Experiencing Interruptions?

Marqueetown

No one fights to preserve a multiplex, but some people will risk everything to save a marquee. Through booms and busts, Delft Theatres Inc. - and its innovative gem, The Nordic - endured in Marquette for almost 100 years, even as the world changed endlessly around them.

Local teenager Bernie Rosendahl’s modern crusade as an adult to restore the historic arthouse to its former glory leads filmmakers to discover a hidden cinema empire in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Portraying the fascinating history of motion pictures through one iconic screen - "Marqueetown" is the true story of chasing your dreams, redefining failure and success, and reembracing the enduring magic of movies.

  • Joseph Beyer
    Director
    Death in Arizona
  • Jordan Anderson
    Director
  • Joseph Beyer
    Writer
  • Jordan Anderson
    Writer
  • Kathleen Glynn
    Producer
    Savage Waters, Bowling for Columbine, Fahrenheit 9/11
  • Diana Milock
    Producer
    Make Mine Country, Tommy Explains It All
  • Kathleen Verduin
    Producer
    A.J. Muste: Radical for Peace
  • Ward and Mary Gillett
    Producer
  • Terry Lynn Carrithers
    Producer
  • Joe and Katie Anderson
    Producer
  • Christal Frost Anderson
    Producer
  • Beth Milligan
    Producer
  • Gary Gatzke
    Producer
  • Erin Anderson Whiting
    Producer
  • Ben Whiting
    Producer
  • Bernie Rosendahl
    Key Cast
    "Himself"
  • Anne White
    Key Cast
    "Herself"
  • Scott Anderson
    Key Cast
    "Himself"
  • Ed Wales
    Key Cast
    "Himself"
  • Marlene Glass Beaudry
    Key Cast
    "Herself"
  • Paul Rogers
    Key Cast
    "Himself"
  • Rusty Bowers
    Key Cast
    "Himself"
  • Lanni Lantto
    Key Cast
    "Herself"
  • Jim Koski
    Key Cast
    "Himself"
  • Peggy Frazier
    Key Cast
    "Herself"
  • Mona Lang
    Key Cast
    "Herself"
  • Tyler Tichelaar
    Key Cast
    "Himself"
  • Mark Dupont
    Key Cast
    "Himself"
  • Jeff O'Neill
    Key Cast
    "Himself"
  • William Streur
    Key Cast
    "Himself"
  • Tom Vear
    Key Cast
    "Himself"
  • Jack Deo
    Key Cast
    "Himself"
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Feature
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 23 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    January 11, 2024
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital and Archival Photography
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Fresh Coast Film Festival
    Marquette, Michigan
    United States
    October 21, 2023
    Sneak Peek Work in Progress Screening
    Honorable Mention
  • Thunder Bay International Film Festival
    Alpena, Michigan
    United States
    January 27, 2024
    Part One Excerpt
    Finalist Sanctuary Selections Competition
  • Capital City Film Festival
    Lansing, Michigan
    United States
    April 20, 2024
    Official Selection
  • Central Michigan International Film Festival
    Mount Pleasant, Michigan
    United States
    April 5, 2024
    Official Selection
    Jury Award Best Michigan Documentary
  • Green Bay Film Festival
    Green Bay, Wisconsin
    United States
    September 7, 2024
    Official Selection
  • Arizona International Film Festival
    Tucson, Arizona
    United States
    April 26, 2024
    Arizona Premiere
  • Beaver Island Film Festival
    Beaver Island, Michigan
    United States
    September 20, 2024
    Lake Michigan Archipelago Premiere
  • Unspooled Film & Animation Festival
    Menominee, Wisconsin
    United States
    May 10, 2024
    Wisconsin Premiere
    Honorable Mention
  • Cinetopia Film Festival
    Ann Arbor, Michigan
    United States
    June 16, 2024
    Official Selection
  • Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival
    Fort Lauderdale, Florida
    United States
    November 21, 2024
    Florida Premiere
  • Royal Starr Film Festival
    Birmingham, Michigan
    United States
    September 12, 2024
    Official Selection
  • Soo Film Festival
    Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan
    United States
    September 15, 2024
    Audience Award Winner for Documentary
  • Saugatuck Film Festival
    Saugatuck, Michigan
    United States
    September 14, 2024
    Galligan Award for Documentary Excellence
  • Hell's Half Mile Film and Music Festival
    Bay City, Michigan
    United States
    September 27, 2024
    Audience Award for Best Michigan Feature
Distribution Information
  • Chris Horton
    Sales Agent
    Country: Worldwide
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Joseph Beyer, Jordan Anderson

