Schedule:

Friday, July 21st, 2023

6:00pm

Opening Night Happy Hour

Join MOFF community and filmmakers at the artful Salt Yard Cafe + Bar at Canopy Hotel for hor d'oeuvres and conversation prior to the opening night screening

Location: Salt Yard Cafe & Bar Canopy Hotel 285 Commercial St, Portland, ME 04101

8:00 pm

The Puffin Program Shorts

Darkest Before Dawn

Peek into the world of Belgian climber Siebe Vanhee's authentic, raw process of his first season climbing on Yosemite's hardest big wall. The infamous Dawn Wall proves to be a challenge in more ways than one. "Darkest before Dawn" combines genuine storytelling with a cinematic approach bringing together a story beyond just the climbing. The film encapsulates the beauty of the body language when hanging from its fingertips thousands of feet off the ground.

Location: Gulf of Maine Research Institute, 350 Commercial St, Portland, ME 04101

Saturday, July 22nd, 2023

4:00 pm

The Moff Bazaar

This event is open to the public.

Please join us for yard games, music, food, and drinks. All vendors of this event will be announced soon!

Don't forget to get your tickets to the MOFF screening following the Bazaar!

Location: Gulf of Maine Research Institute, 350 Commercial St, Portland, ME 04101

8:00 pm

The Cormorant Program

Bottomturn

Bottom Turn is a short surf film shot on location in Bali and Lombok, Indonesia between August and September 2022. Jake illiterates how his life has looked with, and without, a strong relationship with his passion.

Location: Gulf of Maine Research Institute, 350 Commercial St, Portland, ME 04101

Sunday, July 23rd, 2023

8:00 pm

The Osprey Program | Shorts

Adaptive Adventure

While navigating her way through an arduous journey with lupus, Kate Appleby continually engages and wholeheartedly immerses herself in outdoor adventures. Spreading awareness of hidden illnesses, Kate has become a powerfully inspiring woman among those in the outdoor community. This documentary examines the psychological and physical benefits yielded through thoughtful and respectful engagement with one's environment and explores the human connection to nature.

Location: Gulf of Maine Research Institute, 350 Commercial St, Portland, ME 04101

Monday, July 24th, 2023

3:30 pm

A Long Way From Nowhere

What compels a person to run 150 miles through the desert at the height of summer? Is it the need for achievement, the competitive instinct, or something deeper—a spiritual need for hardship, for catharsis, and from it, healing? A LONG WAY FROM NOWHERE is a different sort of extreme sports film—one centered not around winning—but instead one focused upon the human spirit—on why individuals push themselves to, and sometimes beyond, the breaking point.

Location: SPACE, 534-538 Congress St, Portland, ME 0410

5:30 pm

Picnic And A Little Mutiny

Aboard a sailboat crewed by four blind individuals and a sighted captain, we're invited to their picnic in this part doc-part fantasy. Sharing experiences and observations of being sightless in a visual world the group collectively rebel.

Location: SPACE, 534-538 Congress St, Portland, ME 0410

7:30 pm

The Starling Program

Born Curious

J.R. Harris is an explorer, psychologist, and self proclaimed “curious dude.” Always has been, always will be. Even now at “like, a hundred and twenty years old” he’s not really a sit on the beach sipping margaritas kind of guy. He unwinds by getting WAY out there. Northern Alaska, Northern Sweden, Greenland, Lapland, the Alps, the Pyrenees, Tasmania, Patagonia, the Andes Mountains— not only has J.R. been, but he’s probably made friends with the locals and sipped cognac on top of the tallest mountain. Which is a little unusual for Queens kid from the projects, he knows. Shot in J.R’s beloved New York City, BORN CURIOUS explorers the life of the explorer. It is in turns comedic and lyrical, tense and heartwarming and will inspire even the most timid among us to live braver and bolder every day.

