FORT KENT, Maine — The Fort Kent Cinema will put local talent on the big screen later this month when it shows the work of a native filmmaker.
Oliver Caron, who now attends Southern Maine Community College in Portland, worked on multiple films for the Maine Mayhem Film Festival that will come to his hometown next week.
It is the latest in the northern Maine theater’s efforts to go beyond mainstream releases. Earlier this year, the theater hosted a livestream of the Fort Kent basketball team’s historic regional and state wins. This month’s efforts will spotlight a local creator and also introduce Aroostook audiences to the films recently shown at the Portland festival.
“I really respect the theater in Fort Kent,” he said. “I think they do a lot of good for the community, and it’s something great to have in the community. It was also a nice way to have my family not have to travel six hours to come see the films that I’ve been working on for the past year.”
Maine Mayhem takes place in southern Maine every May, and this year the Fort Kent theater will show all of the festival’s films. Caron wrote and directed a micro-short called “Shower Chicken,” worked as assistant director on “The Loon,” starred in another microshort film called “Maria,” and did lighting work and acted in the film “Blueprint.”
He described “Shower Chicken” as a mockumentary in the style of “This is Spinal Tap,” in which the absurd subject matter (in this case, a man addicted to eating chicken in the shower) is treated with dry sincerity.
“The Loon” is a psychological thriller about a son reconnecting with his father and learning about his obsession with carving wooden loons.
“The father is obsessed with it, because he himself wasn’t able to carve one, and he wants his son to carve it for him to be part of that lineage,” Caron said.
Caron has since graduated from Southern Maine Community College, where he majored in communications and new media studies with a concentration in film and audio.
His main passion is acting, but he chose the college because of their high quality photography and videography courses and the possibility of working in a field he enjoys if acting does not work out, he said.
His interest in acting began at Fort Kent Community High School. He was asked to join a play as a freshman, and participated in the school’s theater program until he graduated in 2023.
Fort Kent Theater Director Doug Clapp worked with Caron throughout his high school career, and complimented his acting skills.
“He was great,” Clapp said. “He’s an easy guy to work with. He’s versatile and funny.”
The Fort Kent theater also screened one of Clapp’s works last year. He directed “Quintuplets,” an independent horror film shot a decade ago in the Fort Kent area, which was shown last fall to mark its 10th anniversary.
“They really focus on the community,” Clapp said of the cinema. “I know it’s hard to break outside the parameters of the industry, but the Fort Kent Cinema is one of the few theaters in the state that does this kind of thing.”
Dover-Foxcroft’s Center Theatre is another Maine cinema that screens more independent and community-centered films, Clapp said.
Maine Mayhem premiered at the Nickelodeon in Portland on May 9 and was later shown at the Biddeford City Theater. Caron reached out to theater owners about additional showings.
The Fort Kent Cinema happily agreed when Caron reached out, said Brandon Goding, the theater owner.
“When we purchased the theater from my parents’ grandfather, Mr. Paradis, we had always planned to feature local talent on the big screen,” Goding said. “We definitely would like to do more of it.”
Both the film festival screening and basketball games were community suggestions, Goding said, adding that the screening during the games had an incredible amount of energy and that he would love to do it again.
Although acting drew Caron to the southern Maine school, his experience has only heightened his appreciation for the directorial side of films, he said. He now appreciates the cinematography, angles, and directorial element of films as much as the acting.
His inspirations include Rob Reiner, Ridley Scott and Guillermo del Toro, he said.
The festival screening will start at 7.p.m. Tuesday, June 9.
“I’m just really grateful for the opportunity,” Caron said. “I had a lot of fun doing it, and I’m glad to be able to see it on the big screen in my hometown.”