PMA Film Festival

Friday night at Congress Square there was proof that film making is alive and well in Maine. After a good time in the Eastland hotel lobby bar meeting the various film folk and sitting out the rain, the movies started. This was my first time at the festival so I don't know how previous years went but the SRO crowd braved the threat of rain and wet seats to view 90 minutes of some quality short films.

The PMAFF is put on by Humongous Productions and Portland Media Artists. It was sponsored this year by Coffee by Design. Although in the past the city has chipped in some cash for a summer full of events at Congress Square, this summer's events have been done totally with private funds.

See Pictures at http://franklinmcmahon.com/

The Ratings

the films are listed in the order they were shown.

Male Tale It turns out that women have adventures, too. A light film about the sexual adventures of three barmaids. It was a good start to fine evening. Filmmaker-Lew-Ann Leen. I give it a 2.7 out of 5.


Sidesitters Do you uh y'know sidesit?

Ok in the interests of full disclosure, I had a part in this flick, but my views were backed up by other folk. That said, this was the best film of the evening. Some of the others came close but this film really showed that with a talented, dedicated cast and crew quality filmmaking can be done without even a small budget.

Everybody has some faults. How you react to them is up to you. Started the crowd laughing. Filmmaker-Chris Watkins I give it a 4.2 of 5

Cowboys and Indians Indians are born not made or not. A telling tale about how a casino makes money for no one but the casino. Filmmaker-Luigi Scarcelli. I give it a 3.9 of 5

Beneath the Frost line Sometimes old secrets are best left untold. OK I kinda saw where this wanted to go but I'm not sure it got there. Still, it had some good make up. Filmmaker-Andy Davis. I give it a 2.6 of 5

Zev on Humans Zev explains what he knows about humans. And A pig auditions for the circus in the Circus Audition. Outstanding animation with a fast pleasent punch. Filmmaker-Dave Poole. I give it 4.1 of 5

Split Second Humans really are frail creatures. And they need attention. Filmmaker- Kevin DiBacco I give it 3.5 of 5.

Overall I give it 4.2. It was an outstanding evening. The people I met were very nice and they had cheese at the party. The venue was great. The folk were interesting. It was obvious that alot of work had gone on behind the scenes. The rain even stopped for the show.