MIDDLEBURY — The Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival (MNFF) has announced its Vermont statewide tour of the top documentaries from its 2018 Fourth Annual Festival. Expanding from six to seven cities and towns this year, the tour will roll out on the weekend of Feb. 8-10 across the state. 
The Two feature documentaries — “Dateline-Saigon” and “All the Wild Horses” — will be screened at most of the venues, including the Vergennes Opera House on Sunday, Feb. 10.
Director Tom Herman’s “Dateline-Saigon,” profiles five Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists’ groundbreaking reporting during the early years of the Vietnam War.  As President Kennedy committed U.S. troops to what was initially dismissed as a “nice little war in a land of tigers and elephants,” these five young reporters boldly challenged the administration’s version of events on the ground.  “Dateline-Saigon” won the Best Documentary Feature Award at MNFF this past August.   
Director Ivo Marloh’s “All the Wild Horses,” is a highly dramatic and visually stunning feature documentary that follows five international riders from the USA, Canada, South Africa, Ireland and the UK as they compete in the Mongol Derby horse race. This multi-horse, multi-station race over 1,000 kilometers of Mongolian steppe is considered the longest and toughest horse race on the planet.  “All the Wild Horses” was a finalist in the Best Documentary Feature category at MNFF. 
The MNFF Vermont Tour will play the Vergennes Opera House in Vergennes on Sunday, Feb. 10 as a special double feature matinee.  “All the Wild Horses” will screen at 2 p.m. and  “Dateline-Saigon” will screen at 4:30 p.m.
“We are so pleased to partner with MNFF once again, to bring world class and thought provoking films to the Vergennes Opera House,” said VOH President Gerianne Smart. “I have no doubt that these award-winning films will receive a robust reception from the greater Vergennes community.”
Other Vermont Tour venues and dates include Main Street Landing, Burlington on Friday, Feb. 8 (presented by the Vermont International Film Festival); The Woodstock Film Series/Billings Farm and Museum and Greensboro’s Highland Center for the Arts on Saturday, Feb. 9;  and, on Sunday, Feb. 10, Putney’s Next Stage Arts, Rutland’s Paramount Theater and Montpelier’s Savoy Theater.  Programs and screening times will vary at each venue.  Complete information on the Vermont Tour can be found at middfilmfest.org.
“By presenting these two truly outstanding documentaries in a barnstorming tour across our home state of Vermont, MNFF continues its core commitment of actively promoting the work of talented first and second time directors, the emerging voices of independent filmmaking,” noted Lloyd Komesar, MNFF Producer.  “With this second version of the Tour, we are expanding our reach to seven towns and look forward to connecting with appreciative audiences around Vermont, as do our filmmakers.”
“We’re very pleased to be working with important venues and presenters in every corner of the state,” said MNFF Artistic Director Jay Craven. “We’ll offer two compelling documentaries that are timely and relevant. “Dateline-Saigon” takes us back to a time when journalists put their lives on the line while facing allegations that they were reporting inaccurately.  As we know, history redeems their extraordinary commitment and work. “All the Wild Horses” similarly shows courage and stamina under pressure of a different kind—in an inspiring act of human and animal endurance.“
The MNFF Vermont Tour is sponsored by Vermont Public Radio, Milne Travel, Woodchuck Hard Cider, Vermont PBS and, in part, by Shelburne Vineyard.
More information, including specific programs and show times, ticket information, and film trailers and descriptions may be found at middfilmfest.org or by contacting Jay Craven ([email protected]).