WATERVILLE, Maine — The 26th annual Maine International Film Festival features films made from around the world and even some made by Mainers. The 10-day festival is showing 100 films at The Paul J. Schupf Art Center in downtown Waterville.
"They got little pieces like mine that are made locally with no budget, and then big films and some really interesting filmmakers are here," John Meador, a still photographer and filmmaker, said.
Meador, from Fairfield, is a Maine filmmaker showcasing a short film at the festival. There are 23 Made in Maine films this year. Seven are feature films, and 16 are short films.
"I had only seen it on my laptop, and it looked good on my laptop, but it looked really good on the big screen," he said. "I was like, I've never seen my pictures this big before, and that was really, really fun."
The festival features a variety of short films, feature films, new releases, classic films, and Made in Maine films each with unique themes.
The festival's Mid-Life Achievement Award Honoree, Ildiko Enyedi, described the festival as "handpicked quality."
Meador and Shawn Burke, also from Fairfield, paired Meador's still photography with Burke's ambient sound field recordings to create a 13-minute short film: “Place in Time: The North Shore."
"We're so proud to be a platform for independent filmmakers who are living and working in Maine. We think it's really important and critical to our mission to provide a platform for them to tell their stories," Maine Film Center's Executive Director Mike Perreault said.
The festival runs from Friday, July 7, through Sunday, July 16.
Click here if you're interested in learning more about this year's lineup.