Come abide with Fargo Film Festival volunteers, friends, and filmmakers at All-Star Bowl on Thursday, March 23 starting at 9:00 p.m.

All you care to bowl and shoe rental is only ten bucks, and the event is open to achievers of all ages. No charge for non-bowlers.

We will look forward to a real heart-to-heart, some sarsaparilla, and maybe even a White Russian or two.

The Fargo Film Festival is proud to honor Serena Dykman’s “Nana” with this year’s Bill Snyder Award for best documentary feature.

“Nana” follows Dykman as she retraces her grandmother’s Auschwitz survival story through Europe.

The film will be shown on Saturday, March 25 at 3:00 p.m. at the Fargo Theatre and Dykman will participate in a conversation with the audience following the film.

The Fargo Film Festival is thrilled to announce that Brett Haley’s Sundance hit “The Hero” will be screened at the 2017 Fargo Film Festival prior to its national release.

Starring Sam Elliott, Laura Prepon, Nick Offerman, Krysten Ritter, and Katharine Ross, “The Hero” marks writer/director Brett Haley’s (I’ll See You in My Dreams) return with another sharply observed exploration of aging.  Lee Hayden (Elliott) is a Western film icon with a golden voice, but his best performances are decades behind him.  He spends his days reliving old glories and getting high with his former-co-star-turned-dealer, Jeremy (Offerman, Parks and Recreation).  When Lee receives a surprise cancer diagnosis, his priorities come into sharp focus.  He soon strikes up an exciting relationship with stand-up comic Charlotte (Prepon, Orange Is the New Black) and attempts to reconnect with his estranged daughter, Lucy (Ritter, Jessica Jones).  All the while, Lee searches for one final role to cement his legacy.

“The Hero” will be shown at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, March 24 at The Fargo Theatre.

A conversation with producer Erik Rommesmo and executive producer Jeff Schlossman will follow the screening.

The 2-Minute Movie Contest returns to the Fargo Film Festival on Friday, March 24, 2017 at 9:30 p.m.

Admission is two dollars.

Submissions to the 2-Minute Movie Contest are open until Friday, February 24, 2017.

Moviemakers may submit only one film for consideration, and there is no guarantee of exhibition.

Flash drives with a self-contained movie file can be dropped off at the Fargo Theatre box office or contestants can email a link to a downloadable Vimeo file to gregcarlson1[at]gmail.com by 5 p.m. on Thursday, February 23, 2017.

Total running time may not exceed 120 seconds, including any credits.

Submissions continue to arrive for the eyes, ears, and minds of our hungry judges. The Fargo Film Festival’s late deadline of October 1, 2016 is fast approaching, and we offer an extended deadline of November 1, 2016.

After that, juries will complete viewing assignments and make decisions about our March 2017 lineup.

All submissions must be completed online using Film Freeway or Withoutabox.

The Fargo Film Festival congratulates Ning Cheng as the 2016 first place winner of the 2-Minute Movie Contest.

Cheng’s animated short “Dinosaur” was chosen by judges as the winning work from nearly fifty submitted movies. Cheng is a graduate of Cal Arts.

The second place movie, “Sport in the Land of Plenty,” is director Matt Reynolds’ surreal animation featuring music by Nacho Cano (a.k.a. Twin Cabins).

Third place went to Cassie Passantino’s “Flowers Can’t Talk.”

Thanks to all the moviemakers who shared their work for the showcase. The 2-Minute Movie Contest will return in 2017.

The Fargo Film Festival is excited to announce the 2016 program of 2-Minute Movie Contest entries.

The fun begins at 9:45 p.m. on Friday, March 18, 2016 at the Historic Fargo Theatre. Admission is two dollars and tickets are available at the door.

1976 (Aggressive)
20 Minutes of Kite Flying (Cy Kuckenbaker)
3:33 (Kathryn Garelli)
Animation Hotline (Dustin Grella)
Balls (Mimi Leung)
Blaze and Frankie (Reilly Myklebust and Jessi Schmit)
Bonjour Paris (Tyler Fairbank)
Boulderdash (Hanna Loegering)
Cage (Ning Cheng)
California Inspires Me: Kim Gordon (Freddy Arenas)
Cannibal Nuns (Eric Wicklund)
The Card Trick That Killed Logic’s Family (Aaron Crume)
Clementine (Shane Reetz)
CoCo Taxi (Janet Bayliss)
Cthupid (Giovanni Braggio)
Dinosaur (Ning Cheng)
Diorama (Iskander Krayenbosch)
Dog and Lobe: An Homage (Matt McGregor)
Ephemeral Passion (Daria Belikov)
Fine Line (Chris Parsons)
Flowers Can’t Talk (Cassie Passantino)
Freedom (Richa Deo)
Glore (Nicos Livesey)
Hero’s Journey (Iskander Krayenbosch)
Hummingbird’s Wings (Dustin Grella)
I’ll Be Home (Justin Schroepfer)
I’m Busy (Carmel Gatchalian)
If the Cuckoo Don’t Crow (Steve Kirby)
Insight (Kim Laughton)
Just Like Today (Isabella Olaguera)
Light (Stpehen Ong)
Money (Mimi Leung)
Movie Phone Super Call (Burger Fiction)
New York City (Aaron Crume)
The Other Side of the Mirror (Jane Maloney)
People of Nowhere (Lior Sperandeo)
Poetry Perception (Caitlin Craggs)
Sartre’s Cookbook (Bailey Tillman, Tyler Aldous, Josh Palmquist)
Siamese Brutality (Winston Hacking)
Siliconscious (Kim Laughton)
Sorry (Olivia Malesco)
Sport in the Land of Plenty (Matt Reynolds)
Thunder Mountain Monument (Janet Bayliss)
Trick or Treat (Sarah Takash)
Tunnel (Nick Haaf)
Water and the Path of Life (Abi Karl, et al.)
What the Wings Bring (Deb Wallwork)