The Maine Film Center (MFC) announces the release of the complete lineup for the 23rd annual Maine International Film Festival (MIFF), which will offer programming this July 7-16 at the Skowhegan Drive-In Theatre, as well as having a selection of titles available online. Among the Drive-In’s programming highlights are the festival’s opening, closing, and centerpiece films, and a showcase of Maine-made short films.

 

Premieres and special events comprise this year’s festival program. Opening night, Tuesday, July 7, is the Northeastern premiere of “Heroic Losers,”  a comedic, suspenseful heist film starring Ricardo Darin in which a group of “losers” find a way to get back at those who stole from them. The Centerpiece film is the World Premiere of “American Thief,” an explosive, original and timely thriller set against 2016 election night. In the Closing night’s “The Last Shift,” a Midwestern white working-class lifer, played by Oscar nominee Richard Jenkins, discovers uncomfortable truths about himself and the culture and world he’s rarely questioned when he starts training his replacement, Jevon, a bright, aspiring young black man.

 “We usually present about 60 features each year at MIFF,” said Programming Director Ken Eisen. “This year, with our slimmer program, I am thrilled to be able to share some of the absolute best of the best that we usually show: 10 carloads of films that our audiences can truly discover — almost all are major premieres — for themselves.”

One of the Maine Film Center’s core missions is to educate by exhibiting films that advance knowledge and understanding of U.S. and world culture. Toward that end, MFC reaffirms and pledges to be unceasing in its determination and commitment to exhibit and otherwise support films that depict and express black lives. This year’s MIFF is dedicated to the lives of all people of color lost to racism, both systemic and individual. In an effort to support training, development, production, funding, and distribution for black filmmakers at a time when this work is more important and challenging than ever, MFC will provide the opportunity for patrons to donate to a charity empowering black filmmakers to tell their stories.

“We’re proud to present a stellar program of films that might otherwise never be screened in Maine—especially this year,” said Executive Director Mike Perreault, “not only under the stars at the Skowhegan Drive-In Theatre (201 Waterville Road, Skowhegan), but also online for fans of MIFF from home and from away. I hope that our audiences will be inspired by these incredible films.”

Individual tickets and passes are now available to purchase online at MIFF.org. MIFF is a project of the Maine Film Center, and is made possible by presenting sponsors Waterville Creates!, Colby College, and the Cynthia C. and Seth W. Lawry Family Foundation. Check out all of the films being shown July 7-16 at https://miff.org/tickets.

The Maine Film Center (MFC) brings world-class independent film to Central Maine through Railroad Square Cinema, the only Sundance Art House Project cinema in Maine and the annual Maine International Film Festival, a 10-day celebration that attracts filmmakers and film aficionados from around the world, and by delivering impactful, accessible film exhibitions and education programs. MFC firmly believes that art and culture have the power to enrich lives, strengthen community bonds, and serve as an economic engine. MFC is a division of Waterville Creates! For more information visit http://www.MaineFilmCenter.org.