Fargo Film Festival Attracts National Attention from Industry

Movie mavens have taken over downtown Fargo this week for the Fargo Film Festival in full swing there.

It started as a little festival with local film fanatics back in 1999. Since then, it’s grown to something with a real presence in the movie industry, with more than 100 award–winning films over the course of several days each spring.

This year’s offerings include the documentary “Welcome to Leith,” the dark story of one man’s attempt to take over a small North Dakota town and change it into a white supremacist stronghold.

There are also shorts, experimental films, animated movies, and even a competition for non-filmmaker folks, for best two–minute movie.

“We’ve established ourselves as a nice, medium–sized festival, and we get interest from national and international filmmakers looking to come here,” said festival co-chair Matt Olien.

Olien also said films from the festival are consistently award-winners, and it’s been growing steadily over the past decade and a half.

The festival runs through Saturday at downtown’s Fargo Theatre, which celebrates its 90th year this year.

“It’s a nice destination for them. People really want to come to Fargo,” Olien said.