Location: SPACE, 534-538 Congress St, Portland, ME 04101

Tuesday, July 25th, 2023

4:15 pm

A World To Shape

 A World To Shape is a 52 minutes documentary about two passionate designers, Nienke Hoogvliet (1989) and Dave Hakkens (1988), who use design to tackle the world problems. Synopsis: Nienke Hoogvliet (1989) and Dave Hakkens (1988) represent a new generation of contemporary Dutch Designers. This generation is acutely aware that raw materials are depleting, energy is scarce, and globalization is driving new forms of small-scale production. As makers, they don't care about existing boundaries between art, design and science. In a WORLD to SHAPE, director Ton van Zantvoort guides you through the respective ingenuity of Nienke and Dave. Though they think differently, they are set on improving the world in their own inimitable ways. Nienke's mission is to make the world's second most polluting industry - the clothing industry - more sustainable. She is currently working on sustainable applications of seaweed, such as using it to make paint. Dave's ambition is equally ambitious. His Kamp project attempts to establish a living and working community that uses a minimal carbon footprint. He is building this community in Portugal, where he has bought nine hectares of land. He has created a blueprint for a new society and made it open source so that anyone can adopt and improve it, and the system can be used worldwide. Where many people might see problems, Nienke and Dave envisage solutions. But how realistic are their ambitions? To find out, we join Dave and Nienke on their audacious quests.

Location: Salt Institute for Documentary Studies at MECA&D's Osher Hall, 522 Congress St. Portland, ME 04101

6:45 pm

Maine Filmmaker Showcase

The Understory

The Understory refers to the younger generation of trees that live below the forest canopy, growing in the bursts of light. Set on an off-grid homestead in Temple, Maine, this film follows an ecological immersion program for young adults. With guidance from Director Chris Knapp, participants learn homesteading and hand crafting skills, and reflect on their motivations to live in a conscious and connected way with the living world around them. Like the growing trees of the forest, they are striving towards the light.

Active hope is not wishful thinking…Active hope is waking up to the beauty of life on whose behalf we can act.” -Joanna Macy

Location: Salt Institute for Documentary Studies at MECA&D's Osher Hall, 522 Congress St. Portland, ME 04101

Wednesday, July 26th, 2023

8:00 Pm

The Robin Program

Foil The Strait

A documentary covering our planning to be the first kiteboarders to do a return trip crossing of the Cook Strait, New Zealand on hydrofoils.

Location: Urban Farm Fermentory, 200 Anderson St, Portland, ME 04101

Thursday, July 27th, 2023

12:00 pm

Growing Through Covid-19

"Growing Through COVID-19" is a feature documentary that follows Russell’s Garden Center in Wayland, MA through the beginning of the pandemic. Russell's has been in business for 144 years, It carries thousands of plant varieties and for decades has worked to show its local community the importance of being outside and the benefits of gardening. In March of 2020, the family seriously considered shutting down their historic Garden Center forever. “Growing through Covid-19" honestly and beautifully shows what the Russell family did to keep their business running. During the pandemic's darkest hours, they help hundreds of new customers try gardening for the first time, and witness the grounding comfort their customers receive from getting outside and putting their hands in the dirt.

Location: Maine Studio Works, 170 Anderson St, Portland, ME 04101

2:00 pm

Only Roundup Remains

In central Montana, the Highwood Cattle Roundup has been happening exactly this same way since 1912. As the world changes and modernizes, this proud iconic American culture struggles to preserve its way of life. Through the perspective of an aging father, his two sons, and their extended family of Montana cowboys, Only Roundup Remains provides a rare and intimate glimpse into the disappearing lifestyle of proud generational ranching families, their tradition, hard work, honor, and what might be their final roundup.

Location: Maine Studio Works, 170 Anderson St, Portland, ME 04101

7:30 pm

Havana Libre

In Cuba, where people fled en masse from Fidel Castro’s regime, surfing and other water activities have been banned for decades. Today, surfing exists in a murky legal gray area and is viewed with suspicion by the Cuban authorities.

Despite these challenges, a group of passionate Cuban surfers is determined to carve out a place for surfing in the country's culture of athletic excellence. Frank is one of the most established surfers and to many the best surfer on the island. Yaya is a community leader and surfer who has made it her mission to ensure that the next generation can surf freely. When surfing is announced as an official sport for the Tokyo Olympics, they see their chance to bring their sport out of the shadows and on to the world stage. What follows is a tale of underground surfers building their own boards from scratch, dodging the authorities as they travel the island looking for the perfect wave, and attempting to legitimize their passion by persuading the Cuban authorities to field an Olympic team.
  
