NEW FEATURES Friday, July 15 3:30 P.M. | RR1 Sunday, July 17 3:00 P.M. | RR3
Maine Premiere
PASSION IN A PANDEMIC USA 2022 - DCP - 67 minutes, in English Director, Screenplay: Nora Jacobson Print Courtesy: Nora Jacobson The “passion” in PASSION IN A PANDEMIC is the passion of the bright high school students and their teachers working on a performance of top-notch opera. Their teachers are a former opera singer and a celebrated Italian conductor. And the pandemic? Yeah, that’s when all this is happening. The young singers open up to the camera about their dreams and challenges. Despite quarantine, stress and heartbreak, their hard work and beautiful singing culminate in a live performance that includes excerpts from four beloved operas. MIFF fave Nora Jacobson returns with a premiere showing of her new film. It beautifully captures the resilience, art and power of two terrific teachers, a class of dazzling young people, and of hope in times of trouble. —Ken Eisen Sponsored by Joel and Alice Johnson
Sunday, July 10 6:00 P.M. | RR3 Wednesday, July 13 9:15 P.M. | RR2
New England Premiere
PÉNÉLOPE, MY LOVE France 2021 - DCP - 88 minutes, in French with English subtitles Director, Screenplay: Claire Doyon Producer: Carole Chassaing Print Courtesy: Lightdox There are so many remarkable things about PÉNÉLOPE, MY LOVE, even though it’s the definition of a “small-scale” film. To begin with, it has the honesty of being a documentary shot over the course of almost two decades, because that’s the length of the story it has to tell us. For 18 years, director Claire Doyon has been filming Pénélope, her daughter with autism. Composed of DV tapes, Super 8 reels and HD archives, PÉNELOPÉ MY LOVE traces the relationship between mother and daughter through different stages: the shock of the diagnosis, the fight against it, the resolve, the acceptance and discovery of a different mode of existence. It’s a slo-mo revelation to us, as it is to mother and daughter. A truly moving, truly honest, truly emotional experience. —Ken Eisen
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Maine International Film Festival 2022 MIFF.ORG