 2020.
Best Picture: The Neighbors’ Window
Best Directors: Alexandra Kotcheff and Hannah Leder, The Planters
Best Actor: Hugo Weaving, Hearts and Bones
Best Actress: Rachael Harris, International Falls
Best Cinematography: Peter Nelson, The Pollinators
The Pat Hansen Award for Best Screenplay: Floor Adams, Mind My Mind
The Ruth Landfield Award: The Garden Left Behind
The Prairie Spirit Award: Balkowitsch
The Rusty Casselton Award: Florence
The Margie Bailly Volunteer Spirit Award: Peg O’Neill and Jenny Jensen
Despite our disappointment at the cancellation of the 2020 Fargo Film Festival, we express congratulations to the winners of the 2-Minute Movie Contest.
The Fargo Film Festival sincerely thanks all the talented artists who submitted work to the 2020 2-Minute Movie Contest. We are heartbroken that the cancellation of our beloved event this year meant that we could not share these movies with you.
Please know that we intend to be back, stronger than ever, in 2021.
An Address to a President (Neno Belchev) Allaire Community Farm (Zach Weisenstein) American Meals (Haruka Motohashi) The Annunciation (Rosanna Cuellar) Ante Meridiem (Zachary Howett and Kyle Odefey) Ascending Double Helix (Vito Rowlands) Bound (Jeff Vande Zande) Burying Chekhov (Paul Kelly) Charlotte’s Daydream (Marlies van der Wel) Chasing My Friend, Mr. Cormorant (Freddy Moyano) Chocolate Moon (Amanda Bonaiuto) Cilen the Victim (Nick Chunn) The Curious Duckling (Alex McGillvrey) Dead Man’s Party The Dreamer (Patrick Simmons) The Drunk (Jason Hensel) Edge of Asbury (Sidney Washington) Experiment #1 (Christian Schneider) Flying through the Water (Ariel Neo) Fort Monmouth (Vaughn Battista) Good Ol’ Greg (Sara Huang) I Really Can’t Tell (Vaughn Battista) Ice-cream and Freedom (Neno Belchev) Insecure (Jack Hester) Invocation of Kali (Jason DeFreitas) Irae (Nathalie Veck) It’s Not Over Yet (Chiara Spillo) A Job to Do (Charles Hinton) John (Shihyun Wang) Julian’s Birthday (Charles Hinton) Khanak: The Sweet Sound of Bangles (Rishiraj Agarwal) La mer a boire (Charlotte Arene) LAX to Vancouver (Zach Dorn) Love (Mark Mos) Mi Di Worm No. 10 (Barbara Peikert) The Original Fifty Cents (John Akre) Pippindustriali (Matin Akravi) The Pointe (Rachel Evans) Quail (Grant Kolton) Quick Thoughts About Rainbows (Ian Johnston) Rethink (Jelle Bleyenbergh) Rugs for Women (Paul Brennan) Senior Assassin (Jack Hester) Sonata (Zachary Howett) Spooky Talent Agent (Vince Breheny) Sting Theory: Monday (Dan Britt) That Hat (Jon Tan) There’s No Such Thing as Monsters (Matty McCabe) Threat Count: The Tao of Bobo (Daniel Appleby) Trains, Wolves and Other Hazards (Aaron Crume) Unravelled (Christopher Cosgrove) Wacipi (John Gigrich) A Year (Nick White)
The Fargo Film Festival is excited to announce the 2020 screening schedule for March 17 -21. Please note, times and locations are subject to change.
Tickets are now on sale at the Fargo Theatre box office and are also available to purchase online here. Please note that a service charge of $1.25 will be added to every ticket purchased online.
You can view the complete glossy program guide for the 2020 Fargo Film Festival here.
