FILM
International Film Festival
The 26th Annual Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival begins today (through May 3rd) and features over 100 films from over 40 countries. Tonight’s kick-off film is The Visitor, by director Tom McCarthy — who, by the way, got his start at the Guthrie. McCarthy’s new film follows an economic professor to suburban Connecticut, where he first startles and then befriends a young couple before one of them is carted away to an immigration detention center. If it’s half as good as his previous film, The Station Agent, it’ll be well worth your while. Be sure to check out the full film listing for the varies venues. Among the visiting luminaries due for the festival are cinematographer Ellen Kuras (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Be Kind Rewind, & more than 15 titles), director of Dry Season (Daratt) Mahamet-Saleh Haroun, director Lance Hammer (Ballast), Chinese independent filmmaker Jian Yi (Bamboo Shoots), Somali actress Sam Sam (Family Motel), former Minneapolis filmmaker Mirek Janek (Citizen Havel), and veteran Russian director Valery Pandrakovsky (Full Breath).
7 p.m., Kerasotes-Block E Theater, 600 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis; 612-338-1466.
WINE & DINE
Opening Night Gala
Once the movie has come to a close, take the celebration into full swing with a carnivalesque Opening Night Gala at Bellanotte. Treat yourself to a free dinner buffet, $3.50 to $5 festival happy hour prices, plus half-price bottles of wine. Dinner options include: pastas, salads, and wood-fired pizzas. And entertainment will be provided by the Secrets Circus, complete with stilt walkers, jesters, and jugglers. Following dinner, the Secret Circus will light up the night with a fire dance and juggling act on the Bellanotte outdoor Patio, which will finally be open tonight.
9 p.m., Bellanote, 600 Hennepin Ave., corner of 1st Ave & 6th St., Minneapolis; 612-339-7200; $10 (free with opening night film ticket).
MUSIC
Refreshingly Tart
The singer Somi, who will be performing at the Dakota
tonight, is like a cool glass of pink lemonade, a titch
more sweet than citrus, yet still refreshingly tart on the tastebuds.
Born in Illinois to parents of Rwandan and Ugandan heritage, Somi
(actual name L. Kabasomi Kakoma) is a smooth cultural-musical polyglot,
sinuous like Sade, with some of the breathy restraint of Cassandra Wilson, yet cognizant of the African vocal tradition of long, extended coos that gradually fade in the ether. —Britt Robson
7 & 9:30 p.m., Dakota Jazz Club and Restaurant, 1010 Nicollet Ave., Minneapolis; 612-332-1010; $20 & $15.
The Man Playing the Man
When one musical genius pays tribute to another musical genius, you don’t want to miss that. And that’s just what you’ll see tonight if you make your way to Orchestra Hall for Deleayo Marsalis’s Tribute to Louis Armstrong. Marsalis will be on Trombone, Nicholas Payton on trumpet, Victor Goines on tenor saxophone and clarinet, Bill Charlap on piano, Reginald Veal on bass, Herlin Riley on drums, Kermit Ruffins on vocals and trumpet, and Charmin Michelle on vocals.
7:30 p.m., Orchestra Hall,
1111 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis; 612-371-5656; $45-$65.
ART
Lisa Pahl Paintings
Former Rake Production Manager Lisa Pahl is exhibiting some of her fabulous artwork for the next ten days, and while the opening reception is not until this Saturday (5-7 p.m.), I suggest a sneak peek today, so you can get dibs on the paintings for sale. Her beautiful broad stroke and wonderful use of colors will make it well worth your while. Check out her work here.
10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Mezzolago Art Gallery, 5255 Chicago Ave S., Minneapolis; 612-824-1570.
Also tonight: Exhibition Preview, Performance, and Reception for Trisha Brown (7 p.m.). Watch the modern dance legend improvise movements across a large piece of paper placed on the Medtronic Gallery floor as it is simulcast in the Cinema and online on the Walker Channel. Then join a reception in the Bazinet Garden Lobby preceding the opening of the exhibition Trisha Brown: So That the Audience Does Not Know Whether I Have Stopped Dancing.
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