Mike Scholtz

History

Mike Scholtz is a documentary filmmaker based in northern Minnesota. His first film, Wild Bill's Run, circled the globe on the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour. His second film, Wicker Kittens, premiered at SXSW. His most recent film, Lost Conquest, debuted at IFFBoston. He also helped establish the world's first film-festival-in-a-barn, the Free Range Film Festival, near Duluth, Minnesota.

Profile

Movies

The Secret History of Donnelly

Director

Ignatius Donnelly is Minnesota's most famous forgotten man. Even though he was a bestselling author, a U.S. Congressperson and the leader of a populist farmer's movement, few people remember his accomplishments today. Duluth-based filmmaker Mike Scholtz’s short story begins near the tiny town of Donnelly, Minnesota and takes viewers on a wild ride, beginning with a tragic death and ending in the lost city of Atlantis.

Lost Conquest

Writer

Long before Columbus, Viking explorers claimed the state of Minnesota. And the nice folks who live there have the ancient artifacts to prove it. LOST CONQUEST is a deconstructionist documentary about why we believe the things we believe. With swords.

Lost Conquest

Director

Wicker Kittens

Producer

Every January, the country’s largest jigsaw puzzle contest is held in St. Paul, Minnesota. Wicker Kittens invites you to choose your favorite team and watch them try to put the pieces back together.

Riplist

Editor

A group of friends meets once a year to draft celebrities they think might die. But while playing the game of death, they learn the value of life.

Riplist

Director

A group of friends meets once a year to draft celebrities they think might die. But while playing the game of death, they learn the value of life.

Wild Bill's Run

Director

This is the strange but true story of Wild Bill Cooper. Part Arctic adventure and part crime caper, WILD BILL’S RUN is an unforgettable ride with a true American folk hero. In the winter of 1972, Wild Bill Cooper led a ragtag crew of mechanics, ranchers and photographers on a grueling expedition across the polar ice. During some of the darkest days of the Cold War, their goal was to snowmobile 5,000 miles from Minnesota to Moscow.