Even as the Camden International Film Festival brings movies from some of the greatest documentary filmmakers of all time to Knox County this weekend, organizers haven’t taken their eyes off homegrown talent.
The slate of feature length and short films in the 19th year of the festival include the major U.S. premieres of Oscar-winner Alex Gibney’s “In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon” and Oscar-winner Errol Morris’ documentary portrait of writer John le Carre, “The Pigeon Tunnel,”
The festival is also holding its annual Dirigo Docs program with seven Maine-made short films that span the state — from the northern Penobscot County town of Patten to the streets of Portland.
The CIFF schedule includes a premiere from a longtime Maine documentarian and many other provocative and illuminating films — shot in the heat of the war in Ukraine, in a castle in Argentina and on the set of a Japanese game show, among many other places.
Here are the Maine filmmakers and Maine-made films featured this year at the Camden International Film Festival, which starts Thursday and runs through Sunday, at locations in Camden, Rockport and Rockland. The Dirigo Docs shorts program is set for 1 p.m. Sunday at the Strand Theatre in Rockland.
“The Ark of Oblivion,” directed by Ian Cheney
Waldoboro native Ian Cheney is no stranger to CIFF, with a number of his previous films having premiered there over the past two decades. His latest, “The Ark of Oblivion,” is a meditation on memory and archive-keeping, against the backdrop of Cheney’s unusual home project to build an actual ark in his backyard in Maine. The film is produced by none other than Werner Herzog, a man who knows a thing or two about unusual projects. “Ark” screens at 4 p.m. Sunday at the Camden Opera House.
“Closure,” directed by Abigail Jakub
This heartbreaking 14-minute short details how the Deer Isle-Stonington community coped with the closure in 2021 of the island’s only skilled nursing facility, the Island Nursing Home, due to staffing shortages. Jakub, a 2016 graduate of George Stevens Academy in Blue Hill, is both affectionate and unvarnished in her approach to telling a story about elder care in rural Maine. It remains unclear whether the nursing home will reopen, after a provisional license was granted by the state earlier this year.
“Elephant,” directed by Wes Sterrs
Sterrs, a Belfast native, has directed a number of music videos for Maine bands including Bait Bag and FonFon Ru. He will be premiering his short film “Elephant,” in which an elephant arrives on an island off the coast of Maine.
“Little Boy Loon,” directed by Kevin Bay and Julia Thompson
A young boy in the northern Penobscot County town of Patten works in his family’s grocery store, serves mass, sings opera and calls loons.
“Welcome to King Friday’s Dungeon,” directed by Destiny Arturet
This short was filmed on the stage at Mayo Street Arts in Portland, where King Friday’s Dungeon Puppet Slam is held each year, bringing together puppetry artists for a decidedly grown-up “puppet slam.” Arturet shot the film while attending the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies, part of Maine College of Art in Portland.
“Bay of Herons,” directed by Jared Lank
Filmed on Mackworth Island, just north of Portland, Mi’kmaq filmmaker Jared Lank trained his camera on coastal wildlife for this visual essay about the power of nature.
“Eat Flowers,” directed by River Finlay
When a dear friend is forced into isolation with a rare form of leukemia, artist Cig Harvey sets out to fill her sterile world with beauty and magic. Harvey grew up in England but has made her home in Maine for years, and currently lives in Rockport.
“So That Tonight We Might See,” directed by Bea Hesselbart
With gaps in her personal history, a filmmaker assembles fragments of her family’s archive in an attempt to see more clearly.