In The News

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. 

The Points North Institute has set their dates for the 18th edition of the Camden International Film Festival, which will run from September 15-18, 2022 in Camden, Rockport, and Rockland. The festival will be held in-person once again, while also streaming their program online through its virtual festival.

Points North has been approved to receive an American Rescue Plan grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to help the arts and cultural sector recover from the pandemic. Points North is recommended to receive $150,000 and may use this funding to save jobs and to fund operations and facilities, health and safety supplies, and marketing and promotional efforts to encourage attendance and participation. In total, the NEA will award grants totaling $57,750,000 to just 567 arts organizations in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Washington, DC.

Points North is one of seven organizations in Maine to receive funding this round, and will use the grant to add three, new, year-round positions to its core team in order to amplify its work and build its sustainability as an organization: Marketing Coordinator, Program Coordinator, and Production Manager. The safety of festival-goers, filmmakers and Artist Programs Fellows will again be prioritized in 2022, and communications with audiences will be paramount at the 18th edition of CIFF. The core team will work together to deliver an impactful, robust, engaging in-person festival.

Hollywood’s Covid safety protocols have been extended to February 13. In the meantime, with the surge of the Omicron variant, the industry’s unions have asked the studios to increase testing and upgrade personal protection equipment, and most of the companies have been doing that until new guidelines can be adopted.

Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG-AFTRA’s national executive director, told members that “the joint unions are set to negotiate changes to the RTW (return-to-work) with producers in early February. However, in light of the ongoing Omicron surge, we have been working with producers to recommend additional protective measures to make productions safer for our members, right now.