Three significant New England film festivals, each one different in genre, content and style are coming to a vacation hotspot near you in Massachusetts and Rhode Island early this summer. I’ve put away my skis for the winter, leaving the memory of Sundance Festival 2000 fading in the spring breezes, and unpacked my hip, black summer wardrobe in preparation for this June’s stylin’ and thought-provoking film scene.

The most awaited and star-studded festival of the year is the Nantucket Film Festival, featured in Imagine last May and held this year June 21-25 on that magical island off of Massachusetts’ Cape Cod. This year’s venues will continue to include the Dreamland Theatre, the Gas Light, the Harbor House, Point Breeze, the Cambridge Street Restaurant and Bennett Hall, all a short walking distance from each other in the center of town. Distinguishing itself from other festivals, which focus on film, the Nantucket centers on the screenwriter and story telling. Its main competition, the screenwriting contest, had hundreds of entries that were due March 10th this year. Judges of the competition include that rowdy-boy actor, Philip Seymour Hoffman (MAGNOLIA, THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY, and currently on stage in TRUE WEST on Broadway) and producer/director Agnieszka Holland (Oscar nominated EUROPA, EUROPA and the more recent American feature, THE SECRET GARDEN). Last year’s winner was Polish screenwriter and now Boston local Janusz Glowacki, who’s first notable U.S. feature-length screenplay HAIRDO wowed judges.

Jonathon Burkhart, Executive Director of the Nantucket Film Festival.

Additionally, there will be three staged readings, including one called AND SHE WAS (written and directed by Hal Salaven), featuring actor Paul Rubin (SWOON). There’s a rumor that supermodel and wannabe actress Claudia Schiffer (BLACK AND WHITE) may also join the ranks of readers this year giving the male attendants some super eye candy. A tribute to screenwriter Paul Schrader (TAXI DRIVER, RAGING BULL, AFFLICTION) sponsored by NBC will include a one-on-one interview with an as-yet named moderator. Past recipients of this honor have included Jay Presson Allen (CABARET) and Ring Lardner (M*A*S*H, LAURA). In addition to this event, three panel discussions will take place, subjects to be announced.

Film submissions for features, shorts and documentaries were due on April 14, and a few of this year’s entries include at least two noted Boston film makers: Brad Anderson (NEXT STOP WONDERLAND) with his new feature HAPPY ACCIDENTS, and Sandy Spencer with a documentary called RUTHIE B, RUTHIE B. A fine roster of European films, including BRIGHTER THAN THE MOON (Austria) and BYE BYE BLUE BIRD (Denmark) are included, as well as Tom Gilroy’s first feature length film, SPRING FORWARD. Last year’s feature audience winner was THE AUTUMN HEART, written by David Lee Wilson and directed by Steven Maler, who also founded the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company in Boston; and the film short winner was SCRIPT DOCTOR. For more information on the festival or links to the Nantucket Chamber of Commerce and recommended overnight accommodations, check out the web site at www.NantucketFilmFestival.org. Film passes for the whole event, including opening and closing parties are $375, or daily passes for $50 can be purchased, as well as individual screenings for the chi-chi price of $10. A special Patron Pass is also available (and largely tax deductible) for $750 for which one also receives a t-shirt, a poster and a name in the program, if you make payment by May 10.

The Dreamland Theatre, one of the sites for screenings at the Nantucket Film Festival.

The 2nd Annual Provincetown (or, for insiders, "P-Town") Film Festival arrives with bells and whistles beginning June 15th and ending June 18th. Festival producer Connie White says they’ve added a day, making the festival a 4 day long weekend on the Cape, and will continue to add a day each year until it’s a full week’s vacation. Thirty to forty films, including features, shorts and documentaries will be shown at four locations, including the New Art Cinema (features only), and for film shorts, the Vixen, the School House Gallery and the Crown and Anchor. This year’s festival will honor two notable women in film. On Friday night (June 16) at Town Hall, Christine Vachon, executive producer of Academy Award winning BOYS DON’T CRY (featuring Best Actress winner Hilary Swank) will be presented with the "Filmmaker-on-the-Edge" award. Ms. Vachon has also produced VELVET GOLDMINE, I SHOT ANDY WARHOL, and GO FISH, three notable radical indies of the last decade. Her soon to be released CRIME AND PUNISHMENT IN SUBURBIA is bound to be a focus in her discussion.