When Frank is invited to participate in a qualifier event out of the country, he must decide whether to compete, which would mean embarking on an illegal journey and risking permanent separation from his wife and newborn baby. Yaya is similarly torn when she is invited to participate in a surf symposium in Hawaii. Havana Libre is a story of people following their passion at great danger to themselves and ultimately begs the question: what would you risk to chase your dreams

Location: Maine Studio Works, 170 Anderson St, Portland, ME 04101

8:00 pm

The Song Sparrow Program

Driving Sweep

Few river guides ever get the chance to drive Idaho's Iconic sweep boat. Driving Sweep follows Katie Veteto as she learns how to "drive sweep" down the Middle Fork of the Salmon River. She's learned the rapids and the river, but can she stand on a 4,000lbs raft and drive it safely down steep rocky rapids

Location: Eastern Promenade - 510 Eastern Promenade Portland, ME 04104

Friday, July 28th, 2023

12:00 pm

Rematriation

British Columbia's Old Growth forests are virgin forests, industrially undisturbed since the last ice age. They represent one of the last lines of defence against climate change, and contain scientific properties we barely understand - yet mismanagement and greed have left less than 2.6% of them standing. Only one of hundreds of valleys (outside of parks) remains entirely uncut on Vancouver Island - Fairy Creek (Ada'itsx). An indigenous led movement to prevent the cutting of this last Old Growth watershed has now become Canada's largest act of civil disobedience, and the government response has been alarming. The publicly funded Royal Canadian Mounted Police are aggressively disbanding and arresting the peaceful protestors blocking industry access to these ancient forests, despite numerous recent political conservation commitments to protecting at risk Old Growth forests in B.C. Rematriation follows concerned B.C. citizens exploring the confluence of scientific, cultural, economic and socio-political perspectives, as they take a stand to protect the last big trees from being cut down. Like peeling layers back from an onion, the lessons we take away reach far beyond the forests, permeating the very social fabric of Canadian identity.

Location: Maine Studio Works, 170 Anderson St, Portland, ME 04101

2:00 pm

Whitman Brook

An abandoned apple orchard, rescued by chance, thrives under the caring hands of the people driven to rejuvenate this Vermont hillside, who encourage the trees to flourish where once they stood bent and broken. A four-season meditation on time, change, loss, and renewal, Whitman Brook offers a glimpse into a world that moves with a different cadence, where we are invited to slow down and recognize the extraordinary.

Location: Maine Studio Works, 170 Anderson St, Portland, ME 04101

8:00 pm

The Loon Program

To Be Frank explores authenticity and community in surfing via Frank Paine, a 73-year-old South Bay icon and humble local legend whose life orbits around a two-block stretch of beach. His unforgettable mustache and magnetic spirit are what most first notice, but Frank’s deeper layers expose a depth that might answer some questions that us surfers continually ask ourselves. Surfing, which, for some, becomes lost in isolation, is made whole again with Frank — welcoming, inspiring, kind and committed, with an unwavering passion centered on and springing from Hermosa Beach’s beloved shores.

Location: Eastern Promenade - 510 Eastern Promenade Portland, ME 04104

8:00 pm

No Legs. All Heart.

"We are disabled in things we can't do...but there is no shortage of things that any of us can do.” - André Kajlich After years of addiction, struggle, and coming to terms with his life changing accident, André Kajlich aims to be the first double amputee to complete the Race Across America, a bone-crushing, sleep deprived, 12 day, 3,082 mile bike race that spits out 50% of able bodied racers.

Directed by first-time Latin American director and Emmy® Award–winning cinematographer Pablo Durana and produced by Oscar®, Emmy®, and Peabody® Award-winning filmmakers Andrea Nix Fine and Sean Fine, "No Legs. All Heart." is a story about the true test of the human spirit, overcoming addiction, and the pain we endure to carve our own path in life.

Location: Maine Studio Works, 170 Anderson St, Portland, ME 04101

Saturday, July 29th, 2023

1:30 pm

Blueberry Land: Epgomanegati

Mi’kmaq and the Harvest is a glimpse into the unique past of the Mikmaw participation in the Annual Maine Blueberry harvest, a long standing tradition in which many hundreds if not thousands have participated. It is a tradition that seems to have begun out of nowhere, yet almost every member of the Mikmaw tribe has a story of their experiences.

