Western-Massachusetts-native-turned-fake-judge John Hodgman always says, “Specificity is the soul of narrative.” In other words, the more precise a story is, or the more unique the subject matter, the better. Through specificity of content and approach, artists can present audiences with unique characters, stories, and experiences.

The same logic applies to film festivals and the cinema they celebrate. In addition to the dozens of big film fests across the region, film junkies and industry folks alike have privileged access to niche New England film festivals in every state. Movie lovers can see everything from queer romance to cinema written, produced, starring, and directed by folks with hearing impairment. Some of these festivals are right around the corner, while others are still accepting submissions. All reveal subjects that are unique and satisfyingly specific.

AIP Film Festival
April 2 – April 8
Cinestudio
Hartford, CT

Hartford’s beautifully designed 1930s-era movie theater continues its yearly film fest for Francophiles, April in Paris, which goes beyond the French New Wave and into the realm of contemporary cinema. Prospective moviegoers have nine opportunities to see French films produced from 1982 to 2016, all of which examine the exceedingly relevant, “effects of crossing borders, from the political to the personal.”

Wicked Queer Film Festival
March 30 – April 9
Various venues
Boston, MA

Laverne Cox in Free CeCe! | Director Jac Gares, 2016

The 33rd incarnation of Boston’s film festival revealing and unpacking the queer experience through documentary, comedy, and drama will feature internationally renowned voices of the queer community and emerging artists alike. Queer film enthusiasts of all kinds have dozens of chances to see films across the city in a new neighborhood each night.

Maine Deaf Film Festival
April 28 – 29
University of Southern Maine
Portland, ME

The 15th annual Maine Deaf Film Festival is the longest-running and perhaps the only film festival of its type in the nation. Programmed and planned in collaboration with students and boasting content exclusively created by deaf folks across the region, MDFF skillfully solves some of the problems of underrepresentation of people with hearing impairments both in front of and behind the camera.

SENE Film Festival
April 25 – 29
Various venues
Rhode Island

With dozens of films ranging from experimental shorts to feature-length animated dramas, SENE provides attendees nearly endless opportunities to pick their vast or small corner of the world to explore. The Wednesday night screenings of experimental films and documentary features is both a can’t-miss evening and an excellent example of the range and specificity of topics explored throughout the festival.

New Hampshire Film Festival
October
Various venues
Portsmouth, NH

Still from All The President’s Heads | Director Adam Roffman, 2016

With the time for submissions still open, we can’t say for sure what niches the New Hampshire Film Festival will investigate. However, if last year’s programming is any indication, cinephiles will delve into some strange and specific topics. For example, All the President’s Heads, a film about a history devotee who saves two dozen, massive presidential busts from destruction after being displaced by the building of an Enterprise Rent-a-Car.

Independent Television Festival
October 11 – 17
Various Venues
Manchester, VT

Okay. . .this isn’t technically a “film festival.” However, was True Detective (the charcoal dark, riveting serialized HBO murder mystery disguised as a police procedural) a television show or more of a seven-and-a-half-hour movie split into manageable 54-minute chunks? As the line between prestige television and film blurs more each day, so will our categorizations for the sake of this list. Anyway, ITVFest still counts because it’s a moving image festival celebrating a niche part of a hulking industry, a section of the industry that often gets ignored in cinema as well; the independents.

Global Roots Film Festival
April 7 – 9
Contois Auditorium
Burlington, VT

Still from Ladies & Gentlemen… Mr. Leonard Cohen |
Directors Donald Brittain & Don Owen, 1965 | Presented by VT PBS and RETN

This niche film festival is brought to us by the Vermont International Film Foundation which also presents the yearly Vermont International Film Festival. The Global Roots Film Festival endeavors to bring Vermonters, “great films from the countries of many of the New American communities. . .to foster a greater understanding of our diverse cultures.” This year, Global Roots turns the lens towards contemporary films coming from Quebec.

Top image, still from Signature Move | Director Jennifer Reeder (2017)

The post 7 New England Niche Film Festivals You Can’t Miss appeared first on Take Magazine.

“Imagine you’re about to have a little one, the love that you have for that little one. Imagine somebody outside of your family you don’t even know making claims on your little one. They don’t like the way you live and they’re going to take your little one by force. Imagine what the loss is when this is not just your family, but your entire community.” gkisedtanamoogk

This is is the subject of First Light, a short documentary by Adam Mazo in collaboration with the Upstander Project. The film examines how the native Wabanaki people of Maine were subjected to discriminatory child welfare practices and how the state, through The Maine Wabanaki-State Child Welfare Truth and Reconciliation Commission, worked towards acknowledging those practices as wrong, quantified the effects of the discriminatory practices, and created space for people to share their stories.

Director and producer Adam Mazo delved into this film after hearing about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Maine Public Radio. After much time and interfacing with community groups, Mazo was invited by Maine-Wabanaki Reach and the TRC to document what the commission was doing. Mazo and his team spoke with tribal leaders, academics, members of the commission, and filmed Wabanaki people, who chose to share their stories of trauma and displacement with the commission.

