The 27th Provincetown Film Festival takes place from June 11 to 15 in Provincetown, Massachusetts. I happened to be in the Cape Cod region for a cousin’s trip and family reunions the week before, so why not stay a few days to do my favorite activity: attend film festivals? The lineup, including slated films and events, looks very promising in what is a packed and longer weekend film festival.
A few highlights will be awarded to rising and established filmmakers and actors. Director Ari Aster, well known for cult hits Hereditary, Midsommar, and Beau Is Afraid, will receive The 2025 Filmmaker on the Edge Award, which will be presented to the recipient by John Waters on June 14, with the event set to open on July 18, 2025. Provincetown local actor Murray Bartlett, from The White Lotus, The Last of Us, and the second season 2 of Nine Perfect Strangers, will be honored with The Excellence in Acting Award. For the Next Wave Awards, highlighting emerging directors include Eva Victor (for their feature debut, Sorry, Baby) and River Gallo (for Ponyboi), a first intersex-led narrative feature, both of which are Sundance titles.
Opening Night plans to be a big kick-off with the documentary “Linus O’Brien’s Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror,” a deep dive into the cult origin and cultural impact of The Rocky Horror Show, accompanied by a screening of the classic movie. The Closing Night documentary highlights a local business ingrained in the community: Spiritus: No Business Like Dough Business (from director Michael Koehler). The poignant exploration of Provincetown’s Spiritus Pizza & Ice Cream’s history is set against the backdrop of the AIDS crisis and the town’s close-knit LGBTQ+ community.
Some movie titles I hope to catch include the North American Premiere of Ethan Coen’s Honey Don’t, Sophie Hyde’s Sundance opening night film Jimpa, Ebs Burnough’s documentary straight from Tribeca Kerouac’s Road: The Beat of a Nation, Kim A. Snyder’s rather timely documentary The Librarians, Jay Duplass’ crowd-pleasing (from what I have heard) The Baltimorons), Kate Beecroft’s Sundance Next award winner East of Wall, and Carmen Emmi’s acclaimed Plainclothes. This Colorado resident is excited to watch Kahane Corn Cooperman’s Creede U.S.A.. My most anticipated title? James Sweeney’s Twinless, which I missed after Sundance pulled it from online viewing. In-person film festivals are the way to do it, anyway. It will be worth the wait.
