Al Milgrom

The year is 1970 and the disastrous Vietnam War keeps escalating. Protests are erupting all over U.S. campuses. But in Minneapolis, word that the national Red Barn Restaurant chain wants to erect a new fast-food franchise in old, venerable Dinkytown, the “war at home” takes a different turn. This stunning documentary chronicles the unprecedented 40-day, 40-night continuous Dinkytown “Occupation” to prevent construction of an unwanted hamburger joint. From film programmer-turned-filmmaker Al Milgrom, the story is recounted by seven participants whose varied reminiscences about defending the neighborhood becomes a microcosm of the memorable ‘70’s Generation. Music featured in the film by Bob Dylan, Willie Murphy.

Minneapolis filmmaker Al Milgrom has worn many hats throughout his career—documentarian, world traveler and cinema pioneer being a few. In this documentary feature from Phil Harder, we follow the now 95-year-old Milgrom through his life and living legacy. From his first introduction to film, via Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid, to a tour through his personal home “film museum,” A Work in Progress is an inspiring portrait of one of Minnesota’s leading artistic voices. Milgrom himself discusses his journey as a filmmaker and his current projects, including his continued work on the 1959 documentary Russian Journey: The Story of a Filmmaker’s Travels Behind the Curtain

All-singing, all-dancing, this is the lively, lovely story of a village polka band and its city cousins, shot in the bread-basket of southern Minnesota. Singin' in the Grain captures what it means to be a Czech-American today and, by extension, one's own identity as an American. In folksong and dance, the Eddie Shimota Polka Band is followed for more than 40 years and three generations by documentarist Al Milgrom (The Dinkytown Uprising). After the post-communist 1989 Velvet Revolution, a new generation of immigrants arrives with their own folk-Slavic beat and different vibes, a far cry from Eddie's world. As Minnesota's "Czech Triangle" (New Prague, Montgomery, Veseli and Lonsdale) and St. Paul's Sokol Hall celebrate with symbolic food, dance, costume, parades, and holidays defining who they are, the film becomes a passport for re-examining America's historic immigrant odyssey.

Forty years after his death, the poet and scholar, John Berryman's legacy is examined and celebrated in this short film. This documentary features numerous scholars, experts, and musical artists that have been inspired by Berryman's prolific career. Berryman is best known for his Pulitzer Prize winning collection of poetry called 'The Dream Songs' and for his tragic suicide off the Washington Avenue Bridge in 1972, while professor at the University of Minnesota.