Caribou native shows film
By Paula Brewer
Staff Writer
CARIBOU — A Caribou native who has made his mark in independent film will be in the County for the sixth annual Damnationland Anthology movie screening series, which will hit the screens at the Braden Theatre in Presque Isle on Sunday, Oct. 25.
The series is described as “chock full of wit and horror from Maine’s best filmmakers,” and will get underway at 9:30 p.m.
This year, the anthology will be accompanied by Damnationland filmmaker Nathan Oliver, who wrote and directed the short film “We are the Ones” for the anthology this year, and who will offer a question-and-answer session during the screening.
“Damnationland is one of the only longrunning series that happens in Maine,” Oliver said yesterday. “They search out filmmakers and invite them to participate. It’s an event where the talent of Maine in film is showcased every year.”
“This is perfect timing for Halloween, right?” Oliver added. “So if you want a spooky show, go to Damnationaland.”
Oliver’s film “We are the Ones” is what he calls a “creature movie” and is an homage to videotaped movies. “Imagine being 12 years old and digging through the old videos in the bin; you pick the one with the really crazy cover,” Oliver said. “I made it a creature movie because creature movies are always fun.”
In an earlier press statement, Oliver said, “I’ve loved what these guys have been doing for years now and to be part of it has been wonderful. They rock and I’m sure the folks watching these amazing shorts won’t know what hit them when they see what Maine filmmakers have to offer.”
The filmmaker graduated from Caribou High School in 2003 and, after about 10 years in Montreal, currently runs Noproductions in South Portland.
His newest feature, “Lady Psycho Killer” starring Kate Daly and featuring Michael Madsen (“Reservoir Dogs,” “The Hateful 8”) and Malcolm McDowell (“A Clockwork Orange”, “Mozart in the Jungle”), has just played to grand success in Montreal at the Fantasia International Film Festival.
Folks in the County may remember Oliver from 2011’s “The Zombies are Coming to Town!,” an Aroostook original which, after playing a packed show at the Braden, went on to win “Best Made in Maine” at the Portland Film Festival later the same year.
The Damnationland series will premiere in Portland and then continue through the state, “scaring audiences from Presque Isle to Saco along the way,” organizers said. For more information, visit Damnationland.com.
