Maine Bowhunting Film Named Finalist at National Festival
A Maine film about bowhunting is being recognized by a national film festival.
According to the Bangor Daily News, the Badlands Film Festival in Louisville, Kentucky, has named the film "The Dream" as one of the its finalists.
"The Dream", a film created by Hunting ME, features Maine bowhunters tracking and hunting a moose.
In fact, the entire Badlands Film Festival features bowhunting, as it's part of one of the largest archery and bowhunting tradeshows in the country. For a Maine-produced film to be featured at an event like this is quite the accomplishment for the fledgling production company.
The Bangor Daily News caught up with the head of Hunting ME, John Altman. He is unquestionably excited.
He told the newspaper:
“This film came from Maine and Maine has a really good story to tell ... For this film to have been produced here in Maine and for us to be featured in this film festival, I’m really excited about the potential for Maine.”
Altman also told the Bangor Daily News the film had to be heavily edited down from 50 minutes to less than 10 to meet the festival's requirements. He said it took about a month to finalize the festival cut.
Now they are one of seven finalists in the feature film category, according to the newspaper, with nothing but positivity and potential ahead.
This is extremely exciting news for these talented filmmakers and the state in general. Any time Maine can be in the spotlight for positive reasons is grounds for a statewide celebration.
This is also another wonderful opportunity for the rest of the country to see the outdoors enthusiast oasis that is Maine. The film is stunningly beautiful and utilizes many angles. And, unsurprisingly, there's tremendous respect shown towards the animal.
Best of luck to John and the rest of Hunting ME at Saturday's festival. Regardless of the festival results, this crew has already won. I look forward to more projects from this talented group.
Here is a look at the original cut of "The Dream" from Hunting ME