"One of the 20 Great Film Festivals for First-Time Moviemakers." Moviemaker Magazine, June 2022.
"One of the 25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World!" Moviemaker Magazine, Sept 2016 and July 2019.
"The best-curated film festival in the Twin Cities, Sound Unseen focuses on movies with musical themes, often pairing them with filmmaker appearances and live music." Chris Hewitt, St. Paul Pioneer Press Nov. 2015
The Sound Unseen Film + Music Festival started in 1999 as a unique, cutting edge “films-on-music” festival in Minneapolis / St. Paul, MN. In the two plus decades since then, Sound Unseen has firmly entrenched itself as one of the premier niche festivals in the country, and more importantly as an important and vital part of the regional and national cultural scene. Now celebrating its 25th year, the festival has expanded to include year-round programming and special presentations including world and regional premieres of films such as All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, Finding Her Beat, Dig!, Filmage: The Story of Descendents/ALL, Born Innocent: The Redd Kross Story, Mavis!, The Damned: Don't You Wish That We Were Dead, All I Can Say, Sound of Metal, Zappa, The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?, and Meet Me In The Bathroom. In addition to film screenings the festival has also welcomed a diverse range of special guests including directors like Penelope Speeeris (Wayne’s World) and Richard Kelly (Donnie Darko), musicians such as John Doe (X), Eugene Hutz (Gogol Bordello), and Neko Case, and too many producers, subjects, and actors to count.
In 2020, Sound Unseen began offering a version of the festival in Austin, TX and has grown its presence there in both attendance and screenings each year since. In 2023 they expanded again, this time to Rochester, MN, which cemented its status as one of the few festivals that can stake its claim over three cities in two states. While bringing the best in new documentaries, short films, and music videos, Sound Unseen also showcases anniversary screenings, rare concert footage, interactive panels, and live music events. As part of its year-round presence, they offer a successful monthly screening series in Minneapolis and special events throughout MN and Austin, TX.
What began as an underground film festival with only a handful of attendees has now become a well known and respected brand with thousands of loyal followers who continue to support Sound Unseen’s dedication to providing an exciting, unexpected, and consistent array of music, film, and art.
Sound Unseen has received press coverage in major local media including The Minneapolis Star Tribune, St. Paul Pioneer Press, Rochester Post Bulletin, Racket, Austin Chronicle, and Twin Cities Gay Scene, radio stations such as The Current, MPR, MyTalk, KFAN, and KUTX, and television news segments on NBC, FOX, and CBS affiliates. National media mentions have included Deadline, Rolling Stone, Moviemaker Magazine, Paste Magazine, and USA Today.
There will be a three to five person jury with five to nine films in competition. The winning film will be announced during the festival. Films in competition must not have U.S. distribution at the time of being accepted as the winning film has the opportunity with signing a U.S. distribution deal.