A conversation with Sarah Eiden, Director
After a brief hiatus during the pandemic, the Maumee Film Festival is back and continuing its trajectory of evolution and exponential growth. The Maumee Film Festival started as a single-day, short-film exhibition in 2015 under the leadership of then-Maumee Uptown Business Association’s Nancy Gagnet. Inspired by Gagnet’s filmmaker son, the festival soon grew into a weekend of filmmakers, feature-length films, seminars and an awards ceremony. The Maumee Film Festival looks to build upon its success with Sarah Eiden at the helm as the festival’s new director.
Q: How long have you been involved with the Maumee Film Festival?
Sarah Eiden:
We’ve dubbed 2024 as our “return to the screen” after a few years off due to the pandemic. In the years between, the previous director, Nancy, moved on to other positions, and I have now been in my position at the Maumee Indoor Theater for a solid three years, taking on the task of the festival for the first time in 2024. In the last three years as supervisor of theater operations, I’ve worked closely with our regional film commission, FilmToledo, to bring more independent film premieres to the community and find ways to showcase local film work. I am excited to be taking on this initiative as I have seen the impact that can be made by supporting local artists and giving opportunities for others
to do the same.
Q: How did you first get involved in the film industry? What does your job look like now?
SE:
I was born and raised in Holgate, Ohio, and attended Bowling Green State University. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in communications and a minor in dramatic performance and leadership, I worked at Universal Orlando in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter as an entertainment coordinator. In recent years, I’ve worked in sales and marketing for various local businesses in Maumee.
In my current role as supervisor at the Maumee Indoor Theater, we have expanded the entertainment offerings to include touring comedy and variety acts, tribute bands and community theater performances, and we’ve provided more opportunities for private rentals of the facility. In recent seasons, the theater included local filmmakers in the Halloween horror movie series by screening selected horror shorts to run before the feature-wide release film each week.
Q: Can you tell us more about the Maumee Indoor Theater and this year’s festival?
SE:
We’re fortunate to have a home location with a cinema screen, audio system and historic charm. The Maumee Indoor Theater’s main and original movie house seats just shy of 500 guests.
While the festival started only featuring short films, we’ve now expanded to include feature-length films. What was once a single-day short film exhibition has grown to a full weekend for filmmakers and film lovers to experience! Our most recent additions include a filmmaker and sponsor reception and two full days of screening submissions, as well as seminars, Q&A sessions and an awards ceremony for adjudicated features.
Q: Can you recount a few key moments or major accomplishments in the festival’s history?
Providing student and amateur showcases to foster the passion for our future filmmakers is a major accomplishment of this festival, along with returning to the screen after a brief hiatus and securing professionals in the film industry to be a part of our judging panels. In 2018 we were fortunate to have our hometown girl, Katie Holmes, as a judge. We were thrilled to have Michaela Starr, an executive producer for “The Boys” and “Gen V,” on our panel for the 2024 festival. I am most proud of the fact that even after our hiatus, the filmmaking community is still vibrant and excited to return to a festival atmosphere.
Q: What else should the public know about the Maumee Film Festival?
SE:
I am absolutely thrilled to be working with this event. While my background is more in the live performance arts, learning more about the film industry and collaborating closely with the filmmakers in my region has been truly magical. The work and artistry put into these films is amazing to see, and I am just very honored to be a part of this experience. I am hopeful that our festival can continue to grow and provide opportunities for generations of filmmakers to come.
Maumee Film Festival
September 26–28, 2025
Maumee Indoor Theatre, Maumee