Vacationland

Family and fate collude to comic effect in this independent film, set against the backdrop of a failed reunion one summer in the mountains of Western Maine.

From the moment Michael and Louise arrive at the fabled Evan’s farm for a family reunion,  they realize something is amiss: the farm clearly abandoned some 20 years, and there is scant sign of any other kin. Soon, the realization that this is a reunion that isn’t begins to dawn, even as the sun sets.

However, the next morning  fate arranges to deliver one more straggler late to the party: Louise’s long estranged daughter, Polly, who arrives with her own daughter, Iris, in tow. Old habits begin to pool and overflow as Louise, Polly, Michael, and Iris begin a tentative, fragile reunion. Yet even as this odd quadruple navigate around the submerged obstacles of a lifetime of familial neglect, so new relationships start to form, as in the end, the inevitable pulse of a true vacation starts to beat out the rhythm of their days.

Starring screen icon Karen Black with an ensemble of Maine-based actors,VacationLand took top honors this past April at the Lewiston-Auburn Film Festival, and was the opening-night selection for last year’s Maine International Film Festival in the Waterville Opera House.

Followed by Q&A with director Jamie Hook.  Presented with the Maine Film & Video Association