Greetings from vacation! I’m sitting on the sand of Cape Cod writing this post, not far from where Anthony Bourdain spent teenage summers working in beach town restaurants, a time period dramatized in Tony, opening later this month. Another revered Cape Codder, Mary Oliver, also graces the big screen in August, in a documentary that’s been selling out theaters around New England and beyond.
For more local film writing, podcasts and showtimes, visit us at themaineplayweek.com.
— The Maine Playweek
Opening August 21 | Eveningstar Cinema, Brunswick
Chef and food journalist Anthony Bourdain cuts his teeth in this coming-of-age biopic, starring Dominic Sessa in his second lead role after 2023 Best Picture nominee The Holdovers. Tony, as his friends call him, starts a grueling job at a restaurant in Provincetown after getting rejected from a writing fellowship. Food opens an unexpected world of possibility for him, and by the end of the trailer he is not Tony, the aspiring writer, anymore. He is Anthony Bourdain, and he works in a kitchen.
August 5 & 6 | Harbor Theater, Boothbay Harbor
The Bard of Provincetown, as some called Mary Oliver, took long walks in nature and rarely gave interviews, preferring to have her work speak for itself. This new documentary, which has galvanized the poet’s fans everywhere, gives us views into her work and life through admirers like Steve Buscemi, Lucy Dacus, Stephen Colbert and Oprah Winfrey. From a lonely childhood to being considered “America’s most beloved poet,” Oliver “could not be contained any more than you could contain the season outside,” says poet Gabrielle Calvocoressi.
August 21-23 | City Theater, Biddeford
The third annual Vacationland Film Festival illuminates the screen inside City Theater in downtown Biddeford with short and feature-length “Maine-friendly” movies set in our state and/or made by locals. The volunteer-run fest has been posting about their selections on Instagram, but its full program is still a work in progress as of this writing. So far, it’s shaping up to be an excellent mix of dramas, sci-fi and horror, documentaries and comedies like “OGT PD,” a short about what Ogunquit’s police department might possibly be doing in that peaceful tourist town. Visit the festival’s website here.
August 12 | SPACE, Portland
From 1941 until the 1980s, women’s soccer in Brazil was stifled by a law prohibiting women from playing sports “incompatible with the conditions of their nature.” Onda Nova (“New Wave,” in Portuguese) is a raunchy comedy made in 1983 that’s playful with its characters: women on a newly formed soccer team confronting prejudice and barriers just after the ban is lifted. Newly restored to 4K digital quality, the film was banned by Brazil’s military dictatorship not only due to its eroticism and queerness, but because it demonstrates that desire can successfully defy oppression. “Our film is avant-garde,” said director José Antonio Garcia, who died in 2005, “it will only be understood ten years from now.” It’s taken over 40 years for Onda Nova to be widely seen, but yes, we understand it now — all too well.
August 8-20 | Portland Museum of Art
No, there’s no such thing as “too many cat videos.” Yes, you will leave the theater inside the museum feeling lighter after watching the newest collection of funny feline antics caught on camera. You may even feel a desire to adopt a furry friend after 74 straight minutes of adorableness. The best part: a portion of all ticket proceeds will be donated to the Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland.
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