Nonprofit leaders and filmmakers will convene to discuss and plan the use of documentary film as a resource for public dialogue and engagement around Maine’s aging demographic
Camden, Maine - The Camden International Film Festival is proud to bring back the Engagement Summit, a unique program developed in partnership with Working Films. For the second year, the program will continue to be built around the theme of aging and tie to a year-long state-wide thematic program called Aging in Maine. CIFF’s Engagement Summit connects nonprofit leaders, healthcare professionals and communities across the state with powerful documentary films that help spark a public, intergenerational dialogue around the challenges and opportunities of Maine’s aging demographics.
The program began in September 2013 when 15 Maine-based nonprofit leaders and healthcare professionals converged in Camden during the festival for a daylong strategic summit meeting designed and facilitated by Working Films, a national organization that specializes in connecting storytelling with community engagement and action. The summit allowed participants to identify a wide range of needs facing aging communities and the organizations that support them, including opening public dialogue about end-of-life planning, redesigning communities, raising awareness about Maine’s demographic shift, and convincing policymakers to place attention on the needs of an aging population. Participants also developed strategies for using documentary films to strengthen and extend their work while planning a statewide screening tour that took place between March and August 2014. What started out as a screening series for eight communities in Maine quickly grew into a tour that reached nearly 20 towns and cities around the state
"We’re excited to bring back the Engagement Summit and continue highlighting aging-related issues
for a second year,” said Ben Fowlie, Founder and Executive Director of CIFF. "This unique program will help us harness the power that nonfiction storytelling has as a conversation starter and a community builder."
The tour has generated an overwhelmingly positive response, ultimately reaching over 20 communities and more than 2,500 people across Maine thus far, including a full-house screening and panel discussion at the Portland Museum of Art in collaboration with MaineHealth and the state’s leading advocates at Maine Medical Center’s Annual Geriatrics Day Conference. Many of the screenings were free and open to the public thanks to support from Camden National Bank. At several of the events where the screening tour collaborated with conferences, physicians and nurses who participated were able to earn credit towards the continuing education requirements for keeping their license. In total, over 16 community organizations participated statewide.
The Aging in Maine program now continues during the 10th Camden International Film Festival (September 25-28), with additional support from the Fledgling Fund, Camden National Bank, Maine Arts Commission, the Pen Bay Healthcare Foundation and the Bingham Program. “Camden National is proud to once again support the Camden International Film Festival’s Engagement Summit and the Aging in Maine Initiative. It was a pleasure to collaborate on this year’s inaugural screening tour, and we look forward to lending a helping hand for a second year,” said Joanne Campbell, executive vice president, risk management, Camden National Bank. “We are also honored to be part of the ongoing dialogue around the challenges and opportunities of Maine’s aging demographics and the work that is needed to raise awareness and address these important needs within our communities.”
Feature films screened at this year’s festival include Sundance Winner ALIVE INSIDE (US) which teaches us the power of music and its ability to ease pain for individuals suffering from Alzheimer's disease and dementia related illnesses. Havard Bustnes’s TWO RAGING GRANNIES (Norway) which follows two90-year-old American women on their journey across the US to answer the question: how do we get out of this economic mess? Short films includeCaroline Ingvarsso’s THE DOG WALKER (Sweden), and A MARRIAGE TO REMEMBER (US), directed by Banker White, whose feature-length THE GENIUS OF MARIAN launched this series in 2013.
This event will be an opportunity for participating organizations in the field of aging to explore how their work can be supported and enhanced through the use of powerful documentary films focused on the experiences of older adults, their loved ones and caretakers. During the festival, approximately 20 nonprofit leaders and healthcare professionals from across the state will converge in Camden for a daylong strategic summit meeting at the Camden Opera House on Thursday, September 25. Participants in the program to date include representatives from AARP, Alzheimer's Association - Maine Chapter, Aroostook Area on Agency, The Bingham Program, Camden National Bank, The Charlotte White Center, MaineHealth, Making Community Happen, Maine Medical Center, Pen Bay Healthcare Foundation, Somerset Public Health, Southern Maine Agency on Aging, Spectrum Generations, University of Maine’s Center on Aging and filmmaker Banker White.
Following the festival and summit meeting, CIFF, Working Films and Camden National Bank will collaborate to screen these films in communities across the state, allowing participating organizations to implement strategies developed at the meeting and use the screenings to further their goals and inform the public of resources available to them within the aging network. The 2014-15 Aging in Maine screening tour will commence in October with screenings in Dover-Foxcroft.
The Aging in Maine program is made possible by support from the Fledgling Fund, Camden National Bank, the Maine Arts Commission, the Pen Bay Healthcare Foundation and The Bingham Program. Additional partnerships include the University of Maine Center on Aging and Working Films.
About the Camden International Film Festival:
The Camden International Film Festival (CIFF) is New England's most respected documentary film festival, and recognized as one of the top 12 documentary festivals in the world. Established in 2005, each year CIFF highlights work that shows a dedication and commitment to the craft behind nonfiction storytelling, showcasing over 80 films from around the globe. CIFF is one of only 14 qualifying festivals for the annual Cinema Eye Honors for Non-Fiction Filmmaking and also hosts the Points North Documentary Forum, a career-making platform dedicated to providing emerging and established documentarians with opportunities for professional development and inspiration. Participants in this forum have included HBO, BBC, Participant Media, PBS, The Tribeca Film Institute and the Sundance Institute among others.
The 10th Camden International Film Festival will take place September 25 - 28, 2014 in Camden, Rockport and Rockland, Maine. Passes are now on sale at $175 for All Access Pass and $85 for Festival Pass through the festival weekend. The Camden International Film Festival is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, The Fledgling Fund, the Unity Foundation, and Vimeo. For more information, or to purchase passes, visit www.camdenfilmfest.org.
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