
CIFF SUMMER PARTY
This year’s Summer Party was held on July 10th at the Rockland Strand.
Points North Institute’s 2025 CIFF Summer Party featured a screening of the acclaimed documentary, Middletown, and was followed by a Q&A with film subject, Fred Isseks. The event also included a sneak peek of the fall festival program with a selection of film trailers and the announcement of the free public screening of Ian Cheney’s Observer on Wednesday, September 10th at 6pm.

Middletown
Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss
USA, 2025, 1hr 45 mins
In the early 1990s, a group of high schoolers in suburban New York—guided by their inspiring but unconventional teacher—made a student film that uncovered a toxic waste scandal threatening their town. Thirty years later, Middletown revisits this unlikely investigation in a captivating blend of hard-hitting journalism and heartwarming coming-of-age storytelling.
Moving between archival footage and present-day reflections, Middletown is as hilarious as it is powerful. This is a story of civic courage, environmental justice, and teenage kicks—or Erin Brockovich meets The Breakfast Club.