The Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival is under way, with more than 350 movies being shown over 16 days at several venues. If I could do it over, I’d work in the movie industry as a writer or technical professional.

I still recall a movie I saw as a North Dakota farm kid, “The Bridges at Toko-Ri,” starring William Holden and Grace Kelly. I’d seen Life magazine’s spread about James Michener’s novel being made into a movie and convinced my dad to take me to town to see it.

Most important, I now realize, it was just the two of us. The experience is one of my most cherished memories.

I shot this iPhone pic (above) as Dorette and I were on our way to the St. Anthony Main Theater to see “Desperately Seeking Susan,” starring Madonna and Rosanna Arquette.

It’s a 1985 movie, but seeing it again made me laugh until I had tears in my eyes. Afterward, the co-producer Sarah Pillsbury interacted with the audience, providing insight into how this film came to be made with a mostly female executive team, rare back then.

We also saw a double-feature: a remastered 1927 silent film “Wings,” complete with a new score played live by the Prima Vista Quartet; followed at another venue by a brand new film, “A Quiet Passion” about the life of the poet Emily Dickinson. Reaction has been mixed. The New Yorker was very hard on it — the review even included some nonsense verse written in the Dickinsonian style.

Anyway, we hope to see a couple of more flicks before the Festival ends Saturday. I’m looking forward to “Crazy Horse,” a French documentary with English subtitles about the legendary Parisian strip club.

Dorette is passing on that one.