LEWISTON — The Emerge Film Festival will be back.
Leaders of the two-day, 40-film event said they began sharing ideas for next year even as they celebrated the conclusion of this one.
“A lot of us were excited at the after party,” said Laura Davis, president of the Emerge Film Festival’s board. “I think we’ll be bringing some creative ideas for 2015 that will hopefully be new and exciting to the Lewiston-Auburn community and the filmmakers.”
One reason is money.
Though the tallies for ticket sales and expenses are still being calculated, Davis said the festival concluded Saturday night in the black.
In part, that was because of sales of more than 1,000 tickets. It was also because of dozens of sponsorships. Not one business approached by Emerge said “no,” she said.
“It just was the most incredible magic to see this come together,” she said. “I’m so proud of what this community was able to accomplish.”
The fact that it was planned and executed so fast was part of the accomplishment.
On March 20, Lewiston Auburn Film Festival director Joshua Shea was arrested and charged with possession of sexually explicit images of someone younger than 12. Several days after his arrest, that festival was cancelled and Emerge was created.
Within 10 days, the festival had nonprofit status, a board of directors and expended from one day to two days. Tickets went on sale at three weeks. At the 10-week mark, filmmakers began arriving.
“I think we did a Herculean effort to pull this all together,” Davis said. “I am proud. This wasn’t just thrown together. This was very much a quality film festival.”
It began Friday with a filmmaker’s party at Baxter Brewing and a screening of two Maine-made horror movies at the Franco-American Heritage Center. It continued Saturday with almost 40 movies shown at six venues.
Some showings drew more than 100 people. Some were more sparsely attended. All drew praise from filmmakers, said Sandy Marquis, a board member who coordinated with many of the filmmakers who came.
“They all said, ‘What an amazing, welcoming community you have,” she said. Many commented on the architecture and striking visuals here.
One called her Sunday and said that he was already looking for a story to craft that would be set and filmed in Lewiston, she said.
“They just give me such pride,” she said. “We’re right. We do have a great community here.”
Buckfield filmmaker and comedian Michael Miclon, who unveiled an early cut of his film “Richard 3” in a sold-out screening Saturday, praised the festival and its showcase.
“I had so many emotions on so many levels,” said Miclon, who directed and starred in his comedy. “There was nervousness and excitement. After the show, I thought it was really fun to get the feedback. It was wonderful.”
Next year, without his own film to screen, he hopes to help the festival get even better.
“We’ll have a whole year to plan,” he said.
Among the coming decisions is how many days the festival will run next year and when they’ll fall on the calendar. People seem to be leaning toward holding the event as early as April, though that would shorten the planning for the next Emerge Film Festival to 10 months.
It would be no problem, Davis said.
“What will we ever do?” she joked. “That’s approximately four times as long as we had this time.”
dhartill@sunjournal.com
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