Our Purpose

We shows films that invite people to engage in thoughtful conversation. We present film-centered opportunities that celebrate the art of film in the Driftless Region.

Our Vision

We aim to present film experiences that inspire curiosity and connection.

History

FRFF launched in January 2006 as a collaboration between Theatre du Mississippi (TDM), Winona State University (WSU), Winona Convention & Visitors Bureau, and MountainFilm (a Colorado documentary festival). Founders visualized an engaging winter cultural event.

Over the years, FRFF has excelled at building numerous partnerships in Winona and with filmmakers around the world. FRFF began operations as a nonprofit under the fiscal sponsorship of the Winona Community Foundation. In August of 2015, FRFF applied for and received its own 501c3 status with the IRS. The FRFF team grew to two year-round staff, several seasonal staff, a 9-person board of directors, 5-6 student interns and 200 volunteers (25 of which were core year-round volunteers). 

The founding director of the festival was Maggy Jacqmin, who kickstarted the collaboration between TDM and Mountainfilm, creating the first Frozen River Film Festival. In 2017, after 12 years of festival management and programming, Crystal Hegge transitioned to a part-time role. At that time, Sara Enzenauer was brought on as Executive Director after several years as the Festival Programming Director. In 2020, Sara announced her intention to relocate to the Twin Cities, and the FRFF board began to search for a new festival director. The search was put on hold in spring of 2020 due to the pandemic, but resumed in fall of 2020, when Eileen Moeller was hired as the new Managing Director.

FRFF has been a  five-day multimedia event, offering independent documentary films and arts programming. 

The festival has typically presented about 80+ films. FRFF seeks films that tell engaging stories and teaches people something new. Calls for film entries are online at FilmFreeway, FRFF’s website and social media, FilmNorth of St. Paul, and MN FilmTV. Already in 2021 the festival has received film submissions from 35 different countries.

All FRFF films are screened and scored. To create its film selection committee, FRFF looks for 12-20 volunteers that are diverse in age, gender, race, and have a passion in the arts and a familiarity in film. 

Filmmakers seek to be selected by film festivals, win awards (often financial), and have engaged audiences. Juried awards are key to film artists’ needs. FRFF offers six film awards: Best of Fest, Best Short, Special, Best Minnesota Film, Peoples Choice and, the KSMQ Public TV of Austin, MN award that broadcasts the film during primetime for five years.