Thursday, August 8, 2024 at 7pm
Director: James Khanlarian Run
Time: 106 minutes
While lobster-fishing early one morning, Jamie Eugley and his girlfriend, Anja, are struck by a rogue wave that knocks Anja overboard. Jamie desperately tries to save her, but it’s too late; her brain goes without oxygen for too long. Three years later, Jamie continues to help Anja rehabilitate after her brain injury, when he discovers that his lobster traps are being tampered with. He’s not alone, as several of the local lobstermen have had their traps cut, including his father. The men make a decision to strike back at the most obvious culprits – the Fogerty family. As a trap war begins, Anja shows signs of improvement. She begins to drive and gets a job, but it’s not enough to reignite Jamie’s love for her. Despite his best efforts to be true to Anja, Jamie falls in love with Happy, a girl in town for the summer.
Runtime: 97 minutes
Join the Vacationland Film Festival for a series of the best short films available, including:
| Film | Length in minutes | Director | Description |
| The Boat Inspector | 8 | Madison Morin | North Pond in Smithfield, Maine is a desolate dream come true to those like the North Pond Hermit, who prefer intense solitary, but what about Ellie, the local boat inspector? The call of the loon can only fill up so much silence and her season is coming to an end. Just when the foliage has peaked, a unique boater named Alex appears and invites Ellie on an adventure. |
| Good Morning Sunshine | 20 | Mariah Larocque | Vessy Miller seeks help from school officials after a traumatic incident occurs involving her English teacher, Mr. Carter. The situation becomes more complicated when the Principal accuses her of lying, leaving her vulnerable, unprotected and at the mercy of her predator. |
| Past Prologue | 13 | Brian Russell | Robert and Claudette have a chance encounter in a coffee shop, their first meeting since they dated over 60 years ago. As an interracial couple in the 1950’s, the relationship never had a chance. A re-connection to memory, and discovery of feelings long buried takes them on an emotional journey through their past. |
| The Antique | 21 | Hannah Perry | The Antique is about twin sisters trying to save their family home from foreclosure after their mother dies. The only chance they have to afford the payments is if their mother’s treasured antique is worth anything. During their journey to get it appraised on a famous show, the sisters come to terms with their relationships with a complicated mother and each other. |
| Welcome to King Friday’s Dungeon | 15 | Destiny Arturet | Welcome to King Friday’s Dungeon’ shares the stories of three puppeteering acts as they brace for the challenge of preparing for King Friday’s Dungeon Puppet Slam at Mayo Street Arts in Portland, Maine. |
| We Were An Island | 20 | Peter Logue | “We Were an Island” brings to life the true story of Art and Nan Kellam, a couple who spent nearly four decades alone on an island off the coast of Maine. Directed by Peter Logue. Screenplay and Original Score by Jahn Sood. Inspired by the book by Peter Blanchard III and the lives of Art and Nan Kellam. |
Friday, August 9, 2024 at 5:30pm
Director: Henry Spritz
Runtime: 59 minutes
Director: Charlie Hamilton James
Runtime: 1 hour, 17 minutes
From National Geographic and Silverback Films, “Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story” is a heart-warming story of love between a wild otter and a man set in the remote Scottish islands of Shetland.
When a wild otter in desperate need of help washes up on his jetty in the remote Scottish islands of Shetland, Billy, his wife Susan, and their devoted sheepdog Jade find themselves with a unique new member of their family. From National Geographic and Silverback Films, “Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story” is a heart-warming story directed by Charlie Hamilton James and shot in 4K. This documentary film shows us how love can reawaken us to the beauty of nature.
Director: Samantha Sanders
Runtime: 15 minutes
Three women forge a friendship by swimming daily at sunrise through the winter in Lake Michigan to cope with the pandemic.
As the brutal Chicago winter draws near, Deirdre, Helen and Jennefer—avid open water swimmers—make a pact to continue through the snow and ice as the pandemic rages on. This intense commitment becomes their salvation from lockdown and helps alleviate each of their personal struggles. Initially just acquaintances, Swimming Through follows their friendship as it coalesces around their commitment to the daily ritual of swimming at sunrise in Lake Michigan.
Saturday, August 10, 2024 at 11:30 am
Director: Nate Allen
Runtime: 80 minutes
Please note that this film is best for those 13+; this fictional story depicts several difficult topics such as depression and suicide. If you or anyone you know is struggling please call or text the suicide hotline number at 988.
During our first few years of high school, Roger and I increasingly saw the impacts of poor mental health on our generation. Mental health is still treated as a taboo topic, creating a stigma that discourages people from talking about the struggles they are going through. This is something we worry about, and feel strongly that something has to change. Because of this we wrote “Bonsai”, our first feature film script.
