by Daniel Getahun Ah, spring: warming sun, blossoming flowers, budding trees and hours spent frolicking in fields. At least that's what I hear secondhand, since I typically spend as much of April as I can indoors in dark rooms. Yes, movie freaks like me don't truly come out of hibernation until after the 28th Annual Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival (MSPIFF), presented by Minnesota Film Arts and a great opportunity to travel to dozens of countries through the magical power of film. The local community actively supports MSPIFF, and this year Peace Coffee sponsored two screenings of Bananas!*, a Swedish-produced documentary about the Dole Corporation's use of a controversial pesticide in the late 1970s that rendered sterile a significant number of the company's banana farmers in rural Nicaragua. I have to say Bananas!* didn't shed a lot of light on the banana industry as a whole (and for that matter was disappointingly silent about fair trade), but it was still a well-intentioned reminder about why the source of many of our dietary staples matters. In addition to the sponsorship of that film, Peace Coffee was also the official coffee for VIPs and visiting filmmakers in the offices of Minnesota Film Arts (savvy festivalgoers eventually learned that they could sneak in for a free cup as well). Not surprisingly, the high attendance and energy at MSPIFF necessitated an extra delivery of coffee in the festival's second week. If you saw festival and theater staff running around wide-eyed at all hours, you can attribute it to the Pollinator blend. Supporting the film festival was a natural fit, of course, since coffee is as much a staple in the film industry as lights, cameras, and vanity license plates. Indeed, earlier this year Peace Coffee was honored to be approached by Werc Werk Works, a Minneapolis-based independent film production company, with a request to be the official coffee supplier for their local production of The Convincer, an upcoming crime drama directed by Jill Sprecher and starring Greg Kinnear, Alan Arkin, Billy Crudup and Lea Thompson. A recent visit to the set of The Convincer at the Ramada Mall of America (if you've ever been there you know why it makes for a great movie set) revealed that Peace Coffee was an integral part of the production. Cast, crew, and even the dozens of extra on set were all enjoying fresh cups of the Twin Cities and Pollinator blends. At least one hopes they were enjoying them; when you're downing cup after cup to stay awake for long days and nights of filming you don't exactly have time to savor the flavor. Nonetheless, The Convincer was fueled by only the best quality, freshest, organic, fair-trade beans Peace Coffee had to offer, and the omnipresent turtle logo around the set served as reminder to all that the production was supporting a local business and a global mission. The coffee was so popular, in fact, that the gracious Craft Services team (providers of food and drink 24/7 on set) ran through their supply several weeks before filming wrapped. It's never a good thing to be without caffeine in that kind of environment, but more pounds were quickly delivered and production continued without a hitch. Werc Werk Works hopes to have The Convincer in theaters within the year, and chances are it will play at one of the local Landmark Theaters (Edina, Lagoon, Uptown), all of which, of course, serve Peace Coffee. After you get your tickets, order a cup, find a comfy seat, and see if you can spot a stray turtle logo on the silver screen! Daniel Getahun is a Minneapolis-based movie blogger (Getafilm) and freelance writer. He's also lucky enough to be marrying Angelica Cox-Vazquez, Peace Coffee's Events and Demo Coordinator, at the end of May. (Back to Headlines)