The film is quiet and informative, carried by testimonials from tribal leaders, academics, and survivors of these culturally oppressive programs. The interviews and testimonials are broken up with quotes from descriptive texts such as excerpts from senate hearings. One of these quotes in the film came from Col. Richard H Pratt, a founder of one of the early schools where native children were sent after the state of Maine forcibly removed them from their communities, “Transfer the savage-born infant to the surroundings of civilization, and he will grow to possess a civilized language and habit.”

Still from First Light

The story of the Wabanaki people and their many solemn battles with the the State’s misguided welfare practices is long and nuanced. Adam Mazo fully understands the breadth, complexity, and importance of this history and plans to release a full-length documentary called Dawnland in early 2018. Dawnland will act as a sort of companion piece to First Light and provide, according to the filmmaker, “…more testimonials. That’ll be the heart of Dawnland, people telling their personal stories about being taken from their families, or what the really deep impact and trauma they experienced from losing their culture or having that culture taken away and trying to reconnect with that culture as a child or as an adult.”

Dawnland 2018 poster

First Light is a documentary film by Boston-based filmmaker Adam Mazo. Follow the progress of the Upstarter Project on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Vimeo and YouTube. Be on the look-out for First Light screenings near you and the release of Dawnland in 2018.

Top image still of Georgina Sappier Richardson from Dawnland | All images courtesy the filmmaker

The post Watch: First Light appeared first on Take Magazine.

The Burlington Parks, Recreation & Waterfront Department, Big Heavy World, and Vermont Community Access Media (VCAM) are collaborating to create a video they hope will preserve the legacy of 242 Main and the ideas and people that have made it an essential part of Burlington’s history.

242 Main was founded in 1984 as a project of the city’s youth office. The venue was largely supported by the mayor of Burlington at the time, Bernie Sanders. After Sanders was elected in 1981, he tasked Jane O’Meara, his future wife, and local youth organizers with finding a way to improve relationships between the city’s youth and the municipal government.

The solution was to help create a youth music scene, supervised by youth organizers, with programming created by the teens themselves. After the success of a show put on by the organizers at a local auditorium, they decided to build a music venue in the vacated office of the Burlington Water Division. Sprung from these efforts, 242 Main evolved into a vibrant youth center and hub of the northeast punk music scene. Until its doors close in December of this year, the venue will be one of the oldest standing, all-ages, and substance-free music venues in the United States.

War on Women performing at 242 Main | Photo by James Lockridge

242 Main is revered by many in Burlington and beyond, credited with creating a much-needed space for empowering adolescents through innovation, political involvement, music, and the arts. The venue gave voice to the city’s youth and gave them a space for community involvement and creativity.

Bill Simmon, artistic director and videographer for the documentary, says that the film “seeks to celebrate the history and legacy of the longest running all-ages punk venue in the country. The stories from that venue in the last 30 or so years are as thick as the layers of punk rock stickers that cover the walls of the place.” The filmmaker and his collaborators will be shooting interviews with staff, musicians, former youth members, city government officials, and anyone who feels that 242 Main impacted them.

“As the building the venue is in is set to close—maybe forever—we want to look back and appreciate what an amazing jewel the space is in the ‘Queen City’s’ crown. It is a fundamentally safe space. It is drug and alcohol free, all ages, no hate speech, homophobia or racism is tolerated. It’s a place where youth who sometimes have a hard time fitting in have a place to call their own. A place where young musicians can play their first shows alongside more seasoned pros, and cut their teeth as artists and self-promoters,” said Simmons.

Deferred maintenance has caused Memorial Auditorium, the location of 242 Main, to close until it is decided to either repair or redevelop the building. This makes the upcoming documentary, focusing on the impact of 242 Main on local youth throughout the decades since its incarnation, coming at an crucial time for the continuation of the venue and its social presence.

Poster image courtesy of Big Heavy World/James Lockridge

The final show at 242 Main will be held on December 3rd, 2016 – Lineup TBD
Top photo by James Lockridge of Big Heavy World

The post Documenting 242 Main appeared first on Take Magazine.

Each year, NewEnglandFilm.com holds an online film festival, featuring short films screened at festivals across New England, available for streaming on their website. One of these films, “The Hustler of Providence” is an incredibly intense, short documentary by Jonathan Paul. Using chilling recreations and found footage, the film tells the story of HIV activist and former sex-worker Richard Holcomb whose life filled with trauma and danger surprisingly sets him up as a positive, productive role model in his community.

As an abused and deeply depressed kid, Holcomb quit his job and moved to Montreal after a brief visit. He wanted to make a documentary about the homeless youth of the city, “the squeegee kids” , but after living on the street for three days, he pawned his camera for drug money. “I was a scared, confused, fucked up kid who was addicted to drugs and justifying my addiction [by] being an artist.” said Richard, “In order to understand these people, I have to become them.”

Hustler of Providence movie poster | Photo courtesy New England Film website

The documentary offers a much shinier conclusion than expected, but don’t take my word for it. Head to the New England Film’s website now, and watch the film in its entirety for free.

Top image courtesy New England Film Website

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