Arts, Dining & Entertainment, Events & Activities

Split/Screen online monthly movie series concludes in May 

May 21-30 — VIRTUAL — The Vermont International Film Festival (VTIFF) and the Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival (MNFF) are pleased to announce the final program for Split/Screen, the online monthly movie series partnership that began in November 2020. With the two Vermont film festivals each having curated a selection of four entertaining films in alternating months, MNFF steps to the plate in May with an offering of three engaging documentaries and one memorable drama that will run for 10 days, May 21-30.

Split/Screen May will feature the following films:

  • “Stray,” directed by Elizabeth Lo, explores what it means to live as a being without status or security, as it follows three stray dogs as they embark on inconspicuous journeys through Turkish society. This award-winning documentary film is a critical observation of human civilization through the unfamiliar gaze of dogs and a sensory voyage into new ways of seeing.

    Courtesy Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival
    “The Donut King”
  • “The People vs. Agent Orange,” directed by Alan Adelson and Kate Taverna, compellingly depicts how the Agent Orange catastrophe did not end with the Vietnam War. In addition to the screening of the documentary, MNFF artistic director Jay Craven will lead a probing conversation with “The People vs. Agent Orange” filmmakers Kate Taverna and Alan Adelson along with Lindsey Schromen-Wawrin, attorney for Lincoln County Community Rights lawsuit against aerial spraying of herbicides in Oregon, and Susan Hammond, from Bellows Falls, Vermont, who leads the internationally respected War Legacies Project and was recently profiled in a New York Times Magazine feature story for her work on Agent Orange issues in Laos. The interview will be available on the MNFF watch portal as part of the Split/Screen May offering.
  • “The Donut King,” directed by Alice Gu, is the fascinating rags to riches story of Ted Ngoy, a refugee escaping Cambodia, arriving in the United States in 1975 and building an unlikely multi-million dollar empire baking America’s favorite pastry, the donut.

    Courtesy Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival
    “Swan Song”
  • “Swan Song,” directed by Todd Stephens, a charming drama based on the true story of its main character, introduces us to retired hairdresser and local iconic bar performer Pat Pitsenbarger, played wonderfully by Udo Kier, who has given up on life from the confines of his small-town Sandusky, Ohio, nursing home. But when Pat gets word that a former client’s dying wish was for him to style her final hairdo, he sets out on an epic journey across Sandusky to confront the ghosts of his past – and collect the beauty supplies necessary for the job.

Split/Screen May will stream 24/7 beginning Friday, May 21 at 10 a.m. and conclude on Sunday, May 30 at 11 p.m. The Monthly Pass for Split/Screen May will be $40 and individual tickets will be sold for $12.50. Split/Screen May will be hosted by the secure online platform CineSend and will be viewable on a wide array of devices including mobile, tablet, laptop and big screen televisions. 

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit middfilmfest.org/split- screen or vtiff.org/vtiff-now/split-screen.

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