“Bonsai” is the story of a senior in high school who is struggling with anxiety and depression and is secretly yearning for someone to notice. It shows how some people can hide their struggle a lot better than others, and how checking up on a friend can make a huge difference. It’s not written by adults who maybe don’t fully understand or appreciate the issues we are facing, but instead written by actual teens going through these challenges.
By making such a personal project, the film feels raw and real. We believe it can encourage people, even in a smaller scale setting like our friends and family, to start really talking openly about mental health. By seeing a film made by teenagers, We think it reaches other people more effectively. As Filmmakers, we have a huge responsibility to inspire and enact change in our communities, and we think that cinema provides a powerful platform to do so.
Saturday, August 10, 2024 at 3 pm
Director(s): Jessamine Irwin and Daniel Quintanilla
Runtime: 32 minutes
The Intersection examines the distinct yet intersecting trajectories of French-speaking immigrants from both Canada and Francophone-African countries, as they converge in Lewiston, Maine. Through a focus on the lives and friendship between Cecile, a French-Canadian woman whose family came to the US to work in the local mills, part of an immigrant wave beginning in the 1840s, and Trésor, a Congolese man seeking asylum who is part of a recent wave of African immigrants, the film suggests the importance of language for identity and community. Cecile and Trésor build a bond around their common first language, French. After a lifetime of suppressing her French identity, Cecile regains pride in her origins, while the common language offers Trésor a means of building connections in his new home.
The filmmakers frame this story of friendship within a broader historical context, encouraging viewers to reflect on the history of immigration in Maine since the first European settlers arrived. In just over 30 minutes, the film manages to provide an overview of immigrant experiences, including histories of discrimination and oppression both past and present. This deeply American story touches on issues relevant to communities around the country and is a great film for classes in sociolinguistics, American history, immigration, Francophone studies and more.
“I strongly recommend this film to anyone seeking a better understanding of what Francophonie means…” – Olivier Favry, Cultural Attaché, French Consulate in Boston
“The Intersection is a heart-warming film that shows the deep bond formed through the bridge of a common language.” – Charlotte Cushman, educator
Saturday, August 10, 2024 at 7pm
Director: Jeff Griecci
Runtime: 96 minutes
Old lovers reunite, a friendship is betrayed, a pet is killed, a runaway discovered, and a co-worker comes back from the dead in these five interconnected tales about suffering from kindness. Shot over five-years worth of weekends featuring a massive cast and crew, this ambitious, feature-length, no-budget indie shows a side of Maine not seen anywhere else (no lobstermen here, sorry) and finds bleak comedy in a backwater state being dragged into a diverse and inclusive 21st century. For fans of Aki Kaurismäki, Jim Jarmusch, and J.D. Salinger.
Saturday, August 10, 2024 at 7pm
Director: Mark J. Parker
Runtime: 15 minutes
Overworked and underappreciated Casting Director Tim is stuck holding a casting session after hours at the TV production office where he works for a last minute shoot tomorrow. Having to cancel his personal plans, he stays late to bring in subpar actors who are available on such short notice, but getting his producers to pay attention and seriously consider them is another hurdle. They’re either bored, distracted, busy, or aren’t even sure of Tim’s name. Just when he thinks he’s almost done and can book the top choices, a scream turns into a bloodbath, and Tim and only a few others are trapped at the office with a maniac he invited in. Some actors would kill for this opportunity.
Sunday, August 11, 2024 at 11:30am
Directors: Assorted
Runtime: 2 hours, 9 minutes
The 14th Annual Maine Mayhem Film Series showcases films by second year Communications and New Media students at Southern Maine Community College.
Now in its 14th year, this year’s event will begin with several short animations before moving on to the main event; eight short films framed by an interstitial story. This year’s films are: Were-man, My Dog Died, No Accounting for Taste, The Memory Keeper, Served!, Where the Heart Is, Versions, and Signature.
Sunday, August 11, 2024 at 2pm
Director: Gabe Polsky
Runtime: 107 minutes
Based on the seminal novel by John Edward Williams, Butcher’s Crossing is an epic frontier adventure that follows a young Harvard drop-out, Will Andrews (FRED HECHINGER, News of the World, HBO’s The White Lotus), into the Colorado wilderness as he joins a team of buffalo hunters lead by Miller (Academy Award ©️ winner NICOLAS CAGE) in search of a mythic herd of buffalo.
Little does he know, the journey will put his life and sanity at risk as they drive further into the Rocky Mountains. The adventure is both sublime and horrific, where a confrontation with dark truth leads to a descent into madness.
