Growing up in Belgium, Daphne Baiwir was an avid reader. She also loved to be scared. When she was 10 years old, she asked her father if she could read a really scary book for grownups. He gave her a copy of Stephen King’s “The Shining.”
By the end of the book, she was a newly minted King fan, a lifelong obsession that has culminated in her documentary, “King on Screen,” which will have its Maine premiere Tuesday at the Maine International Film Festival in Waterville.
“One of the things that I think is very interesting about Stephen King is that you can read a book or watch a film when you are young, and then read or watch it when you are much older, and different things will matter to you,” said Baiwir, who previously directed the documentary “The Rebellious Olivia de Havilland.” “You grow with his stories.”
Baiwir enjoyed King books, movies and TV shows equally, and as her film career progressed, she noticed that while there was lots of content out there about King’s writing, there was surprisingly little that dealt specifically with the films and TV shows based on his works.
“He is the most adapted living author in the world. Almost everyone has seen a Stephen King movie,” Baiwir said. “I wanted to ask the question, ‘Why is his work so appealing to directors? Why does it stay so popular after all this time?’”
Baiwir’s film features interviews with filmmakers who have adapted King stories, including Frank Darabont (“The Shawshank Redemption,” “The Green Mile,” “The Mist”), Mike Flanagan (“Doctor Sleep,” “Gerald’s Game”) and Mick Garris (TV miniseries including “The Stand,” “It” and “Bag of Bones”).
The film also kicks off with an introductory passage shot in Orono in March 2022. Baiwir wrote a short film of sorts that encompasses many of the most iconic King images and character types — the bucolic but creepy Maine town, the mysterious little shop on Main Street, the odd local residents. The film crew transformed several storefronts in downtown Orono into King-themed businesses, with the “Creep Shop” storefront staying up for most of the summer in the former location of Parks Hardware.
“If we were going to enter into the universe of Stephen King, we had to come to Maine, and specifically to the Bangor area,” she said. “We wanted to set the tone and really give people the feeling that you are going into the King universe. People were incredibly nice in Orono and so helpful. It was a wonderful experience to film there.”
“King on Screen” will be shown at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Waterville Opera House, and again at 9 p.m. Wednesday at the Maine Film Center, as part of the 10-day slate of more than 50 films at the Maine International Film Festival.
The festival celebrates a major milestone this year, as it is the first year the festival will be held in the new Maine Film Center, located in the Paul J. Schupf Art Center in downtown Waterville. The $18 million new facility opened last fall, replacing the original Maine Film Center at Railroad Square Cinema, the longtime three-screen movie theater in Waterville, which closed last November. The Schupf center also houses an art gallery, a cafe and the offices of the Waterville Creates nonprofit.
The festival kicks off Friday with the opening night film “Hangdog,” a comedy-drama shot in Portland. It continues for nine more days and features an array of new features, documentaries and short films, ranging from the Iraq and Afghanistan war documentary “What I Want You To Know” to animated film “Aurora Sunrise” to Israeli comedy “Karaoke.”
The ever-popular Maine shorts program showcases Maine-made short features and documentaries, and new this year is Mostly Maine Horrors, a program of New England-made short horror films. For revival films, selections include Clare Denis’s “Chocolat,” Terrence Malick’s “Badlands” and Tina Turner biopic “What’s Love Got To Do With It,” among others.
Following its Maine premiere at MIFF, “King on Screen” will arrive in movie theaters nationwide on Aug. 11, followed by a streaming release on Sept. 8.
Individual tickets and passes for the Maine International Film Festival, as well as a full schedule, are available online at miff.org.
