This column is all about Maine and the movies, and cinema doesn’t get more Maine than the short film “Vacationland.”

Apart from its state motto-friendly title, the 20-minute film follows a young Maine lobsterman (Griffin Camens) attempting to make a living on Maine’s unforgiving ocean while also battling opioid addiction. The film was directed by Joseph Coleman, a 2021 Freeport High School graduate now attending Los Angeles’s Loyola Marymount University, and was shot right on Coleman’s home turf. Or water, rather.

“I’m a screenwriting major,” said Coleman, “which means we can’t use the school’s cameras, we don’t get any money to make our student films, nothing. It’s entirely on our shoulders.” That meant the young filmmaker not only dipped into his own savings from working at Freeport’s Brewer Marina and Bow Street Market, but also sent out the crowdfunding bat-signal, with friends, family and generous Mainers chipping in to help Coleman bring his Maine-set tale to the screen.

“I’m incredibly grateful,” said Coleman. “Crowdsourcing is a great tool, especially for a Maine-oriented project.”

Still, Coleman needed to assemble a crack (if inexpensive) cast and crew for “Vacationland,” a task that saw the Freeport native scanning Loyola Marymount’s filmmaking alumni and finding professional cinematographer and Mount Desert Island native Emma Forthofer.

“It’s funny,” said Coleman, “I came out to California and was feeling homesick. I was making my first big movie, and it’s about about home, and there was one other LMU graduate in L.A. when I was trying to find cast and crew.” Coleman credits Forthofer with the film’s “terrific” visuals of his small cast working very real lobster boats. (Courtesy of Coleman family friends, Freeport’s lobster fishing Ulrickson family.)

For Coleman, authenticity was everything when it came to anchoring “Vacationland’s” dual themes of lobstering and addiction, a balance the young filmmaker confesses he struggled with.

“If I’m being blatantly honest in criticism of my film, it’s that the acting and the cinematography are both terrific,” Coleman said. “Where I think I’ll look back on this as a huge learning experience is in my storytelling. I was glad to help raise awareness about the opioid crisis in Maine’s traditional industries and in the northern counties – it’s terrible up there, and I have tons of friends who deal with that. And I really enjoyed coming back and the filming experience in my hometown. Now that I’ve done it, I’m glad I was able to make a film about my home, but in the future, I’m looking forward to making films that are more in my own voice.”

Despite Coleman’s modest assessment of his own work, “Vacationland” has already received no small amount of attention from film festivals, with the film showing next week online as part of the prestigious National Film Festival for Talented Youth (acronym “NFFTY,” which is, indeed, nifty). Of course, if you’re in Seattle, Washington from April 27-30, you can see “Vacationland’s” Maine story play out on the big screen, but Coleman’s film is more conveniently watched as part of the virtual festival from April 27 to May 7. Said Coleman of his early success, “It’s exciting, for sure,” with the Maine native currently submitting his suitably Maine-centered film to our own Maine International Film Festival.

For a young filmmaker like Coleman, hard work, talent and industriousness are key. It’s also great when you’ve got an ace up your sleeve, as Coleman revealed halfway through our interview. In glancing over “Vacationland’s” tiny cast list, my eye snagged upon the name Janet McTeer, who plays the protagonist’s lobster boat captain boss. McTeer is a two-time Oscar nominee (“Tumbleweeds,” “Albert Nobbs”), a Tony winner and an all-around powerhouse actor, and her mere presence in a student film is a huge get – and poses an irresistible question. How?

“Oh, well, Janet is my stepmother,” laughed Coleman, explaining that the “Ozark”  and “The Menu” star has been married to Coleman’s father, poet Joseph Coleman Sr., since 2010.

“She’s just an incredibly talented actor,” said Coleman. “Honestly, I think she’s probably the best actress in the world in terms of the ability to get inside a character. Growing up with her was incredible – my dad’s a poet, my mom’s an artist and Janet’s an actress, so I feel like I had that creative spirit instilled inside me.”

As to whether the accomplished McTeer could pull off portraying a crusty Maine lobster captain, Coleman admits he was initially a little nervous. “But when you’ve got resources, you use them,” he said, laughing, and noted that the supportive McTeer even appeared in his high school-made films back in the day.

In the end, any worries that the British-born McTeer could convincingly step into the captain’s boots was unfounded, with Coleman noting, “She did a fantastic job. It’s always a pleasure to work with someone so talented, even if it’s sometimes unnerving. It makes you question whether you’re any good at all.”

With Coleman back hard at work in California at Loyola Marymount, the Maine native is excited to move onto his next project, even as he anxiously awaits the all-important verdict from his fellow Mainers. “I’m excited, and I’m incredibly nervous,” said Coleman, as the NFFTY screenings approach. “Portraying Maine lobstermen – I just hope I did it with authenticity.”

We here in Maine can judge “Vacationland” ourselves when Coleman’s film hits the internet as part of the National Film Festival for Talented Youth. You can get your online passes, which are $80 for virtual access to the some 200 films, at nffty.org.

Dennis Perkins is a freelance writer who lives in Auburn with his wife and cat.

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