Detailing a gripping and largely untold chapter in American history, Butcher’s Crossing is a riveting commentary on human nature, obsession, masculinity, and man’s relationship to his natural environment.
Sunday, August 11, 2024 at 4pm
Director: James Merkel
Runtime: 88 minutes
A film that has its roots in Belfast, Maine is coming to the City Theater in Biddeford for a very special screening with author and filmmaker, Jim Merkel on August 11 at 4:00 p.m. Come learn how and why the documentary “Saving Walden’s World” was created, taking Merkel around the world for research, filming, and screenings of this uniquely personal film on women’s empowerment, culture, and steps that are being taken globally to develop sustainable living and food solutions.
The documentary Saving Walden’s World is a project with a long life, both in development and screenings, as it is now a featured selection at several global film festivals, including the Puerto Aventuras International Film Festival (PAIFF), Love & Hope International Film Festival, in Barcelona, Spain, Crown Wood International Film Festival in Kolkata, West Bengal, India and the Five Continents International Film Festival in Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela. This is a rare opportunity to meet the filmmaker and see why the film is garnering international attention, along with questions and answers and socializing.
Saving Walden’s World looks at what is working today and how these solutions can shape a better tomorrow. Director and writer Jim Merkel weaves a story that spans his early personal experience as a military subcontractor and his later studies of three countries where non-capitalist cultures thrive.
A Future Wish from a Parent to a Child
Saving Walden’s World is a visual poem and a promise from a father to the world’s children, a promise that provides a glimmering future within our reach, if we shift our thinking… Merkel started this research while watching Walden grow and this most certainly fueled his passion to take action, study, and share his findings. Jim found a lot of working solutions in place right now. They are solutions you won’t hear about on the news, or even in social media.
Jim Merkel asks us to Imagine… the world’s wealthy consume less, the poor exit poverty, fewer — yet healthier children are born, easing extinctions, hunger, and climate change… A self-reinforcing cycle where all win. And if we can imagine, can we change? Perhaps the beginning of imagination is seeing ways solutions are working, so Jim takes us to places which have been identified as sustainable in terms of food,
Trailers available at Earthling: The Film
Sunday, August 11, 2024 at 4pm
Directors: Molly Graham and Keith Lane
Runtime: 10 minutes
In the summer of 1976, Jack Weiner, along with his twin brother Jim, and two friends went camping in Maine’s Allagash wilderness, where they were abducted by aliens. It wasn’t until ten years later, and massive changes in their personalities, changes brought on by repressed memories, that the four men explored what happened to them on that trip through hypnosis. Despite people not believing Jack about his encounter with aliens, he stands by his story. Jack considers himself a representative on earth for the aliens he encountered in 1976 – and is still visited by to this day – with an urgent message for all of humanity. We’re destroying the planet, its resources, and each other. Whether you believe in his account or not, the information is an urgent warning to all of humanity. For most of Jack’s life, his story has not been believed. He’s a pariah in his community and has been ridiculed publicly for his account. Despite this treatment, he stands by his story and has never wavered. He is resolute in the face of adversity, and his life story is an important lesson in empathy, understanding, and accepting others’ perspectives.
The visual representation of the story is inspired by Jack’s artistic style and artwork, which is surreal, bizarre, and evokes the liminality of his lived experience on the precipice of earth and space, reality and fantasy, and present and future. The animation and narrative’s conceptual imagery convey themes and emotions related to the fear of the unknown, loss of control, and an important message of unity for humanity. These motifs are expertly illustrated and expressed by Earthling’s illustrator/animator Ameesha Lee, whose moody abstract style echoes precisely the renderings that Jack and his fellow abductees created after hypnosis returned their memories to them.
Sunday, August 11, 2024 at 7pm
Director: Jeshua Soucy
Runtime: 16 minutes
Set in the serene woods of Northern Maine, A Painting from the Earth is a compelling documentary about the unique method that painter Nathan Allard used in the creation of “Breezeway”. With stunning scenery and an original musical score, this documentary will take you through the rich history of a small log cabin and the journey a painter embarked on to capture the cabin in paint.
Sunday, August 11, 2024 at 7pm
Director: Ian Cheney
Runtime: 95 minutes
THE ARC OF OBLIVION explores a quirk of humankind: in a universe that erases its tracks, we humans are hellbent on leaving a trace. Set against the backdrop of the filmmaker’s quixotic quest to build an ark in afield in Maine, the film heads far afield – to salt mines in the Alps, fjords in the Arctic, and ancient libraries in the Sahara – to illuminate the strange world of archives, record-keeping, and memory.
More information on the Vacationland Film Festival and additional films coming soon!
Purchase Vacationland Film Festival passes for all films or tickets to individual films.
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