No, this is not a film about 19th century explorers battling with sea ice in a land without maps, but it is about a different kind of adventure

“A Northeast Passage” is a film that documents four months in the life of the Northeast Minneapolis neighborhood during the pandemic of 2020 and in the aftermath of the George Floyd murder, in what was an unusual disruptive year for Minneapolis and the world.

One theme of the film is how the community still comes together despite these circumstances that had many restaurants and businesses closed and people out of work..

The film was very compelling as it put the spotlight on the Northeast community, and does a very good job of highlighting the changes that have happened in the neighborhood over the last 50 years. Once a neighborhood more known as a bikers type of neighborhood, is a lot more diverse now, and is now known a very artistic place that has a mix of many different cultures in a relatively small space.

One cool part of the film is that the directors, Gregory Paape and Tyler Hudson, seem like they didn’t really have a script but were just catching people at different places in the neighborhood, at the store, waiting in lines or playing hoops.  They are able to get a lot of different people to share similar feelings about coming together and moving ahead despite the crazy happenings of 2020.

I recommend this for any Minnesotan or anyone who wants to feel like a part of a real neighborhood.