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But that doesn’t mean all film festivals are created equal.
As part of its mission to bring the best of independent film to the Upper Valley, the White River Indie Festival (WRIF) will host a slate of programming from the Maine International Film Festival (MIFF), next Saturday, Dec. 3 at the Briggs Opera House in White River Junction.
The MIFF, which runs for 10 days in the summer in Waterville, marks its 20th anniversary in July 2017. It’s become one of the most respected festivals in the country, showing both new and classic films, as well as presenting tributes to actors, directors, producers and others in the film industry.
The festival is the co-creation of Karen Young, a well-known film and stage actor who has appeared on Broadway and had a featured role in The Sopranos, and Ken Eisen, a film historian, curator and head of distribution for Shadow Films, which released the two Oscar-nominated documentaries The Weather Underground and Under the Sun.
Both Young and Eisen, who are married, will be at the Briggs on Dec. 3 to talk about the art and business of film, and film festivals.
At 3 p.m., Young will introduce a screening of four short films from this year’s festival, including her own film The Pesky Suitor, starring a younger Claire Danes. At 7 p.m. Eisen will introduce the 2016 feature film Louder than Bombs, starring Gabriel Byrne, Isabelle Huppert, Amy Ryan and Jesse Eisenberg, at 7 p.m.
“Ken is a very thoughtful programmer and the films that he picks are all films that he chooses. There’s a very strong curatorial touch to the festival,” said Nora Jacobson, the film director and vice-president of WRIF.
Bringing MIFF to WRIF accomplishes at least two goals, Jacobson said. First, it introduces a top-notch festival to the Upper Valley, and establishes a regional connection; and second, it is a way to acquaint Young and Eisen with area filmmakers looking for ways to get their movies screened. It also gives regional filmmakers a chance to ask Young and Eisen how they program, and what they’re looking for, Jacobson said.
What they’re looking for, said Eisen, is what most film programmers look for: quality.
While easier access to film technology has opened numerous doors to aspiring directors and writers who would have had a harder time getting their feet in the door of film studios and TV networks, that doesn’t necessarily mean that film festivals have seen a corresponding explosion of talent.
“There are an awful lot of bad movies out there, and an awful lot of bad film festivals,” Eisen said bluntly.
People can make films “if they really have a mind to do so — but only if they have something to say and the ability to say it,” Eisen said.
The feature film being screened, Louder Than Bombs, meets those criteria, Eisen said., but when it was released this spring in the U.S. it slipped under the radar.
Directed by Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Trier, Louder Than Bombs tells the story of a war photographer (Huppert) who dies suddenly and unexpectedly, and the impact that has on her husband (Byrne) and two sons (Eisenberg and Devin Druid).
“It’s a powerful drama without a capital P and a capital D,” Eisen said, calling the film a superior example of writing, directing and acting.
Louder Than Bombs is the start of a series of monthly screenings WRIF plans to hold in White River Junction, in partnership with the Briggs from fall through spring, and the Barrette Center for the Arts in the summer, said Jacobson.
Next up, on Jan. 14 Jacobson said, is the screening of One Big Home, a documentary by Thomas Bena about how ultra McMansions are changing the landscape of Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts.
For tickets and more information go to wrif.org. Tickets are also available at the door. $9 for general admission/$5 for students.
Woodstock comes to Woodstock on Saturday afternoon, when the Billings Farm and Museum screens the Academy Award-winning documentary about the legendary 1969 music festival in upstate New York. This R-rated installment in the seventh annual Woodstock Vermont Film Series runs at 3 and 6:15. To reserve tickets ($6 for museum members, $11 for others), call 802-457-2355.
The following Saturday, Dec. 3, the museum will show Taxi Tehran, the 2015 feature that outlawed film director Jafar Panahi shot about social challenges in Iran while posing as a cab driver.
To learn more about the film series, visit billingsfarm.org/filmfest/filmlist.html.
The Lebanon Opera House screens outdoor-adventure film director Warren Miller’s 67th feature, Here, There & Everywhere, on Saturday night at 4:30 and 7:30. For general-admission tickets ($21 per person, $18 each for groups of 10 or more) and more information, visit lebanonoperahouse.org or the box office in City Hall, or call 603-448-0400.
Northeast Kingdom filmmaker Bess O’Brien’s tour with All of Me, her new documentary about people struggling with eating disorders and body-image issues, swings back through the Upper Valley next week with a 6:30 screening and a discussion on Wednesday night at the Woodstock Town Hall Theatre. Her previous documentary, The Hungry Heart, won awards for its depiction of opiate addiction in Vermont. While admission is free, donations are welcome. To watch a trailer of the movie and learn more, visit kingdomcountyproductions.org.
Nicola Smith can be reached at nsmith@vnews.com.