MSP International Film Festival: Alegría

MSP Film Society presents the 41st Annual Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival (MSPIFF41) from Thursday, May 5 through Thursday, May 19, 2022. The MSPIFF41 theme, SHINE THROUGH, invites us all to resume gathering in-person to enjoy more than 200 films from around the world and a full array of exciting parties, panels, and filmmaker networking events and discussions. Many MSPIFF41 films will also be available to screen virtually, in keeping with MSP Film Society’s mission to increase audience access to these wonderful films. FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE FESTIVAL HERE.

Alegría is a proudly independent woman, living in the family’s ancestral home in the Spanish city of Melilla nestled on the Moroccan coast. When her niece is set to marry, Alegría reluctantly agrees to host the event. Supported by Dunia, her bubbly Moroccan housekeeper, and Marian, her chill Christian best friend, Alegría must open her home and revisit her Jewish roots.

Control is a guiding principle in Alegría’s life, and the chaos of the wedding and all its attendant rituals–not to mention a hopeful reunion with her daughter, absent now for 5 years–leaves her feeling adrift. But Alegría has friends, she has family, and even after a rocky start, the love and respect begins to shine through as she begins to embrace her family’s Jewish past. Violeta Salama, with her directing debut, makes the city of Melilla (where she grew up) as much a part of this family as the characters themselves.