extreme culture

MELBOURNE INDEPENDENT FILMMAKERS FESTIVAL

By PAM HARBAUGH

Time to “get Miffed.” It’s the annual MELBOURNE INDEPENDENT FILMMAKERS FESTIVAL taking place Thursday to Saturday at Premiere Theaters Oaks Stadium 10 in Melbourne, Florida.

I simply love this event. It’s one of my favorite artsy things to do in this area. There’s a wonderful low key, high camp appeal. It’s got short, medium, long films from groupy amateur to slick professional; panel discussions; great mashups of wildly different demographics; food and drinks; and a ‘Culinary Arts’ program again with “Real Food Real Kitchens.”

But I’m guess the real star this year will be THE FITS, a highly touted film by Lisa Kjerulff, who used to live in Melbourne. She’s been getting rave reviews for the film. Here’s the trailer. It is the Sundance Officially Selected film of 2016, rated number 4 of the top 25 films of 2016 by Esquire magazine.

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BTW, Melbourne resident Craig Chapman brought “The Fits” to MIFF’s attention. Craig is the producer of “Real Food Real Kitchens,” a series on HULU and also a publication. Here’s a trailer for RFRK:

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To get the complete MIFF 2016 schedule, click here. For a broad stroke overview, read on:

THURSDAY, Oct. 20: 6 to 7 p.m. kick off, include 3 films; and a 7:30 p.m. RFRK dinner with Lebanese cuisine with James Beard Foundation award-winning Chef Toni Elkhouri at Cedars Cafe, 4100 N. Wickham Road #137, Melbourne, FL – cedarscafe.com.

FRIDAY, OCT. 21: 2 to 4 p.m. films; 4 to 7 p.m. Culinary Arts & Reception; 7 p.m. and later, films with “The Fits” screening at 9 p.m.

SATURDAY, Oct. 22: 9 a.m. films start; noon, a filmmakers roundtable; 2 p.m. movies resume after lunch break; 6 p.m. red carpet followed by VIP program and awards.

Tickets vary in price. You can get an all-access for $65 which will get you into everything except the Thursday night dinner.

Photo credit: By No machine-readable author provided. Logicaldisaster~commonswiki assumed (based on copyright claims). – No machine-readable source provided. Own work assumed (based on copyright claims)., CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=76828