Tuesday Afternoon, March 17, Theatre 1 1:30pm The Kite 1:45pm Blueberry 2:00pm Extra Innings 2:10pm A Sidewalk Becomes a Street 2:25pm The Girl in the Hallway 2:35pm Brotherhood 3:00pm BREAK 3:10pm Hors Piste 3:15pm Don’t Feed These Animals 3:30pm Change 3:35pm Dead Animals 3:45pm Traffic Separating Device 4:00pm Norm 4:25pm Wild Love 4:35pm Made Public 4:50pm Peggy
Tuesday Afternoon, March 17, Theatre 2 1:30pm False Confessions 3:05pm BREAK 3:15pm Alice
Tuesday Evening, March 17, Theatre 1 7:00pm Mind My Mind 7:30pm The Neighbors’ Window 7:50pm R.A.W. Tuba
Wednesday Morning, March 18, Theatre 1 10:00am Daughter 10:15am Birds of Paradise 10:30am The Pollinators
Wednesday Morning, March 18, Theatre 2 10:00am Racing the Sunset 10:05am Butterfly 10:30am The Inuring 10:40am The Minors 10:50am Let Mercy Come 11:10am Moonwalk with Me 11:25am Jack and Anna 11:40am Dead Animals 11:50am Everything You Wanted to Know About Sudden Birth
Wednesday Afternoon, March 18, Theatre 1 1:30pm Ghazaal 1:45pm Reverb 2:05pm Tuesday 2:20pm In My Eyes 2:45pm BREAK 2:55pm Two 3:00pm The Fox and the Bird 3:10pm Sometimes I Think About Dying 3:25pm Extra Innings 3:35pm The Christmas Gift 4:00pm Green 4:10pm Kanari 4:25pm Unkept 4:40pm The Field
Wednesday Afternoon, March 18, Theatre 2 1:30pm Prey 2:55pm BREAK 3:05pm Progeny 3:35pm The Wretched
Wednesday Evening, March 18, Theatre 1 7:00pm Balkowitsch
Thursday Morning, March 19, Theatre 1 10:00am Big Wolf and Little Wolf 10:15am Unleashed 10:25am Book Week
Thursday Morning, March 19, Theatre 2 10:00am 25 Texans in the Land of Lincoln 10:30am Prey
Thursday Afternoon, March 19, Theatre 1 1:30pm Red Rover 3:10pm BREAK 3:20pm The Iron Grandmother 3:30pm The Litas 3:40pm Decoding the Driftless
Thursday Afternoon, March 19, Theatre 2 1:30pm The Lonely Orbit 1:40pm King Wah (I Think I Love You) 1:50pm Patron 2:00pm Anna Karenina 2:15pm Spring II 2:25pm Blooming 2:40pm Chairs 2:50pm Symbiosis 3:05pm Distinguished Feelings 3:15pm BREAK 3:25pm Floating 3:35pm Lost Bayou
Thursday Evening, March 19, Theatre 1 7:00pm Sounds of the Criterion Collection with Ryan Hullings
Friday Morning, March 20, Theatre 1 10:00am A Sidewalk Becomes a Street 10:15am Saint Frances
Friday Morning, March 20, Theatre 2 10:00am Undue Burdens 10:30am Changing the Game
Friday Afternoon, March 20, Theatre 1 1:30pm 20th Fargo Film Festival Retrospective 3:00pm BREAK 3:15pm The Garden Left Behind
Friday Afternoon, March 20, Theatre 2 1:30pm Hearts and Bones 3:20pm BREAK 3:30pm R.A.W. Tuba 4:00pm 25 Texans in the Land of Lincoln 4:40pm Fraser Syndrome and Me
Friday Evening, March 20, Theatre 1 7:00pm Scream, Queen! with special guest Mark Patton 9:30pm 2-Minute Movie Contest
Saturday Morning, March 21, Theatre 1 Saturday Morning Cartoons … For Adults. 10:00am The Kite 10:15am Sister 10:25am The Girl in the Hallway 10:35am Flowing Through Wonder 10:50am The Bird and the Whale 11:00am The Fox and the Bird 11:10am Flower Found! 11:20am Coaster with animators Dan Lund and Amos Sussigan
Saturday Morning, March 21, Theatre 2 10:00am Aziza 10:15am The Christmas Gift 10:40am Occupied 11:15am Brotherhood 11:40am The Neighbors’ Window
Saturday Afternoon, March 21, Theatre 1 1:30pm Ted M. Larson Award Presentation to Tom Brandau 1:50pm Florence 2:05pm Change 2:20pm Made Public 2:35pm Peggy 2:45pm BREAK 3:00pm The Planters
Saturday Afternoon, March 21, Theatre 2 1:30pm The Pollinators 3:00pm BREAK 3:10pm Lost Bayou
Saturday Evening, March 21, Theatre 1 7:00pm Margie Bailly Volunteer Spirit Award presentation to Jenny Jensen and Peg O’Neill 7:10pm 2-Minute Movie Contest Winner 7:15pm International Falls
Plan your visit to the 2020 Fargo Film Festival using Sched.
