Above: The Qhia Dab Neeg film festival in St. Paul. Photo courtesy Qhia Dab Neeb.

Cinema in St. Paul has a checkered history of late. While the city can claim a couple of small mainstream movie houses and a smattering of other occasional screening venues, it’s been a long while since locals had an art house theater to call their own. The April launch of Film Space, a Knight-funded cinema venue on the Metropolitan State University campus, marked a strong new effort to fill the void.

“Film Space is a 300-seat, state-of-the-art, DCI-compliant, digital cinema theater. It is a dedicated, non-commercial, film art venue for our community,” said James Byrne, project manager for Film Space and coordinator of Metro State’s Screenwriting Program. Byrne and the Film Space team have spent much of the last year upgrading a rarely used campus auditorium into a functional and inviting space to serve the long-neglected cinephiles of St. Paul.

Currently the space is focused on special events and screenings, with non-profit rental rates available to community members, individual filmmakers and festivals. Even though the venue is freshly launched, the organizers have wasted no time putting it to use. “April-May was and is a big month for us,” Byrne said. “We had eight days of films and screened 12 feature films and 28 short films and hosted three different festivals.”

Film Space opened big, with a well-attended, five-day showcase of movies as an official venue of the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Film Festival (MSPIFF), the Upper Midwest’s largest and longest-running festival of its kind. Byrne even got to host a home-theater screening of his own film, “Mist on the River,” as part of the festival’s short films showcase. The engagement was followed immediately by the Qhia Dab Neeg Film Festival, a Knight-funded project focused on filmmakers of Hmong descent that drew more than 500 attendees over two days. Next up is LunaFest, a nationally touring festival spotlighting women in film that rolls into Film Space on May 20.

Beyond the Spring, Film Space plans are mostly tentative, but interest is booming. “We had a burst of festivals open at the same time our renovation had finished so we’re letting everything sink in for the moment. Several Minneapolis-based festivals have expressed interest in showing some or all of their films at Film Space in the coming year. I’m having lots of conversations,” said Byrne. He said the MSPIFF organizers are interested in showing films in St. Paul throughout the year.  “We also sponsor a screening program for film artists called ‘Open Screen’ [part of the Knight Arts Challenge Grant] that will show a variety of films over the next year.”

The launch of Film Space is especially noteworthy as an arts space in St. Paul’s underserved Dayton’s Bluff neighborhood. According to Byrne, the community has embraced the endeavor enthusiastically. “Audiences have been very pleased with the venue and comment quite often about how comfortable the seats are, with good sight lines, clear sound, and how nice the picture looks.”

“The transformation of Film Space from a forgotten auditorium into a vibrant showcase facility has exceeded my expectations,” Byrne continued. “All thanks to the seed money and support from the Knight Arts Challenge grant as well as support for our administration, facilities, faculty and community at Metropolitan State University. In the long run we hope to have a very positive impact on the art of film in St. Paul, and the region, by providing a new showcase facility for artists, audience, and the community.“

Film Space will host the LunaFest film showcase on Friday, May 20 on the Metropolitan State University campus, 700 7th Street E. in St. Paul. For more information on Film Space, visit metrostate.edu.

James Byrne, center, accepts the Knight Arts Challenge award for the film festival, with Victoria Rogers, VP/Arts and Bahia Ramos, arts program director. Credit: Knight Foundation.