In The News

The nominations are being revealed bright and early Tuesday morning by comedian/actors Leslie Jordan and Tracee Ellis Ross. Follow along below as IndieWire updates the nominees.

The nominations will be announced via a live stream, which you can watch on Oscars.org, ABC, YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook. Or right here.

For nearly a century and a half, The Kezar Falls Theater has sat on the corner of Main Street where Porter and Parsonsfield meet. The old theater had been closed for about 40 years when Silas Hagerty, who grew up in Kezar Falls, bought the theater with the idea of creating a film school. That was 10 years ago.

Now, he runs the Smooth Feather Film School, an intensive week-long program that teaches the art of filmmaking to high school students.  He calls in his filmmaking friends — artists, photographers, writers — to help him make his dream of a film school a reality. The week gets underway with plenty of energy — and possibility.  

“They’re just completely thrown in, whether you’re a producer, whether you’re a sound person, camera person, it’s like all these different roles,” Silas said. “They have no experience, and we just throw them in. It’s amazing to see how they just rise to the occasion and they just start makin’ it. That’s what I love about this film school. This theater is more alive than any other time when the film school’s happening.” 

Moving away from screening first-run films, the independent venue will bring old favorites back to the big screen, and concentrate on Maine-made cinema.

Citing the pandemic’s effect on the public’s willingness to go out to the movies, Walton explains that The Colonial is largely abandoning first-run exhibition for the time being. Instead, the theater will concentrate on themed revival nights featuring enduringly popular older films that most fans have never been able to see on the big screen. 

In addition, Walton (who’s worked at his hometown theater over the years in various capacities since he was a “popcorn shoveler” as a teen) has announced that The Colonial is opening its screens to Maine filmmakers as part of this new direction. Noting that “Truth Tellers,” Maine director Richard Kane’s documentary on painter Robert Shetterly, recently did big numbers for the theater, Walton says that it’s part of The Colonial’s plan to be a prime destination for other Maine filmmakers to use this century-old theater as the venue for their films.

Programmer, CIFF and Artist Programs

This role helps shape the curatorial agenda for CIFF and other Points North Institute programs, carrying out our mission to support diverse artistic voices in nonfiction storytelling and commitment to building a more equitable, sustainable and creative documentary field. Responsibilities include reviewing film submissions, conducting research, building partnerships with industry stakeholders, making key programming decisions and serving as liaison with invited guests and the production staff for the annual Camden International Film Festival.

The Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry’s Bureau of Parks and Lands (BPL) Visiting Artist Program encourages artists to develop their art through experiencing the wilderness of the state’s most remote park, the Allagash Wilderness Waterway (AWW).

The AWW Visiting Artist Program invites artists to the remote wilderness of Maine for two weeks of solitude. One chosen artist and a guest will receive complimentary lodging at the AWW Lock Dam Camp for two weeks during August and orientation by AWW Rangers.

The Visiting Artist Program application period runs through February 28, and artists are encouraged to learn more and apply now.