The event kicks off Friday and extends through July 21.

It will feature nearly 100 independent, international and Maine-made films while also providing audiences opportunities to meet and talk with directors, writers, producers and others working behind the scenes.

At the Waterville Opera House on Friday, Academy Award-winning director Jonathan Demme will introduce “Enzo Avitabile Music Life,” a new film he directed about the Neapolitan saxophone player and singer-songwriter. Demme won an Oscar in 1991 for “The Silence of the Lambs.”

This year’s Mid-Life Achievement Award honoree is actor, songwriter and producer Keith Carradine, who won a Golden Globe and Oscar for best original song for “I’m Easy” from 1975’s “Nashville.”