PORTLAND, Maine — The Maine International Film Festival kicks off Friday celebrating its 25th anniversary.
Ken Eisen, one of the founders of Railroad Square Cinema in Waterville, was also one of the people present at the creation of the festival.
He said it felt "weird" to watch the festival grow into such an important cultural event in Maine. “But also great, also really exciting,” he said.
This year’s festival will feature about 100 films, almost all of them shown on big screens in Waterville, which, along with Skowhegan, has been the festival’s home since the beginning. Several of the films have Maine connections. The rest are from all over the world.
What they have in common is that virtually every movie will be making its Maine premiere at the festival. Some will be making their New England or even world premieres.
“They’re not films you will have seen before,” Eisen said, “With the exception of retrospectives and restorations where we do new prints of great old films.”
The festival runs for 10 days, and one of its aims is not just to entertain but to spark thoughts and conversations. It strives to provide, in Eisen’s words, “New perspectives on the world, excitement at [the] cinema and what it can bring, the thrill of the art, the thrill of communication with other people in all kinds of languages and in all kinds of ways.”
You can learn more about the Maine International Film Festival here.