NH Film Festival celebrates 20 years: Here's what you will see in Portsmouth in 2022

PORTSMOUTH —  At 11 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 6, a special magic will begin filling the city once again, after a two-year long hiatus that's, well, just been too long.

That's when the first screening of the 20th New Hampshire Film Festival will begin, the first of more than 100 films, plus 17 special events and ceremonies and four gala parties over the next four days.

You'll see hundreds of residents and tourists in the streets of Portsmouth wearing their festival passes on their lanyards, walking from screening to screening, discussing films in coffee shops and restaurants, and mostly trying to decide which film to see because there are so many to choose from.

The 20th edition of the festival will run Thursday through Sunday, Oct. 6-9, presenting independent feature films, documentaries and shorts from local and international filmmakers, panel discussions, a Comedy Night, filmmaker Q&A sessions and many other opportunities to talk about films. The event is back in 2022 after not being held in 2020 or 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Leading titles this year include the 2022 Sundance Film Festival Official Selection “God’s Country” by Julian Higgins, Stephen Frears’ “The Lost King,”  Charlotte Wells’ “Aftersun” and Cristian Mungiu’s “R.M.N.”

The festival will also showcase local filmmaker Mark Hevesh’s “Lily Topples The World,” Laina Barakat’s “Light Attaching to a Girl,” Iyabo Kwayama’s “By Water,” and Gordon LePage’s “A Change of Song” and “Dragon Poets of Boston.”

A description of all the festival's films can be found at nhfilmfestival.com/films-year-accepted/2022.

NH Film Festival leader touts 'amazing' comeback from COVID

"It's amazing after all that has happened to be back in public, in person enjoying the festival as it's meant to be enjoyed," said Nicole Gregg, executive director of the New Hampshire Film Festival.

"It's been wonderful to work with all the businesses that have supported us in the past in a new way," Gregg said about the aftermath of the pandemic for so many venues and restaurants in the city and returning from the two-year hiatus. "It's been challenging, but it's been amazing to see businesses come out and rally behind us. And it's so rewarding when things fall into place."

Gregg reflected on the two decades of the festival's growth since the first one in 2001.

"This year, because of the anniversary, there's been a layer of nostalgia and reminiscing, of being proud of what we've become, quick moments between the chaos to find pride in what we've accomplished," she said. "It's extra special."

The seed was planted when Gregg was working in New York City at an independent film company. She was casting for a film she was directing and producing, and attended several film festivals in that process.

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"I fell in love with film festivals," she said. Shortly after that she decided to move to New Hampshire to settle down with her husband. "When I got here, it was clear Portsmouth needed a film festival. So all of my worlds collided."

There was a new film festival in Derry, she reached out to them to learn more and they ended up joining forces in Portsmouth. "It was really organic. It was meant to be in a lot of ways," Gregg said.

NH Film Festival has connection to Academy Awards

A sign of the festival's growing profile is the festival's Oscars relationship. Short films that receive the festival’s Live Action Shorts Jury Award and Animation Shorts Jury Award may now qualify to enter the Short Films competition for the concurrent Oscar season. They are eligible for consideration for an Academy Award without the standard theatrical run.

After the pandemic hiatus, this year's festival received many submissions. After deciding to include as many as possible, a scheduling scramble more urgent than in past festivals began.

Where are films being shown in Portsmouth? Lots of venues

This year's festival has more venues for film screenings than ever before, and many new restaurant venues hosting events for the first time. The festival's headquarters for the four days of the festival is new, too — it will be located in the Museum of New Art (MONA ) inside Jimmy's Jazz & Blues Club on Congress Street.

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"It's been so exciting to work with the Music Hall again and incorporate their new venue, the Music Hall Lounge," Gregg said. "And now we have the amazing space at the MONA."

Gregg said noting the Seacoast Repertory Theatre is returning as a screening venue after several years off. Thaxter Hall at St. John's Church, which has just been renovated is a screening venue this year. 3S Artspace, The Music Hall and The Press Room continue as venues this year.

Also this year, Francis Ford Coppola Wines has returned as a sponsor and they're hosting the Friday night party at Toscana Market in Market Square, a new party venue along with Jimmy's Jazz & Blues Club, which will host the Saturday night party and The Rooftop at Envio, which will host the VIP Brunch on Sunday morning. The Flatbread Company continues its tradition of hosting the Granite State Night party.

Highlights of the festival, according to Gregg, include Tom Bergeron screening his TV show pilot "Down The Middle," which is "a really unique opportunity for the audience to give feedback" that may shape a future TV show.

Another highlight is Saturday's Comedy night with comedian Juston McKinney moderating a panel that will feature several siblings of famous comedians who are comedians in their own right. The panel will include Laura Silverman, the sister of Sarah Silverman; Gary Valentine, the brother of Kevin James, and Josh Meyers, brother of Seth Meyers, all with N.H. ties. Visit nhfilmfestival.com/event/daychaser-comedy-panel  to learn about their credits and the other comedians involved.

Another highlight is "Lily Topples The World," a documentary about a domino artist from New Hampshire, which will be shown both Saturday and Sunday and its focus, YouTube influencer Lily Hevesh herself will be in attendance. The festival traditionally screens all the films with New Hampshire ties on Granite State Day on the first day of the festival, Thursday, but there were so many this year the NH-linked films are spread throughout the weekend.

Back is the 2022 Young Filmmakers Workshop, which will run Friday, Oct. 7 to Sunday, Oct. 9  during festival weekend. It's part film school, part competition for aspiring filmmakers ages 14 to 18, which culminates in their films being shown during the festival's closing ceremony on Sunday night.

A complete schedule of festival screening and events can be found at nhfilmfestival.com/schedule.

It takes more than a 100 volunteers from tech teams to venue greeters to videographers to man the weekend's events. Gregg is grateful to them as well as to all the festival's sponsors and, most of all, to the festival team and its dedication. "There is a handful of volunteers, who all have full-time jobs, but work around the clock to make this happen," she said. "There is a core team who all share in pulling this event off, working all hours of the day and night, and loving every minute of it."

How do I get passes to the New Hampshire Film Festival?

Passes are available online at nhfilmfestival.org. A Festival Pass is $125 and gives you access to all the movies, special events and parties (except the VIP Brunch on Sunday) on a space available basis. A VIP Pass is $250 and will get you into everything the festival offers, all the movies, special events and parties with priority access to the venues before they open to those waiting in line. Single-day passes are $30 for Thursday; and $50 each for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and get you access to all screening, ceremonies, special events and parties on that day on a space available basis. Individual tickets, good for any single film or block of shorts, will be for sale for $15 during the festival only.

There will be lines set up at each venue. Screenings can and will fill up so seating is not guaranteed. The best strategy for getting into the films you want to see is to get in line at the venue early.

Where to start?

Everyone who has purchased passes online can pick them up at the festival's headquarters which will be open all weekend beginning at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday at the Museum of New Art, 135 Congress St., Portsmouth. The museum is inside the Jimmy's Jazz & Blues Club on the first floor. You can also purchase passes at the headquarters as well as receive a printed program and get answers to all your questions. This is also where festival filmmakers and presenters should check in. The addresses of all the venues for festival events can be found at nhfilmfestival.com/the-festival/venues.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: 2022 NH Film Festival in Portsmouth NH celebrates 20 years