Des Moines Film

Iowa Filmmaker Nicolaas Bertelsen on working with James Franco and Yosemite

Posted on February 3, 2016

When Ames native and former Des Moines-based filmmaker Nicolaas Bertelsen presents Yosemite, a film he produced, Thursday night at Fleur Cinema, it will bring him full circle on a journey that began eight years ago when he left Iowa to further his filmmaking career in Los Angeles. "I didn't just go off to California to chase a dream and go broke," he said. "I mean, I did all those things, but I did this too." Bertelsen -...

One day left to RSVP for The Great Alone documentary

Posted on February 1, 2016

by Ben Godar

The Great Alone is a documentary which follows a three-time Iditarod sled-dog racing champion, Lance Mackey, as he battles to complete the race and earn a fourth title. The film is premiering Feb. 9 at theaters across the country, including (potentially) at Southridge 12. However, each screening needs at least 31 reservations in order for the film to screen, and as of right now, the Southridge screening has only 23. If you'd like to see the...

Phoenix: DMFS Best of 2015

Posted on January 28, 2016

by Tim Paluch

Des Moines Film Society asked some of our favorite local writers and film fanatics to pick their favorite film of 2015. You can read them all at DMFS: Best of 2015. “I no longer exist,” Nelly, a Jewish nightclub singer shot in the head and left for dead in a Nazi concentration camp, says after seeing herself in a broken mirror amongst the rubble of her former home. The gunshot wound left her disfigured, and despite begging...

Brent Roske on ‘Courting Des Moines’

Posted on January 28, 2016

by Ben Godar

Brent Roske shot 99% of his new film, Courting Des Moines, in Iowa's capital city. As for the other 1%...

DesMoinesFilm.org 2.0 is here – your resource for film in Des Moines

Posted on January 25, 2016

by Ben Godar

After much hard work, we are proud to re-launch a greatly expanded version of our website, desmoinesfilm.org. Among the new features are a Calendar, which will feature the best film special programming in Des Moines, whether presented by us or the other great theaters and art organizations in town. We want to be your indispensable spot for what's going on in the Des Moines film scene. We are also launching a dedicated blog, which will feature the...

The Big Short: DMFS Best of 2015

Posted on January 25, 2016

by Kevin Kretschmer

Des Moines Film Society asked some of our favorite local writers and film fanatics to pick their favorite film of 2015. You can read them all at DMFS: Best of 2015. A few years ago, after seeing Charles Ferguson’s Oscar-winning feature documentary Inside Job, I couldn’t stop recommending it to people as a lucid, compelling explanation of the 2008 financial crisis. As a documentary, however, it proved a hard sell; not everyone is willing to watch...

Your Guide to Star Wars (plus other movies) in Des Moines (but mostly just Star Wars)

Posted on December 22, 2015

by jill@on-pitch.com

If you're one of the millions anticipating the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens this week, the question isn't so much if you're going to see the movie, but how. In Des Moines, we are lucky enough to have three choices in format: Standard and 3D (both projected digitally), or IMAX (projected on film). The Science Center of Iowa IMAX Dome Theater is one of only seven theaters in the US screening The Force Awakens on...

The Hateful Eight

Posted on December 8, 2015

by jill@on-pitch.com

Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight was shot on Panovision 70mm film* - the widest and richest cinema format, used for epics like Ben-Hur and Lawrence of Arabia. And while the film will be mass-distributed digitally when it hits theaters on Christmas Day, the 70mm version is also rolling out as an exclusive Road Show in a few select cinemas around the country. The Road Show release format was popular in the 1960s, often for big "event pictures. Road...