It started with a simple question: Sarah Carey asked her husband, “What do you think about a film festival in Castine?”
Carey, an interior design and architecture consultant, had never worked with films before. But she loves watching movies and sharing them with others; the idea got a warm response in town, she said, and the first Castine Film Festival took shape with help from local organizations.
It takes place on Saturday with a wide-ranging selection of 12 films from six countries of varying lengths, topics and languages — in one case, no words at all.
The new event is the first in the small coastal town, and unlike many other film festivals, is not limited to certain lengths or subjects. That provides an unusual opportunity for filmmakers, according to Carey, and should bring a new experience to the area while fundraising for local arts programming.
Maine already has its fair share of film events, including the Maine and Camden international film festivals, the Maine Outdoor Film Festival, the Maritime Film Festival, the Jewish Film Festival, the Silent Film Festival and the Maine-themed Vacationland Film Festival. The newest one opened a wider door for submissions, according to Carey.
“We decided to try something that is not the usual approach, which is to accept all types of films and see what happens,” she said.
A local jury sorted through more than 1,000 films received through FilmFreeway, a submission site used in the industry. Members then scrutinized 125 finalists to make their choices.
The selections span a feature-length thriller, a short on salmon restoration efforts on the Penobscot River, a musical comedy, several animated shorts and a documentary feature about apples in an English town.
Four programs throughout the weekend will show complimentary sets of films: stories of community connection, Maine-themed work, narrative shorts and a dark feature film to conclude the day.
In addition to watching the films, Carey is looking forward to the debriefing conversations that will follow.
“An interesting film makes people think, and can bring people together in a way that’s … unlike other media,” she said. “Coming together in a theater and watching something together is a defined experience that continues after the film ends.”
The festival takes place in the Delano Auditorium at Maine Maritime Academy, which donated use of the space and has the technology to show the films at a high level, Carey said.