Community Calendar

It's Maine International Film Festival time! The 2025 Maine International Film Festival (MIFF) is ON! and once again Maine Public is excited to be a Media Sponsor of this seminal event. MIFF showcases the best of American and international cinema with world premieres, classic revivals, inspiring performances, and exhibitions. MIFF highlights some of Maine and New England’s most innovative filmmakers.

The Maine International Film Festival (MIFF) has confirmed a full lineup of more than 100 films for its 28th annual 10-day festival. This year’s program features the most films ever screened in the festival’s 28-year history, drawn in part from a record-breaking number of submissions.

The festival will open Friday, July 11, with The Librarians, about community leaders who are first responders in the fight for democracy and human rights.

A documentary film about the life and career of Waterville-born Senator George J. Mitchell, who led the brokering of peace in Northern Ireland in the 1990s, The Negotiator will serve as this year’s Centerpiece Film on Wednesday, July 16 at the Waterville Opera House. Closing the festival on July 20 is Sunfish (& Other Stories on Green Lake), Sierra Falconer’s debut feature film, which invites us to reflect on the value of community and the beauty of the summer season.

MIFF remains true to its roots by supporting Maine-made feature and short films with a juried competition for the annual Tourmaline Prizes of $5,000 and $2,500, respectively. The Tourmaline Prizes are designed to celebrate the best of Maine films and support state’s developing filmmaking industry. This year’s program features four Maine-made full-length features (76 Days Adrift, A Moment in the Sun, InhuMaine, and Sight Unseen), and 21 Maine-made shorts, including narrative and documentary films.

“MIFF celebrates some of the best filmmaking from Maine, the US, and around the world each year,” Maine Film Center executive director Mike Perreault said. “We’re honored to represent 40 countries, 25 Maine films, and to host a series of panels, workshops, and special events for filmmakers and audiences alike. I’m eager for people to make important connections and discoveries through film in the heart of downtown Waterville this July.”

MIFF will welcome Academy Award-nominated actor Clive Owen as the 2025 Mid-Life Achievement Award honoree. Six of Owen’s films will screen at this year’s festival: Duplicity, Children of Men, Closer, I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead, Gosford Park, and Croupier.

Ken Eisen, co-founder and longtime programming director, will be honored with the festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award. This recognition celebrates Eisen’s decades-long commitment to bringing world-class cinema to central Maine and his role in shaping the region’s cultural landscape.

WATCH a trailer of the festival!

Maine Public members do receive a $2 discount for Maine Public members that reserve tickets online (using case sensitive MEPub2025 at checkout). Visit MIFF.org for the full festival lineup and to reserve passes and tickets.

Cullen Ryan, Executive Director Community Housing of Maine, Deborah Desantis, CEO of CSH, a national organization on homelessness, Dr. Jim O’Connell, President of Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program and subject of renowned author Tracy Kidder’s book Rough Sleepers about his work with Boston’s homeless community, and Tracy Kidder himself will join this conversation about the homelessness crisis nationally and in Greater Portland and proposed alternatives to how we currently manage this issue.

Maine Public is very pleased to be a media sponsor of this experience. Go HERE to order tickets or go to FreeportSpeech.org for additional information. Maine Public Members do receive a special ticket discount. Use the code MP2025 at checkout.

Doors will open at 6:30 PM for pre-event live music.

About the speakers:  

Dr. Jim O’Connell serves as the President of Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program and is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. O’Connell received his medical degree from Harvard University in 1982 and completed residency in Internal Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. In 1985, he began full-time clinical work with homeless individuals as the founding physician of the program. He established the nation’s first medical respite program in 1985. Working with the MGH Laboratory of Computer Science, Dr. O’Connell designed and implemented the nation’s first computerized medical record for a homeless program.

Tracy Kidder is an American author and has been described as the “master of the nonfiction narrative.” In 2023, he published Rough Sleepers in which he tells the story of Dr. Jim O’Connell and the founding and growth of the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, following O’Connell and his colleagues for five years as they served the Boston homeless community. Kidder’s book, The Soul of a New Machine, about the creation of a new computer at Data General Corporation, received the Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Award in 1982.

Cullen Ryan has served homeless and special needs populations for 38 years. A formerly licensed clinician with a BA from the University of Vermont and an MA in Counseling and Psychological Services from St. Mary’s University, Cullen has provided case management, family therapy, and individual/group psychotherapy to homeless adults, families, and adolescents in a variety of clinical and non-clinical settings in three states. Since 2004, Cullen has served as Executive Director of Community Housing of Maine, the largest supportive housing provider for homeless and special needs populations in the state.

Deborah Desantis is President and CEO of the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH), the largest Community Development Financial Institution in the United States devoted to housing solutions for those at risk of homelessness. She has led the organization since 2007, tripling its lending and support toward the creation of over 300,000 permanent stable homes for individuals and families struggling through multiple challenges, including homelessness, lack of healthcare, and intergenerational poverty. DeSantis has spearheaded the reorganization of CSH to deepen its focus on data-driven results, innovative funding models such as Pay-For-Success, and expansion into high-need communities.

Lead Sponsors for this event are Amy Woodhouse and Tobey Scott. Net proceeds from this event to benefit Tedford Housing

Maine Public is pleased to be a media sponsor of Maine State Music Theatre’s production of Tootsie.

Tootsie is a hilarious and heartwarming musical comedy about actor Michael Dorsey, who disguises himself as a woman, Dorothy Michaels, to land a role in a Broadway show.

Based on the iconic Dustin Hoffman film of the same name, Tootsie explores themes of identity, gender roles, and the challenges of navigating personal and professional life. The show delivers laughter and insight. As Michael’s new persona takes on a life of her own, he learns valuable lessons about honesty, love, and self-acceptance.

Maine State Music Theatre’s Tootsie will be performed at the Pickard Theater in Brunswick from June 25th through July 12th.

Click HERE to view the full schedule

Join in the fun and register your team for a 2025 News & Brews Trivia night!

Team check-in starts at 5:30pm. Trivia starts at 6:00pm!

*Note that we can’t accept teams with more than 5 players.

Click HERE to see the full 2025 News & Brews schedule!