The 1st Annual Camden International Film Festival  September 29-October 2, 2005

Featuring Special Guest Directors Albert Maysles and David Bradbury

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IAcclaimed documentary directors and cinematographers, Albert Maysles and David Bradbury will be among the many special guests at the 1st Annual Camden International Film Festival (CIFF), Maine’s only all non-fiction cinematic festival. Both filmmakers will be honored with a lifetime achievement award for their work in the documentary field. CIFF will take place along the Mid-coast region of Maine in the very different and unique harbor communities of Camden, Rockport and Rockland. Held September 29-October 2, the festival is presented in part by VisionMill, a new hi-definition production facility located in Camden and created by famed cinematographer, Rob Draper.

The inaugural season of CIFF will display feature length documentaries, and shorts by internationally recognized filmmakers, as well as emphasizing the large community of talented documentarians in the state of Maine. The Camden International Film Festival’s mission is to honor the independent documentary and highlight the worlds lesser-known evils through screenings, forums, special events and panels.

CIFF is truly honored to have the “dean of American documentaries,” attending. Albert Maysles and his brother David (1932-1987) are recognized as pioneers of “direct cinema,” the distinctly American version of French “cinema verité.” In 1960, Albert was co-filmmaker of PRIMARY, a film about the Democratic primary election campaigns of Kennedy and Humphrey. Then they came out with the landmark non-fiction feature film SALESMAN (1968). It won an award from the National Society of Film Critics and is regarded as the classic American documentary. In 1992, the Library of Congress saluted the film for its historical, cultural and aesthetic significance. Albert was made a Guggenheim Fellow in 1965. His next two films, GIMME SHELTER and GREY GARDENS became cult classics. In 1994, the International Documentary Association presented Albert with their Career Achievement Award. He has received S.M.P.T.E.’s 1997 John Grierson Award for Documentary, the American Society of Cinematographers’ 1998 President’s Award - given for the first time to a documentarian, the Boston Film and Video Foundation’s 1998 Vision Award, Toronto’s Hot Docs 1999 Lifetime Achievement Award, the 1999 Flaherty Award and the Thessaloniki 2001 Lifetime Achievement Award. In 1999 Eastman Kodak saluted Albert as one of the 100 world’s finest cinematographers.

The Camden International Film Festival will screen the US premiere of APAGA Y VAMANOS, a Spanish documentary shot in Chile.The film reveals the human rights violations of the Endesa Company on the Pehuenche-Mapuche people. Photo by Manel Mayol.

CIFF will also feature several afternoon panels including “Reel Women,” a forum on independent female documentary filmmakers. The forum will consist of such noted directors as Ellen Perry (THE FALL OF JUJIMORI), Stephanie Black (LIFE AND DEBT), Nina Davenport (PARALLEL LINES), Simon Duarte (EN ROUTE TO BAGHDAD), Joanne Tucker (BREAKDOWN), Natalia Almada (AL OTRO LADO) and hosted by Documentary Educational Resources’ Brittany Gravely. Another special afternoon panel will highlight the film DISPLACED: MIRACLE AT ST. OTTILIEN by John Michalczyk of Boston based, Etoile Productions, and Fine Arts Department Chair at Boston College. The film deals with the displacement camps after the fall of Berlin during WWII and Private Robert Hilliard’s heroic mission to expose the truths about the camps. Hilliard, now a Media Ethics professor at Emerson College will be attending, along with Michalczyk to speak about the historic events. The panel will take place at the Farnsworth Art Museum.

The Camden International Film Festival will also showcase the very best work from Maine documentary filmmakers. The winners of the Maine Documentary Competition, sponsored by the Maine Film Office will be screened at Union Hall on the Maine Photographic Workshop’s Campus.

Most screenings will be followed by a Q and A with directors and filmmakers. There will be several other special events including networking opportunities for filmmakers and students, along with workshops and special parties.

Australian filmmaker, David Bradbury is an internationally recognized filmmaker willing to go to extraordinary, sometimes life threatening lengths for a cause. He will be premiering his latest film on Argentina. Photo courtesy of CIFF.

Films and panels will be held at the Camden Opera House, The Center for Maine Contemporary Art, The Maine Photographic Workshops’ Union Hall, The Farnsworth Art Museum and the newly renovated Strand Theater.  All locations are within a radius of five miles. 

CIFF is also proud to announce the world premier screening of Australian David Bradbury’s latest documentary based around the recent tragic events in Argentina. Bradbury has earned an international reputation as a filmmaker willing to go to extraordinary, sometimes life threatening lengths for a cause, exposing political oppression or environmental vandalism to public scrutiny. In 1977 he was able to get the first photos and interview with the Free Papua Movement in their guerilla struggle against Indonesia occupying their country. He has been nominated for two Academy Awards and his work has been honored all over the world.

CIFF will screen two U.S. premieres, the Spanish film SWITCH OFF (APAGA Y VAMANOS), and Great Britain’s BREAKDOWN. Overall, the festival will screen nearly twenty-five films, many that have received notable honors from some of the years most prominent international film festivals, including DARWIN’S NIGHTMARE, LIBERIA: AN UNCIVIL

WAR AND THE FALL OF FUJIMORI.

SWITCH OFF explains the conflict between the Endesa Company and the indigenous peoples living around the Biobio, the longest river in Chile. Its source is in the Andes and it flows into the Pacific Ocean.  It is of great ecological importance as well as being both politically and historically important because the Biobio was the natural frontier during the Spanish occupation. The third biggest dam in the world, Ralco, on the Biobio river, was inaugurated in 2004 after running into major trouble with the pehuenche-mapuche indigenous people. The ancestral land of pehuenches has been flooded by Endesa, the transnational Spanish company.

The Opening Conversation will honor Albert Maysles 50th anniversary as a filmmaker and the Opening Night Film will be SWITCH OFF, followed by a discussion with directors afterwards. CIFF’s Opening Night Party will be held for VIP guests and Founding Sponsors along the harbor at VisionMill. 

The Camden International Film Festivals inaugural lineup will be one to remember with films and filmmakers from all over the world, and one of the most beautiful coastlines to match. Be the first to experience it. Visit the Camden International Film Festival website (www.camdenfilmfest.org) for details, program, schedules, directions and more information.

Tickets are now on sale. Ticketing info is available at www.camdenfilmfest.org and/or by telephone at 207-230-0885 ext 2.