Rockland, Maine, and Camden, Maine, host an annual documentary film festival each year in late summer/early fall. We have attended twice in the past several years, and so decided that we would do so once again on our road trip. Everyone has to show proof of vaccination, and masks were required at all the indoor venues. Both cities are on the gorgeous coast of Maine, and are quintessential fishing and tourist meccas. Cute restaurants and shops line the Main Street. Rockland has two art museums and over 20 art galleries, so it is a particularly rich setting for a film festival.
The best film of the weekend was by an Academy Award winning director, “The Rescue,” about the Thai boys’ soccer team that was trapped in a cave for 18 days in the summer of 2018. It was an extraordinary film, with very moving footage of the boys when they were discovered and their novel method of rescue. You need to see the movie when it is released to see the real story of their removal from the cave!
One of the movie venues was a drive-in theater, the Shotwell Drive-In. It didn’t exist the other times we attended, and we were surprised that anyone would create a brand new drive-in theater in this day and time. We found out that it was built last year due to Covid, a very inventive response to the pandemic. We enjoyed the (now) unusual experience of a drive-in and we hope it continues far into the future.