Our film will explore this tradition and speak with a few individuals who will guide us through their experiences in Maine. We will take them back to the old campsites as they tell us their fondest memories, stories of hardships and new experiences. Throughout Mikmaqii, there are literally hundreds of Mikmaq who have gone and still go to Maine to take part in the annual Maine Blueberry harvest . Many of these Mikmaq are from what is now called Elsipogtog, formerly Big Cove.

Growing up on a native reserve, didn’t offer to many opportunities for one to leave and experience any other way of life, so when it came to blueberry harvest time, the family packed all the belongings and headed to Maine for the entire month of August usually, this was the only time they would ever see a world that was different than the world they grew up in.

Location: Apres, 148 Anderson St, Portland, ME 04101

3:30 pm

This River Is Our Relative

"This River is Our Relative" celebrates Penobscot Nation's intrinsic kinship connection to and tireless environmental advocacy of the Penobscot River. The story is told through the voices of 24 Penobscot people, who share their experience of historical, physical, and spiritual connection to place; of cultural identity and survival. Their narratives are interwoven with a traditional Wabanaki story about how The People and Glouskap defeated a greedy monster frog, Aklebemu, who was hoarding all the water. This story parallels both historical and present day environmental concerns, and is also the origin story of the Penobscot family Clans. "You can point to any aspect of our culture from a riverine perspective," says Penobscot Cultural and Historic Preservation Dept. Director James E. Francis, Sr. This documentary shows the Penobscot Nation's dedication to environmental justice and their efforts to minimize pollution, demonstrates the importance of respecting inherent Tribal sovereignty, and celebrates Penobscot peoples' ongoing river-based cultural traditions. As people who have lived in reciprocity with the Penobscot River for over 10,000 years, there is nobody more committed than the Penobscot people to protecting the health of this watershed. "It is our responsibility to care for that River, for all of us," explains Penobscot activist and filmmaker Dawn Neptune Adams. Despite many obstacles including ongoing territorial theft and a rapidly increasing number of pollutants, the Penobscot Nation and its people continue to demonstrate their commitment to protecting the health of their beloved Relative, the Penobscot River. "I always come back to the water because that's where I belong. It's my Relative," explains Penobscot Elder Kathy Paul, "and I want to stay and support that Relative."

Location: Apres, 148 Anderson St, Portland, ME 04101

8:00 Pm

The Nuthatch Program

Invasive

This is a film about the battle to retain biodiversity in our plant species while we weather the changing climate. While many plants we are familiar with will die off in the coming decades, what will replace them? If we aren't careful, invasive plant species will use this transition period to take over the forests. Our hero, Amanda Devine, is fighting hard to help combat this invasion and to help educate others so we can all work together to protect our ecosystem.

Location: Eastern Promenade - 510 Eastern Promenade Portland, ME 04104

Sunday, July 30th, 2023

8:00 Pm

The Blue Heron Program

Where The Stream Wanders

Fishing happens where fish are; it's as simple as that. Regardless of if you're standing in prime trout waters or a backyard stream, the goal remains the same. Lorenzo Villalobos is a local Kentucky school teacher and fly fisherman. He sees fly fishing as his connection to the outdoors and his local watersheds. In trying to catch fish, Lorenzo thinks like a fish and observes nature differently; looking at how all the different parts of the local ecosystem interact opens up new possibilities when trying to bait and catch fish. With this new perspective, he has set out to instill a love and respect for the environment not only in his children but also in his students. The small ripples he's making in his local stream will carry on downstream and make an even bigger splash.

Location: Eastern Promenade - 510 Eastern Promenade Portland, ME 04104

Date: July 20 - 30, 2023

Location:

Apres, 148 Anderson St, Portland, ME 04101

Eastern Promenade - 510 Eastern Promenade Portland, ME 04104

Maine Studio Works, 170 Anderson St, Portland, ME 04101

Urban Farm Fermentory, 200 Anderson St, Portland, ME 04101

Salt Institute for Documentary Studies at MECA&D's Osher Hall, 522 Congress St. Portland, ME 04101

SPACE, 534-538 Congress St, Portland, ME 04101

Salt Yard Cafe & Bar Canopy Hotel 285 Commercial St, Portland, ME 04101

Gulf of Maine Research Institute, 350 Commercial St, Portland, ME 04101

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