For five years running Moviemaker Magazine has recognized the Woods Hole Film Festival as one of the top fifty film festivals in the world worth the entry fee, this year citing the festival’s “comfortable and relaxed atmosphere that lends itself to creative inspiration.” It shares this honor with other notable film festivals, such as Seattle, Cleveland, and Slamdance, and it’s only one of three New England festivals with the distinction. The festival is also the oldest film festival on Cape Cod and the Islands and one of the oldest in New England.

The festival’s 28^th edition runs from July 27-August 3, at five different venues in the village of Woods Hole and the town of Falmouth on Cape Cod. It’s not only the point of departure for Martha’s Vineyard, but given the festival’s emphasis on promoting the films and careers of emerging independent filmmakers, it’s also the starting place for numerous first-time filmmakers, which represents more than half of the directors of this year’s 52 feature length and 110 short films. In keeping with the festival’s focus, films and filmmakers with ties to New England and Cape Cod and the Islands are also strongly represented.