New Year, New Look, New Films: The 2017 New Hampshire Film Festival is Ready to Rock

Posted by Leah on 10/5/2017 12:45:06 PM

        The leaves are changing, the kids are long since back at school, there’s pumpkin spice everything everywhere you look, (I would say there’s a chill in the air, but that seems to be late this year), and it’s once again time for the New Hampshire Film Festival!
 
        While many things about this year’s film related festivities will be familiar, it will be obvious from the get go that much has changed as well. The most obvious is the festival’s logo. Gone is the logo that carried the festival through years past, with its bold, harsh colors. What’s taken its place is a more streamlined, elegant look that better reflects New Hampshire in general, and even more so, Portsmouth. The pastel blue and purple tones remind one of a seaside sunset, and with the word
Festival being cut to simply Fest, the new logo seems to be an embrace of all surrounding events, and not just the festival itself.
Watching the 2017 NHFF Trailer during the Kick Off Party at the Thirsty Moose

Watching the 2017 NHFF Trailer during the Kick Off Party at the Thirsty Moose

 
        2017 marks the 17
th NHFF, with the four day event kicking off Thursday October 12 at multiple venues across Portsmouth. As is the case most years, the overflowing lineup will include over 100 films, with Thursday featuring all films with a New Hampshire connection. “This year’s lineup is packed with notable films from some incredibly talented filmmakers,” NHFF Executive Director Nicole Gregg said in the festival’s press release. “The process of selecting our film list was once again truly a labor of love.”
One to look forward to

One to look forward to

 
        While it’s physically impossible to see all of the over 100 films in the festival, cramming in as much as possible during the four day filmstraviganza is also a labor of love. The choices of what to see during a given time period with the films stretched across four venues is daunting enough on its own,  but when you factor in the caliber of the films, and the big names in them, the decision becomes even harder. Films such as
Lucky, The Square, Marjorie Prime, The Reagan Show and more feature the clout of Harry Dean Stanton, David Lynch, Ed Beagly Jr., Elizabeth Moss, Jon Hamm, and Geena Davis to name a few.
 
        But film isn’t the only thing NHFF has to offer. As in other years, there will be a variety of panels and after parties. What’s different is that this year will feature several hospitality events during the day as well. Festival goers are invited to start the day Friday with Mission Cycle Pop Up at the Music Hall from 8-9 am, in hopes of literally getting people warmed up for the weekend. From 3:40-4:40 pm at 3S Artspace will be a sneak preview of the new television show
The Messenger with Tom Bergeron. From 9-10 am Saturday the Moffatt-Ladd House will host a coffee hour, with the In House Digital and Stella Artois Hospitality Party, and Flatbread Company and The Juicery Hospitality Suite both happening that afternoon. Sunday will start off with the Family Fun Block of films at The Music Hall at 10 am, followed by another Flatbread Company and The Juicery Hospitality Suite going on throughout the afternoon. Nicole Gregg and the entire NHFF team have certainly made sure that there are plenty of opportunities to kick back and relax between the hectic running from venue to venue during the long weekend.

         With so much going on at once, and so many options, the hardest part won’t be in selecting what to watch; it will be in coming up with a reasonable excuse not to go at all. The 17
th annual New Hampshire Film Festival runs from Thursday October 12-Sunday October 15 in Portsmouth, NH. For more information about NHFF, the films, the venues and tickets go to https://nhfilmfestival.com/