The Camden International Film Festival, taking place in Camden and Rockland from Sept. 17-20, is Maine’s eye on the world. In this, CIFF’s 22nd year, nonfiction filmmakers from around the globe turn their cameras on people, events, and ideas from the tiniest to the most all-encompassing, and viewers come away seeing their world differently. Is that a lot to ask of a film festival tucked away in the Midcoast? Sure. But Camden International has become one of the premier destinations for documentary film in the world, and it features the sort of movies that can change your life. 

This year’s CIFF is a typically varied treasure trove of world premieres, high-profile Oscar-locks, Maine-related subjects, features, shorts, and some films that push the boundaries of what nonfiction filmmaking is, and can do. It’s a dizzying, concentrated glimpse into our shared reality, split through the lenses of some of the most talented and adventurous artists working today. It’s the Camden International Film Festival, and here’s just a sampling of the fascinating things for you to witness. 

The Maine premiere of Nanette Burstein’s insightful portrait of beloved astronomer Sagan reasserts his place as one of the chief defenders of science, evidence, and reason in a world increasingly beset by willful ignorance and prejudices. In a world where America’s highest-elevated leaders are openly peddling destructive, anti-scientific nonsense to the gullible, Sagan’s example of enlightened curiosity shines brighter than ever. 

On one impossible day in 1972, jazz legend Duke Ellington gathered together with illustrious surviving members of the Harlem renaissance at his home. A film crew was there, and the uncovered footage is an irreplaceable time capsule filled with wisdom, joy, and Black liberation. 

Basquiat has become a commodity, the abstract expressionist painter’s work commodified by wealthy collectors and celebrity dabblers. But the real Basquiat, who died tragically young at just 27, was a complexly brilliant person, a more complete portrait of which emerges in this Maine premiere from Quinn Whitney Wilson and Viridiana Lieberman. With unprecedented participation from Basquiat’s family and friends, the film reclaims the artist from his appropriated image to explore the development and humanity of a true American genius. 

Acclaimed documentarian Alex Gibney (‘Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room,’ ‘Going Clear: Scientology & the Prison of Belief’) tackles one of the most polarizing figures in recent history with this mammoth, nearly four-hour examination of Elon Musk’s rise to power. Tracing how a South African tech nerd amassed enough influence and wealth to become one of the most controversial forces in technology, world politics, and increasingly destructive cultural impact, Gibney dares to delve into all the carefully hidden nooks and crannies of wealth, ego, and right-wing messaging that the real Musk would rather nobody talk about. 

CIFF’s annual Dirigo Docs roster spotlights Maine-related short films celebrating eclectic and fascinating stories from around the state. This year, attendees can watch a 12-year-old farmer bring his goat to a Maine fair in “Children & Animals;” an analytical portrait of the impact of Maine’s aquaculture industry in the appropriately titled “Fish Film;” a Passamaquoddy elder passing on traditions from her mother in “Sweetgrass;” a young sailor learning how to navigate Maine’s unpredictable season in “Steward.Ship;” a farming collective of Black, white, and Muslim western Maine food growers learning together in “May the Water Not Freeze;” and intimate examination of a Mi’kmaq family’s struggles with assimilation in “For a Moment the Clouds Parted and I Felt the Sun;” and more. 

Meanwhile, director Peter Muller embedded himself in the titular Maine fishing village, showing how the long, hard toil of lobstering — and changing attitudes about it — is passed on through the generations of fathers and sons in the feature documentary “Buck’s Harbor,” screening on Saturday, September 19.

And “Boatbuilders” (screening Thursday, Sept. 17) follows the hardy crew of Hancock County boat builders as they, well, build a boat. It’s a lot more thrilling than that sounds. 

Director Carolina Gonzalez Valencia crafts a deeply personal yet stylistically adventurous alternate reality where her domestic worker mother is a best-selling author. What results is a slyly insightful look at everything from U.S. immigration to labor to mother-daughter dynamics, to how we choose to tell our own stories. 

Unable to return to her home in Iran, a filmmaker keeps tabs on her parents through surveillance cameras, playfully editing the footage to explore how technology brings us together, even as it pushes us further apart. 

The AI revolution may in fact represent a devolution in our ability to relate to one another. In this fascinating, troubling documentary from Chouwa Liang, a group of Chinese women navigate their shockingly difficult relationships with their artificial boyfriends, their quest for love in an increasingly lonely and divided world turning on the whims of AI algorithms.

An Indian woman living in post-Apartheid South Africa writes a letter to her dying mother. In this wrenchingly beautiful portrait, she confronts the pain of loss, the fear of the future, and the need to seek guidance from the people who’ve faced the same obstacles before you.

Legendary filmmaker Barbara Kopple completes her influential trilogy on labor rights (following “Harlan County” and “American Dream”) with this never-more-timely portrait of Amazon, UPS, and food delivery app workers as they bring the ever-present fight against exploitation and corporate greed into the new frontier of work. 

As ever, the full scope of this year’s Camden International Film Festival is too wide for one little column to truly capture. For the full program of films, tickets (buy the full festival pass), directions (it’s not that far), and more, check out pointsnorthinstitute.org. 

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