Al Milgrom, ‘founder’ of Twin Cities film scene, dies at 98
A 2018 short video by Twin Cities PBS’ MN Original titled “The World’s Oldest Emerging Filmmaker” featured Milgrom’s career.
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Becca Most / St. Paul Pioneer Press | 10:37 am, Dec. 23, 2020 ×
Al Milgrom sits at his editing desk in the front room of his home in Minneapolis in 2015. Milgrom, a major figure in the Twin Cities film scene, has died at age 98. Euan Kerr / MPR News file photo
ST. PAUL Influential Twin Cities critic, teacher and film enthusiast Al Milgrom leaves behind a powerful legacy after dying at age 98 on Sunday, Dec. 20.
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Al Milgrom was the kind of guy who always seemed young, even when he wasn t. At age 96, he came out as the oldest emerging documentary filmmaker with the premiere of Singin in the Grain, his portrait of a multigenerational Minnesota polka band.
But he s better known for fostering the Twin Cities film scene.
Milgrom founded what is now the Film Society of Minneapolis St. Paul, taught cinema at the University of Minnesota and launched the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival. Along the way, he built an audience for foreign and indie films while bringing such famed directors as Werner Herzog, Jean-Luc Godard and Milos Forman to town.