James Byrne
Contact: byrnefilms@gmail.com
James Byrne, 883 Linwood Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55105
Narrative Films 2000 - 2018
James Byrne wrote and directed two feature films and 23 short narrative films between 2000 and 2018. He received the first Minnesota Blockbuster-McKnight Film Fund Award in 1996 in support of his feature "Great Lakes". His screenplay "Under the Sink" won a Barry Morrow Fellowship and a 1998 McKnight Fellowship for Screenwriting. His films have been screened throughout the United States in the indie film fest circuit. He was a screenwriting professor at Metropolitan State University, started the first screening BA Program in Minnesota, and founded/dirceted Film Space, a state of the art cinema theater at Metropolitan State University that hosted a variety of film festivals including the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival.
"My short films have been described as 'enigmatic character dramas, light on plot, and never meant for Hollywood'. I agree.
Here are some of my favorites. James Byrne
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The Light of Each New Day (12:00) 2014
Starring Shelby Richardson, Michael Hanna, Jauston Campbell, Jessie Scarborough Ghent
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Trade for Magic (12:00) 2012
Starring Emily Dooley, Laura Esping,
David Wasylik, Haley Houck
Madison (15:00) 2013
Starring Katherine Johnson Justice and Billy Mullaney
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Dreamer (15:00) 2010
Starring Tracey Maloney and
Robert O. Berdahl
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"Falling Through Air" is the first narrative film I made after moving to Minnesota from New York. Five stories with recurring characters are woven together. Dense dialog, looping timelines, and intersecting subplots are the connecting threads.
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Ninety-Nine Pages 2005-2023 (46:00)
My second feature film and a follow-up to "Great Lakes", "Ninety-Nine Pages" was restored, digitized,
and re-released in 2023.
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7.
A visual poem about navigating the past
and wondering if things could have been different.
This comedy tracks the eccentric lives of wannabe filmmakers (Carolyn Pool, Charles Hubbell, and Brian Page) and complete strangers (Kate Guentzel and Jim Halloran) who are recruited to act in their nonexistent movie.
8.
Mist on the River (9:20) 2016
In this dream-like drama, a couple struggles with the raw and paradoxical emotions of breaking up.
Starring Vanessa Pooler, Erik Hoover, and Reyna Rios.
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A Selection of Film Screenings
2014 Northern California Film Festival, Modesto CA; “Wayside Rest”(retitled "Madison")
2013 “New Films by James Byrne”, Film Society of Minneapolis St. Paul, St. Anthony
Main Theater, a two-night screening of a collection of recent short films with Q
and A; October 7 and 8; total attendance 190
2012 Highway 61 Film Festival, Pine City; “Trade For Magic”, won Best Short Drama
Walker Art Center, “Elegy” and “Lament”, dance video collaborations
with Eiko & Koma
2011 SoCal Independent Film Festival, Huntington Beach, CA; “Rotations of the
Earth”, won Best Actress in a Short for Carolyn Pool
Indie Gathering Film Festival, Cleveland; “Trouble Light”, won Honorable
Mention for Best Romantic Comedy Short
Great Lakes International Film Festival, Erie PA; “Trouble Light”
2010 Philadelphia Independent Film Festival; “Dreamer”
2005 Ellensburg Film Festival, Ellensburg, OR; “Ninety-Nine Pages”
Fellowships, Grants, Awards
2013 Finalist, (top 10), New York Screenplay Contest for “A Memory Circled In Red”
Finalist, (top 15), London Film Awards for “A Memory Circled in Red”
2012 Best Short Drama, Highway 61 Film Festival for “Trade For Magic”
Honorable Mention Best Romantic Comedy Short, Indie Gathering Film
Festival for “Trouble Light”
2011 Best Actress in a Short Film, (Carolyn Pool), SoCal Independent Film Festival for
“Rotations of the Earth”
2010 Semi-Finalist, (top 20), Tulsa International Film Festival Screenplay Competition for “Why Love?”
2007 Finalist, (top 10), McKnight Artist Fellowship for Screenwriting for “Eggshells”
2005 Semi-Finalist, Monterey Screenplay Contest for “The Forgetting Man”
2003 Best Director and Best Screenplay, SMMASH Film Festival, Minneapolis, for “Great Lakes”
1998 Winner, McKnight Artists Fellowship for Screenwriters for “Under the Sink”
Winner, Barry Morrow Screenwriting Fellowship for “Under the Sink”
Filmography - A Selection of Films Written and Directed Since 2000
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“The Light of Each New Day”, 2014
“Yard Work”, 2014
“Breath”, 2014
“Madison”, 2013
“Trade For Magic”, 2012
“Wake”, 2012, (dance video collaboration with Eiko & Koma)
“Gravel Shoulders”, 2012
“Trouble Light”, 2011
“Rotations of the Earth”, 2011
“Dreamer”, 2010
“During the Night”, 2009
“Open Wounds”, 2008
“Ninety-Nine Pages”, 2005, (feature length)
“Great Lakes”, 2002, (feature length)
“Falling Through Air”, 2000
“The Runners”, 2000
“Will Someone Hold My Coat”, 2000
“Winter Shorts”, 2000