The event will also include the annual Filmmaker’s Symposium. Last year’s winner of this notable honor was independent film icon John Waters (PINK FLAMINGOES, PECKER), who’s rumored to be hanging out at the event and festival this summer. On Saturday, June 17, at the lovely estate-located Lorraine’s Restaurant, Lily Tomlin (TEA WITH MUSSOLINI, FLIRTING WITH DISASTER) will receive the first annual "Lily Award" named for her and granted for an outstanding performance by a thespian. Lily’s upcoming feature with Woody Allen and Sharon Stone is bound to be the talk of the town. The award, it should be noted, is non-gender specific. My favorite part of this event is the ice sculptures, reminding me again of skiing and that not-to-be-mentioned-again-in-this-article festival out in Utah. Awards are carefully selected by the festival’s producers, Maryanne Lampke, P.J. Layng and Connie White, who also produce the Women’s Film Festival in Boston every April. Also this year, a new audience award will be given out at the end of the festival at the closing party hosted June 18th at the newly remodeled Crown and Anchor.

BOYS DON’T CRY producer Christine Vachon, "Filmmaker on the Edge" award recipient at the 2nd Annual Provincetown International Film Festival.

The best event at the P-Town Festival this year, however, is likely to be the Filmmakers’ Brunch on Sunday afternoon, hosted aboard the Provincetown II Ferry Boat, which will be leaving the docks promptly at 1 p.m. Held hostage at sea for this schmooze fest with all the notable and new filmmakers, you can either do the talk or walk the walk while listening to the Dixie Land Jazz Band. While at press time, the deadline for submission, tax day or April 15 (whichever makes you more miserable) of films had not occurred, so we can’t report on what films will be shown. But be assured, for a festival that advertises itself as for "Filmmaking on the Edge", there will be no run-of-the-mill Hollywood flicks here. Instead, Beacon Cinema Group’s Ned Hinkle, the festival’s producer, tells me that this festival tries to incorporate "every different facet of [the] Provincetown community." This includes films about the historic and existing artist’s colony, Portuguese films, the surrounding nature and environment, the local retirees that have come to make P-Town their home, and of course, the gay and lesbian community. Thus, this festival takes on its own life and image of the film industry and attempts to "push the envelope of mainstream film", according to Ms. White. To get more information on the festival, including places to stay, check out www.BeaconCinema.com/PtownFilmFest. Festival pass prices have not yet been determined, but last year’s ticket prices were a competitive $8; special events will be priced higher.

The Third Annual Newport Film Festival (scheduled June 6-11) promises to outdo itself this year. With more than ten features, and as many of each in the Film Short and Documentary categories, as well as this year’s retrospective on "the celluloid candidate" and five jazz-related films, the Newport Film Festival promises to keep participants running around with too many choices. Venues will include the Jane Pickens historic theatre which holds 700, the Opera House Triplex, the Hotel Viking, and a special outdoor screening at the International Tennis Hall of Fame (proper attire: white, of course). The opening gala will be hosted at Ochre Court, a historic mansion that served as the location for the opening scene in TRUE LIES a few years back.

The Jane Pickman Theatre, one of the screening sites at the Third Annual Newport Film Festival

While the list of films has not been finalized at press time, last year’s nearly sold-out event promises to draw crowds again. Each film is shown twice, and six awards are issued at the end of the festival by a three-jury panel, selected for their expertise and recognition in the film industry. Last year’s judges included director Whit Stillman (THE LAST DAYS OF DISCO), actor Peter Rieger (LOCAL HERO), and director Maria Maggenti (THE LOVE LETTER) in the feature category; as well as notable academy award winners in the documentary category. The festival has an impressive array of ticket packages that will fit every budget. The full festival ticket for all five days is $350, while a pass for either the jazz films or this year’s retrospective is $50, including all panel discussions. Day passes are $35 and individual ticket prices are only $7.50, a bargain in today’s allegedly non-profit film festival ticket prices. The beauty of Newport’s festival, of course, is that it only requires a day trip from either Boston or Providence. However, if you’d like to stay awhile and schmooze properly, filmmakers and film lovers alike can check out the festival’s web site at www.Newportfilmfestival.com, which lists bed and breakfasts, as well as package deals in the Newport area.

All three festivals mark the beginning of the summer film festival season in New England, soon to be followed by others in Maine, and in August, my own favorite, Woods Hole. So get out your sunblock and sunglasses, your black-wear and straw hats, and head indoors on the Cape at Nantucket and Provincetown and in Rhode Island at Newport, and see some fabulous independent features, shorts and documentary films. Then look towards the winter, the cold, and next year’s Sun-oops-Park-City festival, where some of the lucky winners of these smaller festivals may end up, and congratulate yourselves that you got to see them for less money, with less crowds and with fabulous local New Englanders sans the pomp and circumstance of Tinsel Town.

If you have questions about any of the contents of this article, you may contact the author at (617) 821-6772. Vinca Jarrett is an attorney of counsel to the firm of Shames and Litwin, a full service law firm with foremost experience in the field of entertainment, including film, music and television. She is also the owner and principal of the script consulting company SKRIPTEASE, which specializes in screenplay drafting, editing and consulting on feature and television projects both on spec and in production. For more information on SKRIPTEASE, please contact Vinca at Skriptease@aol.com