The 2022 Bates Film Festival – which runs from Tuesday, March 29, through Sunday, April 2 – will include a slate of showings in Freeport featuring a rich and diverse slate of over 25 films that will play on multiple screens throughout the day and evening on Friday, April 1 and Saturday, April 2, at Nordica Theatre with VIP panel discussions taking place at Meetinghouse Arts. All events are free and open to the public.
Founded in 2018, Bates Film Festival has curated an impressive catalog of nominated and award-winning films. Organized, programmed, and executed by Bates College students under the direction of Jon Cavallero, Associate Professor of Rhetoric, Film, and Screen Studies, the Bates Film Festival allows students to witness, engage, and lead civic-minded conversations.
The 2022 Bates Film Festival runs from Tuesday, March 29, through Sunday, April 2. Submitted photo
Interspersed with intelligently curated films presented on the big screen at Nordica Theatre, a series of VIP panel discussions and Q&A sessions with the audience will take place at Meetinghouse Arts. Festival luminaries who will be in attendance for their films’ Freeport screenings include award-winning actor/director/writer John Turturro with his films “Mac” and “Romance & Cigarettes”; Oscar-winning animation artist Bruce W. Smith, creator and executive producer of “The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder” on Disney+ and director of “Bebe’s Kids,” the first feature-length animated release to focus on people of color; and Emmy-award winning actor/director/writer John Shea with the romantic thriller “Grey Lady.”
The 2022 Bates Film Festival lineup features nationally and internationally respected documentaries, including “Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street,” a rare window into the early days of “Sesame Street,” revealing the creators, artists, writers and educators who together established one of the most influential and enduring children’s programs in television history; “Missing in Brooks County,” a mystery which brings the immigration debate into sharp focus; and “Try Harder!,” a humorous and heartfelt glimpse into the pressure-cooker world of college admissions, where being the best might not be good enough.
The Bates Film Festival also spotlights exciting narrative features like “Memoria,” an intriguing thriller starring Oscar-winner Tilda Swinton, and “The 24th,” the true story of the all-black Twenty-Fourth United States Infantry Regiment, written and directed by “BlacKKKlansman” screenwriter Kevin Willmott. Rounding out the offerings is a slate of short films.
The 2022 Bates Film Festival includes screenings and discussion panels being held on the Bates College campus in Lewiston. For more information and the complete schedule, visit www.bates.edu/bff or the film festival’s pages on Instagram and Facebook.
Advanced registration is required for all events. Attendees must adhere to Bates College COVID-19 Safety protocols, which include proof of complete vaccination, including booster for those eligible, and masking for all.
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