Rondo Film Festival

Overview

Annual

Lights, Camera, Rondo!

The Rondo community, allies, and storytellers will gather for the Rondo Film Festival—an evening dedicated to honoring history, truth-telling, and envisioning a more just future.

Once the thriving heart of Saint Paul’s Black community, Rondo was home to businesses, churches, music, and families building generational wealth. That vitality was disrupted in the mid-20th century when the construction of I-94 cut directly through the neighborhood, displacing more than 600 Black families. This story of loss and resilience echoes across the country, as Black communities everywhere were scarred by displacement and urban renewal.

Through the power of film, the festival will amplify these stories. Screenings will include Brothers of Rondo, a portrait of resilience and brotherhood capturing the strength of young men growing up in Rondo; Displaced, a film produced by Reconnect Rondo that exposes the impact of forced displacement and its intergenerational effects on Black families; and Rondo Beyond the Pavement, an intergenerational collaboration where youth filmmakers and community elders come together to tell Rondo’s past and imagine its future. Each film will be followed by a panel discussion, giving audiences the opportunity to hear directly from filmmakers, community leaders, and residents who continue to carry Rondo’s legacy.

This year’s festival also marks the launch of the Rondo Visionary Innovation Project, a youth-focused initiative that empowers the next generation of media creatives to reimagine Rondo through animation, storytelling, and visionary design. By connecting young talent with mentors and elders, this project ensures that Rondo’s story continues to grow—not just in memory of what was lost, but in vision for what can be built.

We invite you to join us for this historic evening—an opportunity to reflect, to heal, and to dream forward. The Rondo Film Festival is more than a series of screenings; it is a call to continue the legacy and help build the future of Rondo together.