Camden International Film Festival

Last updated

Camden International Film Festival
Camden International Film Festival logo.jpg
Location Camden, Maine
Founded2005
Most recentSeptember 14-17, 2023
Website pointsnorthinstitute.org/ciff/

The Camden International Film Festival, stylized as CIFF, is an annual documentary film festival based in Camden, Rockport, and Rockland, Maine, in the United States that takes place mid-September.

Founded in 2005 by Ben Fowlie, the festival highlights craft and innovation within nonfiction storytelling. [1] In addition, CIFF hosts the annual Points North Forum, a two-day conference that provides documentary filmmakers with opportunities for professional development and creative inspiration. [2] Past participants include representatives from HBO, A&E, the BBC, CNN, Discovery , Arte, Vimeo, the Tribeca Film Institute, the Sundance Institute, and POV . [3]

The festival screens approximately 60 documentary features and shorts annually. [4] Screenings are followed by Q&A sessions with directors and industry professionals. Festivities over the weekend also include a course through the University of Maine, [5] panels, workshops and parties. [6]

CIFF received its first grant from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2013 to support two programs in that year's festival. Then and Now paired classic documentary films with new work from emerging non-fiction filmmakers. Process was a curated line-up of documentaries from the past and present. [7] The festival received a second grant from the Academy for the 2015 edition to support Being There, a retrospective program and workshop series focused on the past, present and future of ethnographic documentary film. [8]

In 2015, CIFF formed a partnership with the Tribeca Film Institute (TFI) and launched the Camden/TFI Retreat. The retreat ran annually for six days each summer in Camden and Rockport, Maine, offering five U.S.-based documentary filmmaking teams professional guidance and mentorship. [9] The retreat was suspended in 2020 when TFI paused all of its programming in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. [10]

In 2016, CIFF was named an Academy Awards qualifying festival for the Documentary Short Film Award by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Short films that receive the festival’s Best Documentary Short Award qualify to enter the Oscars competition in the same category. [11] CIFF organizers also launched the Points North Institute that year, as an umbrella organization for the festival and other programs. [12]

In 2020, CIFF was presented online as a virtual festival due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to all films screening virtually, the festival screened part of the film line-up at a drive-in theater organizers constructed in Rockport. [13] For the 2021, 2022 and 2023 editions, the festival took place in hybrid format with both in-person and online screenings. [14] [15] [4]

In 2024, CIFF founder Ben Fowlie stepped down as executive and artistic director of the Points North Institute. Rick Rector, a board member of the institute, was appointed interim executive director. Sean Flynn, a co-founder of Points North Institute with Fowlie and Caroline von Kuhn who continues to lead the institute’s artist programs, expanded his role to oversee CIFF. [16]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Camden, Maine</span> Town in Maine, United States

Camden is a resort town in Knox County, Maine, United States. The population was 5,232 at the 2020 census. The population of the town more than triples during the summer months, due to tourists and summer residents. Camden is a summer colony in the Mid-Coast region of Maine. Similar to Bar Harbor, Nantucket and North Haven, Camden is well known for its summer community of wealthy Northeasterners, mostly from Boston, New York City, and Philadelphia.

The Calgary International Film Festival (CIFF) is a film festival held annually in Calgary, Alberta, in late September and early October.

The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is the largest documentary festival in North America. The event takes place annually in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The 27th edition of the festival took place online throughout May and June 2020. In addition to the annual festival, Hot Docs owns and operates the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema, administers multiple production funds, and runs year-round screening programs including Doc Soup and Hot Docs Showcase.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ondi Timoner</span> American film director

Ondi Doane Timoner is an American filmmaker and the founder and chief executive officer of Interloper Films, a production company located in Pasadena, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tiffany Shlain</span> American filmmaker and author (1970)

Tiffany Shlain is an American filmmaker, artist, and author. Described by the public radio program On Being as "an internet pioneer", Shlain is the co-founder of the Webby Awards and the founder of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rob Stewart (filmmaker)</span> Canadian photographer, filmmaker and conservationist

Rob Stewart was a Canadian photographer, filmmaker and conservationist. He was best known for making and directing the documentary films Sharkwater and Revolution. He drowned at the age of 37 while scuba diving in Florida, filming Sharkwater Extinction.

The Tribeca Film Institute (TFI) is a non-profit arts organization based in New York City, founded in 2001 by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff following the September 11 attacks as a means to revitalize the arts community in lower Manhattan. TFI launched its first program in 2002, the Tribeca Film Festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York Indian Film Festival</span> Indian Film festival in New York

The New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF) is an annual film festival that takes place in New York City, and screens films relating to India, the Indian Diaspora, and the work of Indian filmmakers. The festival began in November 2001 and was founded by Aroon Shivdasani and the Indo-American Arts Council. About 40 films are screened, including features films, shorts, documentaries, and animated films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Candescent Films</span>

Candescent Films is an American film production company that produces and finances documentary and narrative films that explore social issues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kamar Ahmad Simon</span>

Kamar Ahmad Simon is a Bangladeshi filmmaker. He was featured as red carpet director in Piazza Grande at Locarno and has won various awards including the prestigious Harrell Award at CIFF (Camden), Grand Prix at Cinéma du Réel (Paris), Open Doors Award and Arte International Prix at Locarno, Golden Conch at MIFF (Mumbai), grants from Sundance, IDFA-Bertha and WCF/ Berlinale. He has been a jury member of the Sydney International Film Festival for the Australian segment, La Bibliothèque publique d’information (BPI) France, Johns Hopkins University USA has acquired his film and Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland (RAI) have exhibited his work.