Download the free app or visit the website to learn more about films and special events. Each post on Sched features movie summaries, photos, showtimes and locations.
Sched can be found in the App Store and the Google Play Store. Get the app now to make the most out of your Fargo Film Festival experience.
The Fargo Film Festival is proud to announce a special lineup of award-winning animated short films in a session titled Saturday Morning Cartoons for Grown-ups. Special guests Amos Sussigan and Dan Lund will be in attendance.
This animation showcase features acclaimed shorts from around the world, including 2020 Academy Award nominee “Sister.”
The complete animation showcase line-up includes: 10:00 a.m. “The Kite” 10:15 a.m. “Sister” 10:25 a.m. “The Girl in the Hallway” 10:35 a.m. “Flowing Through Wonder” 10:50 a.m. “The Bird and the Whale” 11:00 a.m. “The Fox and the Bird” 11:10 a.m. “Flower Found!” 11:20 a.m. “Coaster” with animators Dan Lund and Amos Sussigan
The screening of “Coaster” will be followed by a presentation and Q and A with filmmakers Amos Sussigan and Dan Lund.
The Saturday Morning Cartoons for Grown-Ups animation showcase will begin at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, March 21 at the Fargo Theatre.
Tickets are now on sale at the Fargo Theatre box office and are also available for purchase online.
About “Sister” “Sister” is an Academy Award-nominated animated short in which a man recalls childhood memories of growing up with an annoying little sister in 1990s China. What would his life have been like if things had gone differently?
About “Coaster” “Coaster” is a coming-of-age animated short about a recent graduate experiencing the literal ups and downs of adulthood after moving into his first house, which happens to be built atop a roller coaster in sync with his emotions.
Amos Sussigan (“Coaster” director/producer/writer) After working at Paramount Pictures, Disney, Fox, DreamWorks and Netflix, Amos is now an artist for Ryan Coogler’s “Space Jam 2” at Warner Brothers. Outside his studio work, Amos is a published author and has been awarded for writing and directing “Broken Wing” (2012), “Swan Cake” (2013), and art-directing and co-producing “Aria for a Cow” (2015), which features one of the last songs of Howard Ashman and Alan Menken (“Beauty and the Beast,” “Aladdin”) which has been screened at more than 60 International Film Festivals.
Dan Lund (“Coaster” producer/writer) Dan Lund has been a Disney effects animator/designer as well as an independent filmmaker for 30 years. His role as EFX Design Lead on “Frozen” was to conceptualize and animate effects traditionally and then work with the CGI animators in following it through to completion. Dan began his career at Walt Disney Animation Studios in 1989 as a production assistant and then went on to learn Disney effects animation while working on the Oscar-nominated “Beauty and the Beast.” He has worked on such films as “Aladdin,” “The Lion King,” “Pocahontas,” “Mulan,” “The Princess and the Frog,” “Moana,” and “Frozen 2.”
Dan directed the documentary “Dream on Silly Dreamer” in 2005, for which he received a certificate of Merit from ASIFA. He was awarded Best Director from the York Film Festival for his feature length documentary “Death Becomes Them: The Musical.” He also directed the animated short “Aria for a Cow,” based on the never-before-heard song from Howard Ashman and Alan Menken.
He is very active outside of the studio system with his own independent filmmaking projects, including the animated shorts “Hildy Hildy” and the web series “Jeffrey: The Series.”
