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Sound Unseen: A conversation with Festival Director Jim Brunzell

  Play Now [9:18]

November 13, 2013

Sound Unseen 2013
Sound Unseen Film Festival starts today.
Sound Unseen

Sound Unseen, Minneapolis' annual festival of films about music, returns this fall with a full slate of films whose topics range from cartooning to hardcore, from the history of radio to the stories of musicians both obscure and legendary.

Jim Brunzell, director for the Sound Unseen festival, stopped by to share the news for the 14th annual Sound Unseen Film/Music/Art festival taking place Nov. 13-17, 2013 in Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN.

Some of the screenings highlighted:

Wednesday, November 13 at Landmark Center 7pm

OPENING NIGHT FILM & MIDWEST PREMIERE: "Every Everything: The Music, Life & Times of Grant Hart"
dir. Gorman Bechard. Director Bechard, producer Jan Radder and musician/subject Grant Hart will be present.

"Every Everything: The Music, Life & Times of Grant Hart" doc completely flips the formula from Bechard's risky yet rewarding 2011 doc "Color Me Obsessed": It's 100% unfiltered, unrestrained Grant Hart. The former Husker Du co-songwriter/singer/drummer welcomes you into his world, immediately addresses any Husker Du reunion possibilities in an old interview, and is shown wailing behind his kit during that renowned middle-American punk band's heyday. And that all happens before the film's title even appears.

Saturday, November 16 at McNally Smith College of Music 7pm

MN PREMIERE: "Death to Prom" dir. Matt Stenerson & Jeremy Wilker. Directors Matt Stenerson & Jeremy Wilker, along with select cast members, will be present.

Two best friends make the best of going to high school by dreaming up fashion magazine photo shoots, and bribing their siblings to model for them. Rene indulges his fantasies and loves designing clothes. Frankie lives for her camera and punk rock. They both fall for Sasha, the shy soccer player with a soft spot for poems by Pushkin. When the three of them are caught between competing invitations to prom, their high-fashion drama could destroy their friendships along with the entire prom. Filmed completely in the Twin Cities with locations including the Witch's Hat (Prospect Park water tower), Marino's deli and Soderberg's Floral on Lake St. and featuring an all Minnesota music line-up including Cloud Cult, Tapes N' Tapes, Red Pens, Pink Mink, L'Assassins, Lookbook, Bad Bad Hats, Grant Cutler, Elk, The Pinsch, Meme and Sleeping in the Aviary.

Saturday, November 16 at McNally Smith College of Music 9pm

MN PREMIERE: "Peaches Does Herself" No one under 18 years old will be admitted to screening.

"Peaches Does Herself" is an electro rock opera stage show that tells a mythical history of the musician Peaches. "Peaches Does Herself" follows the musician Peaches through her journey from bedroom wannabe musician to Rockstar. Through a selection of 22 songs from Peaches four official albums, a mythical biography is told based on the misconceptions surrounding Peaches image. On the advice of a 65-year-old stripper, Peaches makes music that is sexually forthright. Her popularity grows and she becomes what her fans expect her to be, Transsexual. She falls in love with a beautiful Shemale but Peaches gets her heart broken and has to realize who she really is. Described as an anti-jukebox musical, Peaches wrote, directed, and stars as the role of Peaches.

Sunday, November 17 at McNally Smith College of Music 5pm

Twin Cities PREMIERE: "Meeting Charlie Parr" dir. Francois-Xavier Dubois & Charles Dubois. Director Francois-Xavier Dubois and musician/subject Charlie Parr will be present.

It started back in Australia when we heard Charlie playing live in Sydney. We fell in love with his music and went to see him play a year later in Paris. We met him there, chatted with him and he invited us to go to Duluth, whenever we wanted to. We decided to take this opportunity to do a documentary about this unique musician. The idea was that Charlie's character and music would be an excuse for us to get to know the US from a different angle. We are all interested in the US for various reasons, and we thought that going there to meet an emblematic Minnesota singer was a perfect starting point for a journey off the beaten track. We created "Meeting Charlie Parr" as a movie focused on his character, but with a look that is our own. We wanted MCP to be as much about Charlie as about his country.

Sunday, November 17 at McNally Smith College of Music 7pm

CLOSING NIGHT FILM & MN PREMIERE: "Mistaken For Strangers" dir. Tom Berninger.

In 2010, The National released their fifth album, "High Violet." After ten years as critical darlings, the band was finally enjoying wider recognition. As they were about to embark on the biggest tour of their career, lead singer Matt Berninger invited his younger brother, Tom, to be a part of their tour crew. A budding filmmaker and horror movie enthusiast, Tom brought along his camera to film the experience. "Mistaken For Strangers" follows the story of two brothers at very different moments in their lives. Approaching forty, Matt is just now beginning to experience life as a rock star. Before he is invited on tour, Tom, age 30, is still living at home in Cincinnati.