Camden, Rockport, & Rockland, Maine
September 27—30, 2012
small towns, big films.
Blog
CIFF Selects in May
CIFF Selects expands this month with new screenings in Rockland, Portland and North Haven…yes, that little beautiful island 8 or so miles off the coast!
We’ll be screening one of this years highest grossing docs (JIRO DREAMS OF SUSHI) and bringing back one of our favorites from the 2011 festival (LOW AND CLEAR), and recent Audience Award winner at SXSW, for a mini Maine tour! So if you like sushi, fly fishing, or just darn good stories…don’t mis these two films, complete with Q&A’s afterwards!
We couldn’t be more excited about these events, and collaborating with our friends at SPACE Gallery, the Strand Theatre and Watermans. We hope you’ll join us and help spread the word, and as always, you can stay up to date with all our events by joining us over on facebook. See you in the theatre’s soon!
May 17th – JIRO DREAMS OF SUSHI (Rockland Strand, 7PM) followed by a skype Q&A with director David Gelb!
May 18th – LOW AND CLEAR (SPACE Gallery, 7:30PM) followed by an in-person Q&A with director Kahlil Hudson!
May 19th – LOW AND CLEAR (Waterman’s Community Center, 4PM) followed by an in-person Q&A with director Kahlil Hudson!
May 19th – LOW AND CLEAR (Strand Theatre, 8PM) followed by an in-person Q&A with director Kahlil Hudson!
May 20th – LOW AND CLEAR (SPACE Gallery, 7:30PM) followed by an in-person Q&A with director Kahlil Hudson!
Trailers: LOW AND CLEAR / JIRO DREAMS OF SUSHI
CIFF Selects returns this spring..
Starting in March, the Camden International Film Festival will be teaming up with the Strand Theatre to host a monthly screening series taking place every 3rd Thursday. The series is part of CIFF Selects, a touring screening series celebrating nonfiction filmmaking and darn good stories.
Films will be followed by a Q&A with filmmakers sometimes in person, sometimes via skype. Most importantly, these film are guaranteed to enlighten and entertain.
March 15: IF A TREE FALLS
CIFF @ Berlinale
“Life is much bigger than truth, actually.”
With those words, I knew I was at the Berlin Film Festival.
Shared by seasoned documentarian Victor Kossakovsky with another acclaimed filmmaker, Sophie Fiennes, this back and forth on the stage of an old theater mirrored conversations about identity and the nature of reality taking place all over this large and multicultural festival (including talk next to me this very moment in a coffee shop).
The city itself is rich and complex, with its modern bustling life set against a backdrop of Soviet-era architecture and large chunks of the Berlin Wall that remain as a monument not only to history, but to human spirit and struggle.
The films seem to reflect the same struggle with life, literally and existentially.
So to come here associated with a documentary also about human struggle and spirit, “Words of Witness,” is fascinating.
First, I should say that this does not really feel like one festival, but instead many different programs in different locales. The job of a new visitor seems to be to surrender the notion that this is a festival one can come to know in a single visit.
That said, the guest manager and other folks in charge of the Panorama program have been entirely gracious and patient hosts, succeeding in making a large festival less unwieldy for an independent documentary and its assembled American crew and Egyptian participants.
Director/Cinematographer Mai Iskander’s acclaimed directorial debut two years ago, “Garbage Dreams,” told a modern coming of age story about young men in Cairo. This time she turned her attention to a young woman named Heba Afify, who started her journalism career amidst two kinds of tumult – the revolution in Tahrir Square and the wrenching fear and frustration of her mother waiting at home.
Mai, Heba, and her mother, and the rest of the crew in attendance, have all been welcomed here – press has been attentive and there was a full (350), appreciative audience for the premiere on Monday. We had the good fortune of the film being paired with “In The Shadow of a Man,” another film about Egypt, by a poised first-time director named Hanan Abdalla. The festival has provided a total of four screenings over six days. The two films screen together and there’s a Q&A after each one, though, like many festivals, this one seems to struggle with the ever elusive balance between screen time and interaction between audiences and filmmakers.
Still, to watch the audience engage is to know that documentary storytelling and humanity are both alive and thriving.
And to immerse in a program of documentaries, as well as the conversations they spark, is to confirm one of the other hard-earned, and yet familiar, pieces of wisdom Victor Kossakovsky and Sophie Fiennes shared – “truth is something you stumble upon in small shocks.”
A special entry from filmmaker Dana Rae Warren.
CIFF Board Member and Points North Forum Chair Dana Rae produces, directs, and writes national documentaries. She consults and teaches, including at the Maine Media Workshops, and was Consulting Producer on “Words of Witness,” which had its international premiere at the Berlin Film Festival this week.
Call For Entries
The Camden International Film Festival is now accepting submissions for the 2012 Festival. CIFF is open to documentary films of all shapes, sizes, styles and lengths. We love a darn good story and are always looking for new voices and boundary pushers. Submit today and spread the word!
To submit, visit www.camdenfilmfest.org/submit.
Check out what our alums have to say about us here.
“One of the best small town fests”
The Camden International Film Festival was recently recognized as “one of the nation’s best small-town film festivals” by POV. We’re alongside some other great fests (Big Sky, T/F, Traverse City, Telluride) and the only one mentioned in New England. It’s a great honor to be recognized in such a meaningful way.
