TMIP_Postcard4x6+LaurelsCropped

The Seattle International Film Festival (“SIFF”) will host the North American premiere for locally-produced film “The Maury Island Incident” on Sunday, May 25, and the film will screen as an opening night selection when it world premieres at the Big Island Film Festival (“BIFF”) in Kona, Hawaii, on Thursday, May 22.

“The Maury Island Incident” is a 30-minute short film that tells the forgotten, tragic story – taken directly from declassified FBI documents – of Harold Dahl’s June 21, 1947 UFO sighting near Maury Island, and the first reported ‘Man In Black’ encounter that happened to him the next day.

The film – which was shot in Burien, Des Moines, Tukwila and off the shores of Maury Island during the summer of 2013 – was awarded the competitive Washington FilmWorks Innovation Lab funding during production.

The Seattle International Film Festival is recognized as one of the top film festivals in North America, and is the largest, most highly attended film festival in the United States.

“We are absolutely delighted to be invited to premiere at SIFF,” said Director and Producer Scott Schaefer. “The film has garnered a lot of attention, and we’ve been humbled by the growing community of fans – a great mix of historians, sci-fi fans, civic organizations, UFO and conspiracy buffs, tourism advocates, and folks simply excited about the local connections to the story – that have been waiting to see the film. Where better to share the story and all the secrets, than right here where it all happened 67 years ago.”

Moviemaker Magazine has dubbed the Big Island Film Festival one of “20 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee” and “25 Coolest Film Festivals”.

“We’re humbled to be selected for the Opening Night Gala at BIFF,” said Screenwriter and Producer Steve Edmiston. “We’ll screen outside under the stars, which seems incredibly appropriate for a story about an infamous UFO sighting.”

The film explores the origins of the iconic Men In Black with a conspiratorial mythology set during the “summer of the saucers” in 1947, leading directly to FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover. Shot locally and featuring Seattle-area actors Tony Doupé, Allen Fitzpatrick, John Patrick Lowrie, and David S. Hogan, the film was also produced by John White (Executive Producer), Scott and Laura Beth Peterson, and Danny House.

SCREENING DETAILS:

Seattle International Film Festival:
Part of “Seattle Supersonic Shorts”
Sunday, May 25, 11 a.m. (PDT)
SIFF Uptown Theater
511 Queen Anne Avenue North
Seattle, WA 98109

Big Island Film Festival Screening details:
Part of Grand Opening Night
Thursday, May 22, 7:30 p.m. (HAST)
The Shops at Mauna Lani Center Stage
68-1330 Mauna Lani Drive
Waimea, HI 96743

TRAILER:

The Maury Island Incident Trailer #1 from The Maury Island Incident on Vimeo.

MORE INFO: