MIDDLEBURY — The Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival announces the launch of MNFF Selects, the rebranded monthly screening series that, come this October, will replace the MNFF Winter/Spring Screening Series. Offering a robust schedule of one film per month over eight months from October 2019 through May 2020, MNFF Selects will take its audiences on an entertaining ride in the months ahead.  All the films will screen at Town Hall Theater in Middlebury. 
MNFF Selects signals a broader, more freewheeling approach to MNFF’s seasonal screening series, mixing films by first- or second-time filmmakers with special tributes to acclaimed directors. For its inaugural edition, MNFF Selects presents “The Biography Series: Fabulous Films About Fascinating People.” Focused on rich and rewarding work from singular filmmakers, the series offers sterling films, both documentary and narrative, that illuminate the lives of complex and significant people whose achievements have touched us in myriad ways.
Beginning with Miles Davis and ending with Molly Ivins, with David Crosby, Aretha Franklin, Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, Harriet Tubman, Toni Morrison and Mikhail Gorbachev in between, MNFF Selects brings audiences the voices and stories and music of fascinating individuals who have left their mark on our collective memories.
“MNFF Selects represents a clear evolution for our highly successful seasonal screening series,” said Lloyd Komesar, MNFF Producer.  “In expanding the series to eight months, we felt a series retitling was appropriate and, at the same time, it gave us an opportunity to take a more eclectic approach to assembling our films.  We hope the community enjoys these outstanding movies.” 
MNFF Selects passes are on sale as of Monday, Sept. 16, along with tickets to each of the eight individual films.  The Selects pass is available for $105; individual tickets are $15.  Both the passes and tickets can be purchased through the MNFF website, middfilmfest.org, the Town Hall Theater website, townhalltheater.org, or by phone at (802) 382-9222 or in person at the THT box office, Monday-Saturday, 12-5 p.m. 
MNFF Selects thanks its home venue, Town Hall Theater, and its sponsors IPJ Real Estate, Middlebury College, Silver Maple Construction, Marble Trail Financial and the Addison Independent.
 

MNFF Selects line up
Miles Davis: The Birth of the Cool  [Documentary]
Thursday, Oct. 17, at 7 p.m.
 
David Crosby: Remember My Name  [Documentary]
Friday, Nov. 15, at 7 p.m.
 
Amazing Grace  [Documentary Featuring Aretha Franklin]
Sunday, Dec. 8, at 2 p.m.
 
Colette  [Drama]
Sunday, Jan. 12, at 2 p.m.
 
Harriet  [Drama]
Sunday, Feb. 23, at 2 p.m.
 
Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am  [Documentary]
Sunday, March 22, at 2 p.m.
 
Meeting Gorbachev  [Documentary]
Friday, Nov. 15, at 7 p.m.
 
Raise Hell: The Life and Times of Molly Ivins  [Documentary]
Thursday, May 7, at 7 p.m.