Lana Wilson is an American filmmaker. She directed the feature documentaries After Tiller, The Departure, and Miss Americana, as well as the two-part documentary Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields. The first two films were nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lance Oppenheim</span> American film director

Lance Oppenheim is an American filmmaker, documentarian, producer, and multi-instrumentalist from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. His work blends cinematic genres to explore the lives of people who create homes in unconventional spaces and places. His debut feature, Some Kind of Heaven (2020), was an Official Selection at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.

Caballerango is a 2018 Mexican documentary film, director Juan Pablo González's debut feature. It's a portrait of residents of Milpillas in Los Altos de Jalisco as they grapple with the sudden death of a young horse wrangler named Nando. The editing alternates wide shots of landscape and community with more intimate scenes where the director, a native of the region himself, asks questions of those onscreen. Gradually, Nando's death starts to look like it might have been a suicide. It also becomes clear that the community's still reeling from the loss of several other young people. The mysterious circumstances of their demise dovetail with globalization's effects on the community: a drop in farming jobs and population exodus from the region. The film expands upon material that González's Cannes Critics' Week short, "¿Por qué el recuerdo?", previously broached. It displays dimensions of slow cinema and includes only 37 shots across its 62-minute duration.

<i>Freedom Swimmer</i> 2021 Australian film

Freedom Swimmer is a 2021 Australian animated short film directed by Olivia Martin McGuire. The short is a fifteen minute documentary telling the story of a man and his daughter who swam from China to Hong Kong during the Cultural Revolution. Following its premiere at the Melbourne International Film Festival, the short has been featured in several film festivals including Slamdance Film Festival, Palm Springs International ShortsFest and the Calgary International Film Festival, where it was awarded for Best Documentary Short.

Summer Qamp is a 2023 Canadian documentary film, directed by Jen Markowitz. The film profiles Camp fYrefly, a summer camp program in Alberta that provides a safe space for LGBTQ youth.

Defiant is a 2023 internationally co-produced documentary film directed and produced by Karim Amer. It follows the Russian invasion of Ukraine, focusing on Dmytro Kuleba and others fighting disinformation in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

<i>Silver Dollar Road</i> 2023 film by Raoul Peck

Silver Dollar Road is a 2023 American documentary film written, directed and co-produced by Raoul Peck, based on the ProPublica article "Kicked Off The Land" by Lizzie Presser. The film follows a water front property passed through generations in the Reels family, becomes subject to harassment by land developers. Viola Davis serves as an executive producer.

<i>The Mission</i> (2023 film) 2023 American film

The Mission is a 2023 American documentary film directed and produced by Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss. It explores the death of American missionary John Allen Chau, who was killed by arrows during a self-initiated mission involving an indigenous group of the Andaman Islands, the Sentinelese.

Jen Markowitz is a Canadian film and television director and producer, whose feature documentary film debut Summer Qamp was released in 2023.

Union is a 2024 American documentary film, directed by Brett Story and Stephen Maing. It follows the Amazon Labor Union, in Staten Island, as they take on Amazon to unionize.

References

  1. Mak, Elaine (October 1, 2005). "Documentary Dreams". NewEnglandFilm.
  2. "Our Story - Points North Institute". pointsnorthinstitute.org. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  3. Bernstein, Paula (April 13, 2016). "Camden International Film Festival Calls for Entries to Points North Fellowship". Filmmaker .
  4. 1 2 Morfoot, Addie (August 22, 2023). "Camden Film Festival, a Key Stop on the Awards Circuit for Doc Contenders, Reveals 2023 Lineup". Variety .
  5. "UMaine offering Camden International Film Festival courses". University of Maine . September 8, 2017.
  6. Dollar, Steve (October 5, 2022). "Global Conversations: Camden International Film Festival and Points North Pitch 2022". Filmmaker .
  7. Renninger, Bryce J. (August 30, 2013). "Camden International Film Festival Unveils 2013 Lineup; 'Cutie' and 'Promise' To Bookend". IndieWire .
  8. "Camden International Film Festival and Points North Documentary Forum 2015 dates announced". Penobscot Bay Pilot. December 4, 2014.
  9. Kay, Jeremy (June 18, 2017). "Tribeca Film Institute unveils third annual Filmmaker retreat". Screen Daily .
  10. Malkin, Marc; Donnelly, Matt (May 26, 2020). "Tribeca Film Institute Suspends Operations, Enacts Small Round of Layoffs". Variety .
  11. Mammadyarov, Riyad (January 19, 2016). "Attention, Filmmakers: Submit Your Film to the Academy-Approved Camden International Film Festival". IndieWire .
  12. Ravindran, Manori (July 6, 2016). "CIFF team launches Points North Institute". Realscreen .
  13. "Camden International Film Festival 2020 screening schedule for 16th edition". Penobscot Bay Pilot. September 21, 2020.
  14. "The Camden International Film Festival Announces Its 2021 Hybrid Edition Lineup". Filmmaker . August 23, 2021.
  15. Morfoot, Addie (August 22, 2022). "Camden International Film Festival, an Oscar Campaign Hotspot, Unveils 2022 Lineup". Variety .
  16. Carey, Matthew (January 16, 2024). "Ben Fowlie Stepping Down As Executive Director Of Points North Institute, Leadership Of Camden International Film Festival". Deadline Hollywood .