UMM filmmakers to be featured in University of Maine Film Festival

Two films produced by students at the University of Maine at Machias have been selected as finalists for the 2019 University of Maine Film Festival.

“A Journey in Darkness Through Music” and “When the Chevy Breaks (How Small Towns Fix Big Problems)” will be screened at the free public festival in Orono at UMaine’s Corbett Business Building, room 100, from 9 a.m.–3 p.m., Dec. 7.

UMM creative arts faculty member Alan Kryszak will introduce “When the Chevy Breaks (How Small Towns Fix Big Problems),” a production of Downeast Documentary, a UMM filmmaking class he teaches. Completed in the 2018–19 fall and spring semesters, the film features stories of small-town ingenuity as told through interviews with rural Mainers.

Kryszak also will introduce “A Journey in Darkness Through Music.” Tim Allen, a 2017 graduate of UMM’s psychology and community studies program from Sedgwick, Maine, who also had a minor in music, created the 30-minute film as his senior capstone project. In interviews with other students and faculty, Allen, who is visually impaired, explores how music impacts the lives of people with disabilities.

Kryszak was Allen’s adviser for the project, operating the camera and following Allen’s audio cues during the editing process. UMM associate professor of psychology Lori Schneiders also provided guidance and was interviewed for the film.

For more information about the festival, visit <https://filmfreeway.com/UMaineDocumentaryFilmFestival> or contact 207.581.4093.