Joseph Beyer (Writer, Director, Editor) relocated to his home state of Michigan from California in 2018, after being an executive staffer to the nonprofit Sundance Institute for more than 14 years, last as Director of Digital Initiatives where he led strategy, creative development and operation of digital content, social media and special Institute projects. Later he joined The Redford Center as Director of Marketing and Distribution using film projects to advocate for environmental and social impact.

He has been the Executive Director to the Traverse City Film Festival, Director of Audience Engagement and Strategy to MyNorth Media, Executive Director to Michigan Legacy Art Park, and Executive Director to Parallel 45 Theatre.

Joe has volunteered locally on the Traverse City Arts Commission Art Selection Panel, the Collection Committee of the Dennos Museum Center, and recently joined the Fresh Coast Film Festival Board of Directors. He is a regular contributor to Interlochen Public Radio, Northern Express, and The Boardman Review.

Jordan Anderson (Writer, Director, Editor) has spent a career in media and storytelling, fueled by his insatiable creative interests and the rapid pace of change in technology and how companies communicate and connect with their fans and users. In 2020 he founded his own creative agency, named Pancake Boy Productions, which conceives and produces multi-platform campaigns in video, audio and social media for companies around the northern Michigan region.

Prior to launching the company, Jordan was Creative Director to Midwestern Production for over seven years, designing and producing content campaigns for clients and for the award winning array of radio and online outlets. His love and knowledge of music, along with his keen senses to read an audience and room, made him one of the region’s top DJ’s and Music Producer for live events, or as he calls it “Guest Movement Consultant.” His company Mr. Music continues rocking even today.

He has served as an active founding volunteer to Parallel 45 Theatre and often produces content for local nonprofit organizations and fundraising efforts as an active member of his community. Jordan is a graduate of Central Michigan University where he studied Broadcast and Cinematic Arts. He sits on the Board of Directors for the Traverse City Historical Society, recently launching a new podcast series exploring regional history from a contemporary point of view.

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Director Statement

When we first discovered Bernie Rosendahl’s story to save the movie theater of his youth, a personal quest that started in 2018, we thought it would be a simple comeback story. As we dug deeper into the rabbit hole of people, places and history Bernie’s research unleashed, it became impossible not to see the story of the Nordic Theater as the story of all theaters: the booms, the busts, the rise and the fall of 100 years of cinema culture in the heart of small town communities.

Audiences have shown us that the story of the Nordic is everyone's story of a dream that didn't come through, or what it means to redefine success and failure in one's life - something universal and true to the human experience.

As children of the 1980s and 1990s, we also found ourselves creating a sort of emotional obituary for the cinema experiences of our youth in the background of dedicating ourselves to telling Bernie’s story faithfully and in great detail.

Creatively as documentarians, we had to retroactively bring the theater and characters to life, since many of them were gone and so too were the theaters. In response to that challenge, we turned to an innocent hand-made aesthetic for recreations and a storyworld that required a suspension of disbelief - intentionally multi-dimensional and playful.

During filming in 2023, the story became even more relevant and urgent as more arthouse cinemas closed in Michigan, including The Maple Theater in Birmingham Hills where we filmed our interview with Bernie - we had hoped to show the film there someday.

“Marqueetown” will be touring Michigan in the spring of 2024 in a series of benefit screenings at arthouse cinemas, many of them now run as nonprofits, in hopes the film will spark local conversations and celebrations of these still vibrant centers of humanity.