The second annual Cabin Fever Film Festival will take place Feb. 28 through March 1, at the Camden Opera House at 29 Elm St.  Cabin Fever is an extension of the CIFF Selects monthly screening series which brings new, award-winning documentary films to Midcoast Maine throughout the year as a lead up to the Camden International Film Festival. This year's Cabin Fever event has been expanded to include three days of film screenings, virtual reality exhibitions, live music, and other special events.

Highlights include special pre-release screenings of several new films that recently premiered at last month's Sundance Film Festival and last fall’s Toronto International Film Festival, the two largest film festivals in the world, according to Points North Institute, in a news release. Cabin Fever will open with “Crip Camp,”  which won the U.S. Documentary Audience Award at its Sundance world premiere last month.

Films schedule to screen include:

“The Capote Tapes” -   “Answered Prayers” was meant to be Truman Capote's greatest masterpiece, an epic portrait of NYC's glittering jet-set society. Instead, it sparked his downfall. Through never before heard audio archive and interviews with Capote's friends and enemies, this intimate documentary reveals the rise and fall of America's most iconic gay writer.

“Crip Camp” -  Down the road from Woodstock in the early 1970s, a revolution blossomed in a ramshackle summer camp for disabled teenagers, transforming their young lives and igniting a landmark movement. With joy and humor, Crip Camp explores the universal experience of summer camp awakenings that would transform lives and shape the future of the disability rights movement. Told from the point of view of Co-Director and former camper Jim LeBrecht.

“Love Child” -  Sahand, Leila, and their 4-year-old son Mani are on the run. The Iranian lovers carried on a clandestine affair for years, and Mani was born out of wedlock. Now they’re fleeing their homeland — where they could face the death penalty for their indiscretions — and seeking asylum abroad. Filmed over more than six years.

“Mucho Mucho Amor” - Once the world’s most famous astrologer, Walter Mercado seeks to resurrect a forgotten legacy. Raised in the sugar cane fields of Puerto Rico, Walter grew up to become a gender non-conforming, cape-wearing psychic whose televised horoscopes reached 120 million Latinx viewers a day for 30 years before he mysteriously disappeared.

“Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band” -  Inspired by Robertson’s 2017 bestselling memoir “Testimony, Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and the Band” is a confessional, cautionary, and sometimes humorous tale of Robertson’s young life and the creation of one of the most enduring groups in the history of popular music. The film blends rare archival footage and interviews with many of Robertson’s friends and collaborators, including Bruce Springsteen, Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, Scorsese, Taj Mahal, Peter Gabriel, David Geffen and Ronnie Hawkins, among others.

“Picture Character” - The rapid rise of emoji is a global phenomenon without precedent. Their widespread use and ability to convey complex messages have not only cemented emoji's place as an emerging digital language, but prompted difficult questions about the creation of a language and digital communication’s fraught ties to identity and inclusion. Picture Character sheds light on the private consortium that approves new emoji offerings and the individuals fighting to make the language more representative of its billions of users.

“Primary” -  Robert Drew's groundbreaking 1960 film is one of the most important and influential documentaries in the history of the medium, according to Points North. A pioneering work in the documentary movement that came to be known as cinéma vérité, Primary follows the young charismatic senator from Massachusetts, John F. Kennedy, as he goes head-to-head with established Minnesota senator Hubert Humphrey to win the Wisconsin presidential primary in April 1960.

Storyforms: Remixing Reality -  The Points North Institute’s annual exhibition of groundbreaking immersive documentary experiences – one of the most popular components of CIFF – is now coming to Cabin Fever. Passholders will have access to audience favorite virtual reality (VR) films from past Storyforms programs – each transporting viewers to far-flung corners of the globe, where they’ll meet people and experience places they won’t soon forget.

Passes to Cabin Fever are now on sale. Cabin Fever Film Passes are $40 and admit one to all screenings. Cabin Fever All Access Passes are $75 and admit one to all film screenings, the Storyforms VR exhibition, our Opening Night Reception, and Saturday Night Party at Betty Forever.

Tickets to individual screenings are $10 and can be purchased online in advance, or day of show at the Camden Opera House Box Office. For more information on the films, tickets and the schedule, visit www.pointsnorthinsitute.org.