Jim Brunzell

Jim Brunzell III was born in the 70's, played sports in the 80's, went to school in the 90's, and started working on film festivals in the 2000's. He graduated from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities in 2001 with a B.A. in English studies. In 2005, he started out as a volunteer at the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Film Festival (MSPIFF) and worked his way up to associate programmer and office manager in 2008 before leaving for the corporate world and becoming a freelance film critic writing for many outlets and publications. He joined Sound Unseen in 2008 as a programmer and became the festival director in 2012. During his tenure the festival has been named "One of the 25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World" by Moviemaker Magazine in 2016 & 2019 and "One of the 20 Great First Time Moviemakers Festival'' in 2022. He was also the Program & Artistic Director for the All Genders, Lifestyles, and Identities Film Festival (aGLIFF) in Austin, TX from 2014-2020. In 2016 Brunzell was named by the Austin Chronicle as "One of the Top 10 Local Queer Heroes." As the chronicle said, "It says a lot when an ally makes the list, but as program director he has done a bang-up job curating the film festival and screenings for the entire LGBTQ spectrum." In Feb 2023, he became Director of Festivals for Dark Star Pictures based in Los Angeles, CA. He has served on numerous film festival juries and is a big sports nerd, especially a die-hard Minnesota Vikings and Los Angeles Dodgers fan. He is also the father to a 4-year old tabby cat named Bruce.